Week 17

Eat your fruit first.

This is a very simple challenge; just a matter of retraining.  I grew up eating my fruit at the end of my meal.  It was considered the 'dessert', though we always had some sugary sweet with each meal too.  This is not a good practice.

 

Fruit is a great dessert option, but eat it first before other food or separate as a snack during the day.  I usually eat a couple servings of fresh fruit throughout the day.  I eat fresh fruit first thing in the morning to break my overnight fast, and then typically more fresh fruit later right before my breakfast.  I often have fruit with lunch or as an afternoon snack.  When you are shopping, remember to chose fruits that are in season and know which organic ones you want to buy based on the dirty dozen list.  Organic strawberries are in season now and we have been enjoying them immensely.

 

The reason you should eat fruit first before other foods is because it takes very little time or effort to digest fruit compared to proteins and carbohydrates.  If you eat fruit after a meal, it sits on top of the other foods you have eaten and can start to ferment causing indigestion and gas.  If you eat your fruit first, you maximum the absorption of nutrients from the fruit as it is digested first and it is much gentler on your digestive system.

 

If you are eating a dish that includes fruit, such as the Puffed Pancake, don't mix a lot of other things with it.  For example, don't eat scrambled eggs and sausage with your puffed pancake.  Keep the meal simple so it is easier to digest.

 

This very simple, easy challenge for the week can make a huge difference in your health, especially if you have problems with an unhealthy gut environment.  And isn't it fun to be able to eat your dessert first!

"Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.'  And it was so.  The land produced vegetation:  plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.  And God saw it was good."  Genesis 1:11-12