Digestion

The following is an outline for this episode: Fats & Digestion

Digestion

• 20 minutes: melons, fresh juice
• 30 minutes: high-water content fruits (oranges, apples, grapefruits)
• 40-60 minutes: dense fruits (bananas, pomegranates, figs)
• 1 hour: leafy greens (spinach, lettuce, kale)
• 2-3 hours: cooked starchy vegetables (yams, potatoes, carrots)
• 3-3½ hours: fatty fruits (avocados, olives, durians, coconut)
• 3-4 hours: cooked grains (rice, bread, quinoa)
• 4 hours: nuts and seeds (sesame, chia, almonds, walnuts)
• 4+ hours: diary, meat/fish, eggs, beans

• Time will vary depending on the health of your digestive system. 
• These listed times are for a very healthy digestive system.
• When combining foods, the meal takes as long as the slowest digesting food, and then some.
• It is ideal for your stomach to be empty for at least an hour before eating, and before sleeping. This allows your hormones, such as insulin, to balance. Hormonal balance is essential for burning fat, building muscle, sleeping well, feeling energizes, having good skin, and for overall being healthy.
• This list is, at best, an estimation. 
• Food can be stuck inside for up to three days in a broken-down-system. I've been there... It's no fun.

Digesting Fats

• Fat takes a long time to digest.
• You do need fat to survive.
• Many raw-vegan recipes pay little to no attention to the amount of fat in the recipes.

Some people, when transitioning, get trapped “in transit.”

Someone might eat celery with hummus for breakfast, an almond-milk smoothie for brunch, a fruit juice with a handful of nuts for lunch, a salad with cold-pressed olive oil for a snack and then a guacamole with raw chips for dinner followed by a rich cheesecake for dessert. This could be an entirely raw vegan diet. One that is filling, full of nutrition and delicious. But....

With a diet like that, you'll get seventy percent of your calories from fat – no kidding!

This isn't bad thing if your coming from a diet of fast food, noodles, breads, pastries, coffee, soda, black tea, candy, energy bars, sugared cereals and deep-fried foods. Coming from a diet like that, it's a tremendous accomplishment, and there will be benefits.

However, it should be transitional place. It's not a place to stay.

• It's okay if you need comfort foods. 
• Honor yourself and listen to your body.
• It's not what you do once a month or once a week that defines you, but what you do every day.
• Raw food fats are good fats.

The fat found in coconuts, avocados, nuts, seeds and other fatty fruits such as olives and durians are healthy fats. They are completely different than the fats found in animals (which are loaded with toxins – as we discussed in our episode Toxicity & Obesity).

Another bad sort of fat is synthetic plastic-fats called “trans-fats” that are in hydrogenated oils.

Margarine is a solid block of hydrogenated synthetic fat.

Whole-food plant-based fats are great for your brain health, nerve health and skin health.

Getting less than 9% of your calories from fat is very dangerous and can literally cause brain damage.

You want to aim for 10% to 40% of your calories to come from healthy fats, leaning towards 15% to 25%.

• The average vegetable's calories come 10% from fat. 
• The average fruit, not including fatty fruits such as avocados, is 4% fat. 
• Most seeds and nuts are around 70% fat. 

By eating a diet rich in vegetables and fruits, and adding a couple tablespoons of seeds, nuts or oil to your meals daily, you'll average 20% of your calories from fat, which is a good place to be. 


It's best if you can consolidate your fat to one meal during the day.

Feeling “empty” in the stomach is a good feeling – that “light” sensation. 
For many people it is actually emotionally distressing. 
Remind yourself that you're honoring your body by giving it a well-earned rest.

• We often eat to cope with stress. 
• The work of digesting can not take place simultaneously with strong emotions. 
• You either stop digesting or you become somewhat emotionally numbed.

Stress is an under-rated source of damage in people's lives. 
If thinking about this is stressing you out, take a time out and relax. 
Ease into consciousness about your food choices.

Visit Raederle's website for more information.

If you have a heath or fitness question you'd like us to answer on the show, e-mail us your question at (with out spaces and such): r a e d e r l e at g m x dot c o m.