Raw Foods-Optimal Digestion

• What is Digestion?

• Signs of Weak Disgestion

• Causes of Poor Digestion

• Enzymes and Digestion

• Know your Enzymes

• Why Alkaline?

• The Best for Optimum Digestion

• How to Improve Digestion

• Tips to Make Raw Foods Even More Digestible

• Foods, Herbs, and Spices that Promote Digestion

• Healthy Digestion Supplements

• Digestion is the process of breaking down food in the stomach and intestines into nutrients and energy that can be used by the body. It begins in the mouth as soon as you start chewing your food. Ptyalin, a digestive enzyme that is abundantly present in the saliva, starts to break down the carbohydrate molecules present in your food. A small amount of salivary lipase also starts to partially digest the fats in your food. Food then is swallowed down the throat and passes through the esophagus before it reaches the stomach, where highly acidic gastric juices further break down the food and destroy unfriendly bacteria and other pathogenic micro-organisms.

• Food allergy symptoms (bloating, brain fog, arthritis, acne, eczema, edema, migraine, asthma, urticaris, fatigue, post-nasal drip, hay fever, depression)

A person with a compromised digestion will not be able to achieve optimum health and well-being due to poor assimilation of nutrients. Fecal analysis can help determine how strong your digestion is. Impaired digestion is usually caused by combination of two or more factors: low stomach acid, acidosis, stress, smoking, alcoholism...

Enzymes are heat-sensitive protein catalysts that perform thousands of life-sustaining biochemical functions in the body. Digestion and assimilation are two vital processes that heavily rely on enzymes to be carried out properly and completely. Enzyme production decreases with age. For this reason it is very important to include enzyme supplementation as a part of a self-care regimen as you age.

• Metabolic Enzymes

• Digestive Enzymes

• Food Enzymes

Not all raw vegan diets are the same. Even a 100% raw vegan diet can create acidosis. A raw vegan diet that's high in fruit and nuts or seeds will create and acidic environment for the cells and tissues. A truly healthy and healing diet must be alkaline. Careful meal planning is therefore mandatory in establishing homeostatsis, the state of physiological equilibrium characterized by an 80/20 alkaline/acid balance.

The diet that truly optimizes digestion is one that is abundant in water, enzymes, and essential micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytohemicals) that are highly nourishing, cleansing, and healing. Only the alkaline raw vegan diet meets these criteria. No other diet is as quick and effective in rebuilding a weak and damaged digestive tract.

Chewing raw foods well is already one big step towards better digestion. However, there are still some steps you can take to increase the digestibility of raw plant foods.

Optimizing digestion is not just about changing your diet. It requires a multi-pronged appoach since most of the time the causes are not just physical but emotional and mental as well.