Answer to the question on food combinations is that the body cannot properly digest any of those combinations. When the body is breaking food down to the molecular level so then the cells can absorb the nutrients, specific enzymes go to work to chemically break down the food. The average person in our society thinks that whatever you put in your body in the form of food and drink will be digested and it is only unhealthy foods that gets poor digestion. Well unhealthy food definitely isn't good for the body for many reasons, but even if you eat healthy food but mix them improperly in the body you aren't going to properly digest the food... no matter how healthy, "all natural", or "organic" it is.

For example:

Concentrated Protein, as in beef, chicken, pork, etc., requires an important acidic enzyme called Pepsin to break down the protein so the body can properly absorb it. (The digestion process is definitely more complicated, but this is the quick basic version.)

Concentrated Carbohydrate or Starch, as in wheat, breads, pastas, potatoes, requires the alkaline enzyme Ptyalin which starts to break down through the salivary secretions in the mouth.

With both of these two scenarios being what the body does to break down just the Proteins and Carbs we put in our body, this is evidence enough to how we are killing our bodies from the inside out. Proteins need an acidic enzyme and Carbs need an alkaline enzyme. If you eat a sandwhich with meet or cheese, eat a hamburger, or pasta like spaghetti and meatballs, the end result is a slab of indigestible food rotting in your stomach because the two main chemical enzymes that are meant to break down the food ended up neutralizing each other in your stomach.

Mix baking soda and vinegar in a glass. Alkaline and Acid neutralizes to CO2. When you burp, what do you think you're burping out. Gas. Gas from what? It is the CO2 that has been created in your stomach.

If you think that is bad, then why don't we take that and start throwing in everything else. Acidic and sub-acidic fruits, sugars of all shape and sizes, dairy products, cold liquid that literally halts our digestion until the liquid is heated up, fats and oils, and everything else we throw in there. If you were to look at a McDonald's Happy Meal and factor in everything on food combination, you just might throw up. And do you know what is sad? We are giving this to our children. You can't cure our ignorance with a pill.

If you're looking for a cure to cancer, diabetes, and even obesity... good luck. They don't exist. They don't exist because they are the results of our lifestyle. You don't look for a cure for a broken neck after a car accident, because it was the accident that caused it. So why are we looking for cures for ailments that are caused by our "luxurious" lives? Well, we're looking for cures to these because generally doctors don't have the proper schooling in the basic nutrition of the body. So, again, they are looking in the wrong places.

We are the only species on the planet that mixes food as we eat. We create unnatural food, processed food, ferment fruit to make alcohol, and import food from all over the world and eat it during environmental times that wouldn't allow such food to grow or exist. If that sounds perfectly fine to you, then that scares the heck out of me! Want to get healthy? It all starts with what you're putting in your body. Check the book at the bottom of this site, The Tao of Health, Sex, & Longevity, by Daniel P. Reid. It is an amazing piece of information, especially about the diet and nutrition.

Stay happy, healthy, and live in harmony.

Try this experiment

Mike Kaz Shimizu, my Shiatsu Master, suggested an experiment today during some of our Shiatsu training. He was explaining how an acidic pH balance can effect losing, or trying to lose, weight in the body. Here is the experiment:

1 glass of water (proper pH balance... maybe slightly alkaline)

1 glass of vinegar (too acidic pH balance... pretty much everyone in America)

Oil (The oil in this experiment is like the fats in our body)

Drop a few drops of oil in both glasses and see what happens. In the water, the oil stays clumped together in relatively large portions. In the glass of vinegar, the oil literally changes the solution of the water, making it different than just the vinegar and where the oil now is almost inseparable from the vinegar. What this is actually doing in the body makes a lot of sense. If you're too acidic, the fats and oils in the body are broken down and is aloud to be absorbed by your body. When this happens, no matter how much exercise you do, if you're too acidic, you are replenishing your body with more and more fat. So instead of shipping the fats out of your system you are welcoming them with open arms. In the solution of water, the fats and oils CANNOT be absorbed... so it is sent out of the body. Basic chemistry here folks, no tricks, no gimmicks. When fat can be absorbed into the body... it is. And it is not supposed to be at such the rate we do on a daily basis.

The over acidic pH balance of the body is derived directly from our culture's obsession with getting food cooked fast and tasting great with minimal planning. We live to eat... not eat to live. I have mentioned earlier, animals in the wild are not dying of cancer, obesity, diabetes, and so forth. We, as a culture and a "civilized" society, believe that our bodies are above nature and we can eat anything with minimal side effects. We need to come back down to earth. Truth be told, everything that is happening is derived from our eating habits. It wont change over night, but if it doesn't change any time soon, our children and children's children will be paying the price even worse then we are. Don't expect cures to Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, and all the other issues western medicine is looking into for cures. You don't cure it... you prevent it.

You think living a healthy life style, top to bottom, is difficult and that "you just can't do it?" Then you need to ask yourself, "Would I rather take on the battle with cancer instead?"

The Body's largest organ

The answer to last week's question; Which is the Body's Largest Organ? The Skin.

Be careful what you put on your skin. This massive organ absorbs almost everything put on it. The more chemicals that are abnormal, the more problems internally you could have. When your skin starts to show blemishes, redness, or anything else that isn't normal, it is just your body telling you that something isn't quite right. Don't ignore it. You wouldn't ignore your heart if it started to hurt or your lungs if you couldn't breathe well. Take care of your skin.