Speaker 1 0:05

Welcome to Healing with Nuance. We're Jolie and Lizzie from J&L Integrative Health. We're sharing our discussions about health and wellness, creating a library of resources for our clients and listeners.

Speaker 0:17

Everything shared on this podcast is intended to be thought-provoking and educational, reflecting our questions and perspectives. Nothing we share here is meant to be any kind of diagnosis or medical advice. We encourage you to always decide what's best for you and your health, to consult experts, and most importantly, your own intuition and instinct about your body.

Does everyone need to prioritize digestion?

Speaker 1 0:48

We started talking before we hit record, and I was saying that we we previously recorded a conversation about easy to digest foods. Welcome to this episode where we're talking about easy to digest foods. And so I was saying that after that conversation, I felt like what didn't come across is that just because this is easy to digest foods doesn't mean this is how you should eat. And you're saying Ayurveda says it is.

Speaker 1:28

Ayurveda says that it is because every time we make a food choice, or any choice for that matter, but we're talking about food. Anytime we make a food choice, whatever characteristics that food has, we're giving them to our bodies. And if we're doing that on a consistent basis, eventually it's it could cause problems. So for example, if someone feels really good with salads or popcorn or um smoothies, okay, you feel good doing that, but it's weakening your digestion and it's adding uh this dry um texture into the body, and eventually it could have popcorn salads have a dry consistency, smoothies. Don't smoothies are too wet, but like anything that has this extreme of texture or quality, it's going to accumulate over time in the body in some way.

Speaker 1 2:22

Okay, so somebody who has strong digestion might not really feel the impact of that right away, but over time it'll probably weaken their digestion because they have been slowly but surely and consistently adding those not ideal textures, temperatures, etc. to their body.

Speaker 2:42

Yeah, and so this was literally what happened to me with my health crisis in 2020. Um, and this is most people's health crises, right? Is they don't happen overnight. They are decades in the making usually. And I was consistently on the go eating salads, eating cereal, eating clip bars, eating chips and salsa for dinner at 11 p.m. after a restaurant shift. And in hindsight, I think this was what happened. It was eventually like my body had too much, whether it be stress or food, and everything just gave gave out, you know.

Speaker 1 3:24

On yeah, like on

Different Types of Digestion

Speaker 1 3:25

two different sides of this table looking at each other, you've got two people with two very different digestive systems. So for me, Lizzie, um I have what would be considered really strong digestion. Things don't impact me very acutely. Um, maybe occasionally I'll eat something and be like, oh, that didn't um that didn't agree with me. Uh, but for the most part, my body can handle what I put into it. And part of that is that I'm good at listening to my body and what it wants, but part of it is that I just have digestion is not my weak point. I have plenty of other weak points in my bodily systems, but that's not one. So, like I describe my digestion. Do you want to say what yours is like?

Speaker 4:14

Yeah, so mine's a little bit less strong, a little bit more erratic. It can be really strong some days and very weak other days. So it really requires a lot of constant attention and tweaking, sort of coming back to balance all the time. And by my nature, I don't always want to do that. You know, I I kind of I like the extremes and I like I want to do what I want to do, to be honest with you. I had many years of severe eating disorders, and at this stage in my life, I just I don't want to obsess anymore. And so I'm managing it pretty well. Um, my second pregnancy really healed my gut a lot. Um, but I'm always gonna have these little these little issues, and it's it's an Ayurvedic term, but it's Ama Vata type, which is primarily like um air and ether, and you have a lot of the pizza energy in you, that strong digestive strength.

Speaker 1 5:16

What does it look like feel like? Like, how do you know or how would a person know that they have weak digestion?

Speaker 5:25

That's a good question. So it would be usually they're gonna have some sort of like bloating, distension, reflux, constipation, diarrhea, um, either no appetite or really voracious appetite. And usually it's gonna be um, you know, erratic. I think most people that have stable, consistent um digestive strength don't have as many issues, but it's that halting, you know, that like start, start, stop. Okay, that lack of consistency in it probably all boils down to like vagus nerve and the migrating motor complex. Because people that are vata type, um, which means air and space, air and ether, are heavily their nervous system is like the number one um component in their constitution. So tending towards anxiety, stress, worry, which then affects the gut.

Speaker 1 6:22

Yeah. I'm having such a like I know that between you and me, we would say I have stronger digestion, and we would say I'm like not as vata as you are. But as I'm listening to you, I'm just thinking about how all of that shifts over time. Yeah. And so for most of my life, most people would, most people who knew would say that I was primarily vata. And I think in my nervous system and in my brain, I feel more vata, especially right now. And even though we would say that I have the stronger digestion than I do overall, some of what I'm experiencing lately is more of that starting, stopping, starting, stopping. And this is such a good conversation because perhaps it is some of those behaviors over a long period of time that are starting to build up and I'm finally experiencing the impact of them.

Speaker 7:23

Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 1 7:26

So this is like processing in real time. We're processing in real time, and we'll do plenty of that. And you know, if we're lucky, we get the great ideas of what to talk about, and they're potent for us, and we can share in a way that's meaningful and helpful for you.

Speaker 7:44

Yeah. Well, the other

Ayurvedic Dosha Balance

Speaker 7:46

interesting point is that we we are not our current state of imbalance, our true self is who we were at the moment, technically of conception, but for all intents and purposes at birth. Um, and I say that because after conception to birth, there's a lot of things that can influence your constitution. But um, so technically we think as to like the purest form of ourselves when you know, the way that God created us to be without the toxins and the things that pull us out of balance, who is that person versus who am I now? And how can we cultivate that pure version of ourselves?

Speaker 1 8:30

Do you think that in our purest state we're really a good balance, like what you would call tridoshic?

Speaker 8:41

Not everyone is naturally tridoshic, and I say that because so Lizzie is probably the closest person I've found to being tridoshic, meaning like um the her vata, your vata nature like makes you very connected to um spirituality, faith, God. You seem to have that strong pitta digestion, and then the kha, like warm-hearted, grounding nature. But not everyone has a like a 33% of each one of those, but they're perfectly in balance for who they were created to be.

Speaker 1 9:17

Okay, that was yeah, my question. So everybody has their unique makeup of elements, no matter, and it's not everybody's the same in our pure state.

Speaker 9:30

No, but you ultimately accept your the way you were created to be, and then learn how to navigate life with those rules that you were dealt, basically the cards that you were dealt, and certain rules that you're gonna thrive if you follow them.

Speaker 1 9:47

Yeah.

Restriction and Food Choices

Speaker 1 9:48

So another thing, uh sort of side topic, I want to just call attention to you you spoke about um for you, and I'm kind of changing the wording, but for you, restriction is not helpful.

Speaker 10:04

Very triggering for me.

Speaker 1 10:06

Because of years of eating disorders, yeah.

Speaker 10:08

And they started, I guess, one of the first health crises um after puberty and then after getting braces in on my teeth, um, I experienced just wild digestive shifts, which were very uncomfortable for me, and I just wanted to not be in my body, and I would either, you know, eat, eat a lot or eat not eat at all, because it was the only way that I could feel in control in control.

Speaker 1 10:38

So um the reason I bring this up is because for some people, moderate restriction is healthy, where you want to be, and for some people, that restriction, the unhealthiness of that restriction on an emotional and mental level overrides the value that that restriction would have on a physical level. Absolutely. So just want to bring that nuance in. Um, yeah, thank you. That like everybody is unique, you have your own situation, and for some people, restricting yourself from certain foods or eating at certain times of day is the way to balance. And for other people, that creates more imbalance.

Speaker 11:23

Right. So if someone were to look at if someone were to take a look at my entire life and they saw where I was and where I am now, they would say, Oh my gosh, you're doing amazing. But someone else might look at some of the choices I make and say, Oh, are you sure about that? Um, it's just where I'm at right now, and I think I'll make my way back around to maybe some more health, healthy restrictions, or I hate that word, healthy ways of living. Um, but I'm also still postpartum and it's kind of just a free-for-all right now. Um, but everything's always shifting.

Speaker 1 11:57

Yeah. So I mean, what you're alluding to, which you know, other people might not know, is just that is just food choices that maybe a prior version of you would say, like, what you're eating that or drinking that, and like that's awful and it's terrible and it's toxic. And you're kind of like, your body can handle it. My body can handle it, it brings me joy and everything in moderation.

Speaker 12:24

And I don't have the energy to really be dealing with other things right now, so it's yeah, what I can handle at this moment, and I it feels like a freeing, comfortable place for me to be.

Speaker 1 12:34

I'm glad that we like flush that out a little bit because I think it's important for people to hear the pieces of the puzzle and not just like I don't care. Oh, yeah. Because I think it can sound like like you don't care. It's that's not the case. It's that you you care about the things that are really balancing for you right now.

Speaker 12:56

I care a lot and I trust God a lot. And I trust that my nervous system and my joy is number one priority.

Speaker 1 13:05

It's huge, especially in postpartum recovery. And any time that we're recovering from trauma, major change, big transitions in life where our nervous system has to stabilize. That's really a whole body experience. Like it's emotional, it's mental, it's nervous system, it's physical, it's everything. And so we have to tend to the parts that need attending to.

Speaker 13:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1 13:33

Um

Easy-to-digest Foods

Speaker 1 13:35

that's a really good intro to talk about easy to digest foods.

Speaker 13:39

Yeah.

Speaker 1 13:40

So in some of our uh sessions with clients, we'll mention you maybe should be focusing on easy to digest foods, and they don't actually know what that means. And they think that healthy foods are easy to digest, and healthy foods to them means salad or nuts, or like everybody has a different list of what they think healthy is.

Speaker 14:10

Whatever they were told at some point was healthy is what they believe is healthy, and it's not really rooted in their bodily experience of that food.

Speaker 1 14:19

Yeah, well, not necessarily. And I think it's important to say we're foods actually, for the most part, if we're doing healing with nuance, foods are not going to be categorized as healthy or unhealthy. We want to understand the qualities of foods and how they work in our body so that we can choose when to use them or how to support our body in digesting them. So I was less familiar with this concept of easy to digest foods. So I'm gonna say sort of what I've picked up from you in this process, and then you can elaborate on that. So warm, wet but not overly wet foods. Um starches are easier to digest. For sure. Um cooked foods, so like not raw, right? Um, not crispy, crunchy, right. Um those are my the first things that come to mind.

Speaker 15:28

Cooked in one pot. That's a big one. I love that. The idea is that everything, all the ingredients of that dish, if they're cooked in one pot for an extended period of time, they've all this is not scientific, but it's we say that they have all they've reconciled with each other and there's no fighting in your stomach because everyone's like made peace in the pot.

Speaker 1 15:50

Okay, I love that. And so it also brings up then the topic of having lots of different foods on your plate that you eat in one sitting, is the opposite of that, right? Where then they have to learn how to get along inside your stomach.

Speaker 16:06

Right. Yeah, and certain foods will fight for the same enzymes, like we know that proteins and starches do that. Um, some people's digestion can handle that, and you know, I am definitely I do that often, but it's that bigger question of long term. Is that the best?

Speaker 1 16:24

Yeah, so this is something that came up after the last time we recorded a similar conversation. When I eat just easy to digest foods, I don't feel satiated. Yeah, I actually feel much more satisfied when I've had like the opposite of all of this crunchy foods, fried foods, which are like not like if we're gonna put anything in a category of healthy or unhealthy, fried foods would be unhealthy. Oh it's true though. But like um having lots of things mixed together on one plate. Uh like I've told the story several times that there was like weeks where I couldn't get satisfied, couldn't feel satiated from my food, and I finally sat down at a Greek restaurant and had like Greek salad with um fried falafel and like French fries and feta cheese and like all these different food groups at once, and I finally felt satiated. So I'm noticing that about myself. If I focus on easy to digest foods, I don't feel that full. So do you think it's like a texture and taste thing? No, it's like it's not mental. It's literally physical, literally physical, full. And so one explanation for that could be that I do have really strong digestion.

Speaker 17:50

And so you need to feel like grounded, satiated, full so you can relax almost. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 17:57

And so I don't really know how that factors in, but I thought it was a good part of the conversation to bring up. And then there are times when I really do want easy to digest foods, like if I've just gotten my period and like my body's working on a lot of other processes, yeah, and digestion needs to take the back seat, but I still need food, right? Yeah, everyone is so unique. But also, I I also trust in the wisdom of these ancient systems that I mean, there is a

Digestion Principles

Speaker 1 18:32

wisdom to treating your digestion carefully.

Speaker 18:36

Yeah, and that's that's really what drew me to Ayurveda was as soon as I started learning about how to cultivate your digestive strength and and coax it and court it and have that be the number one facet of health, it just makes so much sense. Because if you think, if you think that you have this roaring fire that can handle whatever you put into it, and that's mental, emotional, and physical things that we have to digest, we're just gonna be that much better and energized, and our body can um function that you know that much better. Yeah. So the idea, there's a saying that you always want to have, but what is it? You always wanna something like you always want to have digestion, or you always want to be a little bit hungry, like you always want to be able to eat. And I think it's that idea of like, like if you're ever out or someone comes over and they made you something, and then you want to say, Oh yeah, I'll have a little bit. Like this, that easy, laid back, like my body can handle a little bit of food because I never stuff myself to capacity, it's always like leaving a little bit of room.

Speaker 1 19:52

I love that, and it makes me want to talk a little bit about when I did my three plus day water fast. I felt like it totally reprogrammed the way that my brain felt about food. And I had become so used to thinking, I need food at any given moment. Like I might need food, so I better have a snack on me. What if I need food and I and I don't have it? Or um being like uh kind of a slave to my hunger or my cravings and like needing to satisfy it somehow. And after fasting, I felt completely freed from that. Where I at any point could eat a little or not eat a little, or I love that it was so good. Yeah. Yeah, like yeah, it's absolutely freedom. Feels like that same, that same feeling where you just there's always space. Always space. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. What a good, what a good goal. Like if I wanted to improve my digestion and my mentality around eating, one thing, one goal could be to just always leave a little bit of space.

Speaker 21:06

Yeah. Yeah, you can always tell yourself, I can have more later if I want. But right now I'm very content. And a good rule of thumb is if you have a burp, that's your body saying, Well, I'm good. So you don't want to eat past the burp. That's another common saying. Um, another rule of thumb is like not to eat more than will fit in your two palms if you make like a bowl. Oh, that's a great rule. Yeah. Um, other big things with digestion are not drinking with your meals, right after your meals, um, praying and breathing before your meals, really getting your body into that rest and digest.

Speaker 1 21:50

And then along a similar line, not doing anything except eating and enjoying the company that you're in while you're eating. Yeah.

Speaker 22:00

Chewing and talking. That's really all we should should be doing. And talking may want to be limited.

Speaker 1 22:05

So, um, and I think I remember you saying, so like no screens, no reading.

Speaker 22:11

Yeah, your nervous system literally thinks it's wherever you're watching or reading about.

Speaker 1 22:18

Wow. So your attention can be your body's attention can be on your digestion if you're not distracting yourself with some other input.

Speaker 22:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1 22:31

The only input is your food and your environment.

Speaker 22:33

Yep, and you're directing your energy towards your food. You're sitting, hopefully. Ideally, cross-legged.

Speaker 1 22:40

That's actually best for digestion because we're centering the so I always sit cross-legged, even like at restaurants, I'll take my shoes off and sit cross-legged.

Speaker 22:49

But definitely sitting, because if you're standing, it's sending a message to your body that you're on the go. You're on the go, you're not safe, and the it's it's not clear as to what it's doing in that moment.

Speaker 1 23:01

This is really helpful.

Speaker 23:04

Do I do all this all the time? No.

unknown 23:07

Right.

Speaker 1 23:07

But you know what the ideal is and you can prioritize it when you can prioritize it.

Speaker 23:12

Right.

Speaker 1 23:13

And then you know how to support your body if it's not something you can prioritize right now.

unknown 23:19

Yeah.

Speaker 23:21

Another big one is eating when you're hungry, right?

Speaker 1 23:24

Yeah. We talk about that a lot. So most people, and again, this comes back to we talked about this in our last episode, but the hustle culture. So we are busy, we've got schedules, and we know that we need to eat. And so we eat breakfast and we eat lunch and we eat dinner, and maybe we eat snacks at the time that we think that we're supposed to have them.

Speaker 23:50

And it's not checking in.

Speaker 1 23:51

Right. It's not necessarily listening to our body's cues. It's more like telling your body what to do. And in life, it's good to have a balance. Sometimes our body's going to tell us what to do, and sometimes we're going to tell our body what to do. And that's life. It's realistic. Yeah. Yeah. But ideally, we want, we don't want to be imposing things on our body that it's not prepared to handle.

Speaker 24:15

Right. And that's again those situations where doing that long term is going to have some side effects. Something's going to manifest. It's it's called crimes against wisdom when we do things that we actively know are harmful. And we were just talking about this today, too, about um, you know, one of my health crises that like woke me up to everything going on, and how sometimes I wish I could go back to that not knowing. Because once you know, you really can't make those crimes against wisdom without feeling the ramifications, without having some sort of reconciliation. Yeah. And it's not like we're being punished, but at a certain point, it's natural consequence. It's natural consequence, and something happened where we were like, okay, my health is my own. So that means I get to reap the rewards, and I will have to deal with the downfalls of the choices that I make sometimes. Yeah.

Speaker 1 25:11

And the responsibility. Yeah. Which can sometimes feel heavy, I guess. But it's just self. It's just responsibility for self. And the more you know, the more you can take care of yourself. Yeah, that's so true. And I think one thing that we come up against, whether it's conscious or unconscious or subconscious, is um whether or not we believe we're worthy of taking care of. Right? Like, do we if you know what it takes to take care of yourself and you don't want to do it, is there an underlying unworthiness? You don't think you deserve to be well taken care of? You don't think you deserve to be healthy, happy, and well? Yeah. I mean, I think it's probably there in some way, shape, or form. It's going to be different for everybody. You don't want to put people in boxes.

Speaker 26:10

Well, because we also, not even necessarily here, but we both know of people who um if they were to fix their health problem, then they wouldn't be victims anymore. That's another big one.

Speaker 1 26:24

Let's talk for a second about the drama triangle, the victim triangle, where in this triangle, which we all get stuck in it at some time, but we would all do well to liberate ourselves from, there's a victim, there's a perpetrator, and there's a hero. And so we could be any one of those three, but any one, if we are any one of those three, we are participating in this victim mentality. Yeah. And the only way out of that triangle is taking personal responsibility and letting other people take personal responsibility. Otherwise, we're perpetuating this idea that there's always a victim, always a perpetrator, and always a savior or a hero.

Speaker 27:09

Right.

Speaker 1 27:10

And um, and I'm talking about our human relationships, um, leaving out of this particular conversation, like the God savior, that's a different, a different topic. But in our human interactions, um if you're looking at somebody or something like it's the savior, then you're looking at yourself as the victim and some something or something else is the perpetrator. Um, or even if you're think you're being the hero and the savior and you're saving somebody, well, then you're believing in them as the victim and somebody else is the perpetrator.

Speaker 27:48

Um perception issues. Because how do you know if you're right?

Speaker 1 27:54

Yeah. And, you know, uh, I feel like it's important to say, you know, in some scenarios, there really are victims and perpetrators. So I'm not taking away from that scenario. But uh in most of our interpersonal interactions, um, we can take more responsibility for what's happening.

Speaker 28:14

Yeah, and it's a great example of what's happening in Western medicine. You know, it's pretty much all you see there is the white coats trying to fix everything, the heroes, people buying into that they're the heroes, and then they get let down, and it's a whole yeah, then they end up at a place like this, you know.

Speaker 1 28:35

Yeah, we tend to see people who uh have become disenchanted with Western medicine, um, who've been let down by Western medicine, um, or who want support for how they navigate Western medicine. Yeah, we do that too. Yeah, not it's not this is not anti-Western medicine, it's just a holistic approach to support people however they are moving through life. And we do support people who are who are still utilizing the support that Western medicine gives. And there's a lot of value to what Western medicine provides, and there's a lot to be careful about.

Speaker 29:17

Yeah, and the people that we're working with are definitely aware and awake to all of the downfalls of Western medicine, and that's why they need some guidance.

Speaker 1 29:28

Yeah, so this is a really good opportunity. I think we talked about this in our intro episode, but just an opportunity to talk about like we we don't want to be the savior to your victim. No. We want to support you and take our passion, our research, our knowledge, our interest, um, and help you to make the decisions that you want to make for your health. Um, we want to be your partners and your supports. We are not here to tell you what to do. And, you know, we're talking about our clients here. We're here to help you take agency to support you in that. Um, it's really important to us. And we are would be very uncomfortable in a scenario where we're making ourselves the hero or the savior or or the person who knows everything. I think we're very adamant about the fact that we we don't know everything, and every person has their own compass for what's the right way for them.

Speaker 30:38

Yeah, almost to the point where I think some people have gotten annoyed with us because we won't tell them what's going on. We want to be told exactly what to do.

Speaker 1 30:48

I genuinely don't know what the best thing is for you. I might have a sense, I might, I have information, I have intuition, but you, the client, like it, you're the person who needs to do the thing and take responsibility for it. So you have to know what you want to do and you have to feel good about it.

Speaker 31:08

Well, in another podcast, we could talk about like the internal knowing. We could talk about the muscle testing. So it's a sway muscle test where you can hold a supplement or a substance to your chest and keep your eyes closed. And you know, you sway towards it, it means it's it's beneficial. Sway away means probably not, but these ways of beginning to feel what feels right in our bodies, yeah.

Speaker 1 31:34

And even that is not an outsource, you're not making the muscle testing the hero, and you're the victim who doesn't know. It's just a way to be in more relationship with how your body responds to things, right? So, you know, any tool that we give could be used as a part of that victim triangle or could be used as a tool of empowerment for you. Yeah. So we'll always be touching on that nuance because it's really important to us.

Speaker 32:02

Yeah, it is.

Speaker 1 32:04

So easy to digest foods.

Speaker 32:08

Um, I actually did have a thought to bring it back to land this plane. Yeah. Um, so if we're eating in a way that's suited to our digestion, likely easy to digest foods, it means that the energy in our body can go other places to do other things. And when we feel good in our body, we can be the best version of ourselves. We really can't do well in life if nothing's digesting and we feel fat and bloated. We're not gonna be like firing on all cylinders.

Speaker 1 32:40

So true. Very powerful little image in my head of somebody feeling awful and trying to be their best self versus somebody who's feeling healthy and vibrant and well, and you know, they've had good poops.

Speaker 32:55

Yeah, we don't want any like forcing things. Like, let's just, yeah, like just let ourselves be naturally vibrant and healthy.

Speaker 1 33:06

So um maybe this is another topic. How much time do you have till you have to leave?

unknown 33:13

Okay.

Speaker 1 33:14

Um, but a big part of the digestion conversation is the bowel movement conversation. So in an ideal world, well, some people say the ideal is to have a bowel movement after every meal.

Speaker 33:29

Oh, they can f*** right off. Um people do say that. I think one Do you think that's really true? Not for everyone. I mean, do you think it is an ideal? In theory, it makes sense, right? If um if we're really digesting all the food that goes in the something comes in and something's gotta come out, you know, like that that would be nice. I just don't know how realistic it is for modern chimes.

Speaker 1 33:56

Okay, so what we would call reliable good digestion part of that would be one good bowel movement every day.

Speaker 34:06

Yeah.

Speaker 1 34:06

Hopefully shortly after waking. And some people have more than one, and that's great as long as they feel good. Um, I don't feel like getting into like texture and all of that.

Speaker 34:19

No, we don't have to do the Bristol stool.

Speaker 1 34:22

Um, but I think that's important just to say that we need to be absorbing about and we need to be talking about our poop, and we need to be like looking at our poop, and you know, your poop is a good indicator of your health.

Speaker 34:35

It really is.

Speaker 1 34:36

That's all. I just don't think we should not say it.

Speaker 34:39

Yeah, that's definitely a big component of digestion. Um, lots of things can impact the constipation, though, as you know, constipation or diarrhea, thyroid, gallbladder, hormones, so many things. Yep.

Speaker 1 34:52

And not to mention any supplements that you might be taking. I took an antihistamine and I feel like it's having an impact on me.

Speaker 35:00

Yeah, because it works on the choline reciting. It's very dry. Oh, yeah, I like what um Dr. Mike Liebowitz. Yeah. So he's one of our, we would consider him to be one of our mentors. Um, he, I guess he considers himself to be somewhat of a purist, I think, and he looks to nature a lot, as we all should. But he says that in a forest, the deer or whatever animal it is is not going around and collecting all these different foods and then making a casserole, which is so true. So you whenever digestion is um stunted or there's some sort of ailment, focusing on just one or two things is probably a good idea. Like we said, cooking them together as well definitely helps, but not in a casserole. Well, that's a good point. Well, animals are peak metabolic health, like they are very you don't ever really see it depressed or an overweight deer, or the dogs that live with us are dogs and cats because they're starting to get um our nervous system imbalances. But in but in nature, yeah, um animals are just peak, peak health.

Speaker 1 36:15

All right, so we should learn from the animals, and maybe in an ideal world, we would eat just one food at a time for our digestion. But in the case where we want to eat more than one food at a time, it's definitely gonna be easier on our digestion if it's all cooked together.

Speaker 36:30

Yeah.

Speaker 1 36:31

In a way that retains some moisture. Yeah, for sure. Um, okay. What about um do you want to talk about spices that make food easier to digest?

Speaker 36:43

Yeah, I mean, I can just really quick, all spices serve um some sort of digestive aid as well as some other function in the body. So we look at it like God put plants here, all for their own individual reasons, and herbs are plants. So they all are very helpful for digestion because they're all relatively warming. Um, some are both warming and cooling, like coriander is or coriander and uh cardamom are both really unique in that way. But all the other ones that they they cook with in um like Ayurvedic food, like cumin, asafetita, turmeric, ginger, even cayenne. Asafetita? That's the Hing. Hing is um it's the it tastes like uh onion or garlic, and I put it in my kitchery when I make it. Remember, you were like, why does mine always taste flat? Yeah, and I said it's because of the acetita. Oh, I didn't I didn't retain that. Oh, um Ganyug is another real really good cinnamon, you know, all these spices are are helpful with digestion, and usually they have some sort of like cardiovascular, liver, some some other support support. Yeah, it's like why not use them? Amazing.

Speaker 1 38:00

Um you talked a little bit about digestive fire, and one of the ways we can stoke that digestive fire is with something like bitters, like ginger, something warming.

Speaker 38:14

Yeah, um a classic tonic before meals, like 10 to 15 minutes before meals. I learned it as a um ginger appetizer, but it's a slice of raw ginger with a squeeze of lime and a little bit of sea salt, Himalayan salt, and the properties of that get all of your acids and enzymes going in the stomach. I love that. It feels so nice. We should have that here all the time.

Speaker 1 38:41

So, but otherwise, things that people use are bitter, apple cider vinegar.

Speaker 38:46

But that I mean, that is very heating, yes.

Speaker 1 38:50

So um, and then we talk about eating during daylight and not eating when the sun is down in an ideal scenario.

Speaker 38:59

Yeah, we we our bodies follow the sun as far as digestive strength. So when the sun is highest in the sky, midday is when our largest or most complex meal should be.

Speaker 1 39:12

And then also, you know, sometimes we talk about foods like ice cream, like cold wet foods, which are generally not great for digestion. So if we are gonna eat them, it's best to do it in the middle of the day. Yeah, for a whole digestion.

Speaker 39:26

And believe me, and I know nothing beats ice cream before bed, but over time that cold, damp, those cold, damp qualities are affecting our constitution.

Speaker 1 39:39

Um, looking at our list, also walking after a meal, I've been trying to do that one. It's great for digestion and for blood sugar regulation. Like within 10 minutes after you finish eating, you go for a walk.

Speaker 39:51

Yeah, nothing aggressive either.

Speaker 1 39:53

Gentle. Yeah. Um, if you need support digesting, if you feel like your digestion needs some help, laying on your left side is a way to support that.

Speaker 40:06

And rubbing the belly clockwise is always helpful. Um, sleeping on the left side is indicated for digestion too. And then yeah, so one thing I'll mention, we were kind of, I guess we were thinking, are we going to talk about individual foods? Um there's definitely an outline of foods that are easy to digest, right? Like um oatmeal, um rice, kitchery type type of things, root vegetables that are well cooked. But like, I guess I like to think of it more with characteristics. So I was reflecting on this recently, how I've been on this kick of sourdough, avocado, and eggs in the morning. And like I feel okay, but let's think about that. It's really heavy and oily, and long term it's probably not gonna be the best for me. So, not saying I can't get away with it. I I am, and you're enjoying it, and I yeah, but it's getting it's almost like my body is kind of trying to nudge me a little bit.

Speaker 1 41:18

Like, I feel like a good point is that we fluctuate and you know, our cravings or what we feel drawn to sometimes is a really good indicator of what our body wants. And so if we're drawn to a certain food and our body tells us it can it can handle it digestively, then that's okay for a time. But that doesn't mean we should eat that every day for months on end. Sure. And we're gonna go through phases.

Speaker 41:48

Every day should be different, every season

Mental vs Physical Cravings and Hunger

Speaker 41:51

should be different as far as what we're eating. But on that topic, there's two kinds of cravings. There's the mental cravings that take us out of balance, and there's the physical cravings that take us towards balance, and it can be really hard to just decipher which is which. It's a lifelong journey.

Speaker 1 42:09

It's really important to try to endeavor to discern between the physical cravings and the mental cravings.

Speaker 42:17

Yeah, and the mental cravings, um, we tend to crave those things that will take us out of balance for whatever reason. It's the same concept as people who have an allergic or an allergy to a food literally crave that food. So I don't really know the biochemical reasoning for that. Me neither. Um, but yeah, it's it's a it's a process, and there's we're gonna listen to the mental cravings sometimes knowingly, sometimes unknowingly. And like we've said, the goal is to at least know what we're doing when we're doing it.

Speaker 1 42:50

Yeah. And to understand, like part of this conversation about easy to digest foods is starting to understand the qualities of different foods so that we can compensate for them.

Speaker 43:01

Yeah.

Speaker 1 43:02

So just as an example, let's say you really felt like eating a bag of popcorn, which is like popcorn on Saturday, classically terrible for digestion. So, what would be something you would do to support your digestion before or after that to try and compensate?

Speaker 43:22

That's a good question. Um, sometimes I'll just go for it. Um, that's what I did on Saturday. I did not really plan for going to the movies. But you I guess in theory, you could take a digestive enzyme or like really prime your digestion with some bitters, or you know, just enjoy the popcorn and then wait until you feel hungry again. Because I'm telling you, it did not digest super well. It was like hours before I could tell that the popcorn had moved on from my stomach into my small intestine. That's how you really know if you're ready to eat. So it might sound a little bit weird, but a practice in Ayurveda is forcing a little Throughout the day, and then you taste it or whatever. And if there's any hint of your meal, then you know you're not ready to eat again yet.

Speaker 1 44:08

I never heard that. But that makes sense. I do it so much.

Speaker 44:12

Yeah, I do it so much, I don't even think to talk about it. Um, because sometimes you'll think you're hungry, and then I'm like, Oh, let me check in. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, there's still food in my stomach.

Speaker 1 44:23

Right. So then also similar to mental versus physical cravings, there's mental versus physical hunger, like, oh, I think I'm hungry. I should be eating now. It's about time for my next meal, versus my body is asking me to feed it. My stomach is is primed and ready.

Speaker 44:44

Well, and this is part of the reason that I struggle with these light airy foods, like popcorn, like salads, is because I I'll kind of still feel hungry, even though there's food in my stomach, because it's not like you know, grounding and like weighing down. It's like it feels almost like there's nothing there. You know, so I was like kind of still hungry, but I knew the popcorn was attacking my digestive system.

Speaker 1 45:08

Interesting. So this is our first, probably of many conversations about foods and digestion. I can't imagine that's it for that topic. It always comes back up. I know. Um so very curious to hear any of your responses. I feel like we talked about a lot of different topics, and um and there's there's so much individuality here. So look forward to hearing from you, and we'll be back soon with more. Thank you so much.

Speaker 45:43

Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of Healing with Nuance.

Speaker 1 45:47

Stay tuned for more Nuanced Health and Wellness Education. You can find us at JLI Health.com and email us at JL at JLI Health.com.