Harmonious Eating

For the people of the industrialized world, and particularly in the affluent West, eating habits have changed more dramatically over the last century or so than in all the thousands of years. We no longer eat food gathered or grown in our neighborhood or even in our own country. We eat food from all over the world. We no longer eat what is in season, big thanks to aero planes, freezing and canning. We eat strawberries at special events, Brussels sprouts in midsummer, baby peas and avocados all the year around.

We may eat meat as often as three times a day. Bacon or sausage for breakfast, roast beef sandwiches for lunch, meat and two veg for dinner. We also eat denatured food white flour, white rice, white sugar, chemically refined dozens of different chemicals in the form of artificial additives as well as traces of the tons of chemicals used in Western style agriculture.

It’s hardly surprising that our digestive systems, programmed by thousands of years of far simpler eating, can’t take the strain. Digestive problems all the way from wind to constipation to full-blown ulcers are almost endemic in Western countries. If our digestive systems are not working at 100 percent efficiently the whole body suffers. Absorption of essential nutrients is impaired. Toxic wastes are not eliminated. The gate is opened to myriad health problems.

When Dr. William Howard Hay cured himself in the 1920’s of chronic ill health simply by changing the way he ate. After all his colleagues, had failed to help him with conventional medicines. He stumbled on the answer to many people’s problems. He called in Fundamental Eating, and it formed the basis of what is now known as the Hay diet.

The fundamental rule of the Hay diet is that concentrated starches and proteins are not eaten at the same meal. If you eat cheese, you don’t eat bread, roast beef, but no roast potatoes, chips or fish. According to Dr. Hay, the human digestive system is not adapted to the simultaneous digestion of starches and proteins. When it is challenged repeatedly with such combination, digestive problems result.

The nutrients in food are poorly absorbed. And as the digestive systems breaks down, other more serious health problems arise. The Hay diet has improved the health of millions throughout the world who have learned how to combine foods in the right way, avoiding mixtures of food that fight. Not just digestive problems but diseases respond to Hay’s concept, since the well nourished, self cleansing body has the increased resistance and raised vitality essential for nature’s own healing processes.

It’s not our recommendation that everybody should stick rigidly to Hay’s fundamental eating plan. But the pulse of Hay can be felt throughout his advices. The majority of recipes use the healthy combination of foods he recommended. And in most cases, the menus reflect these principles of Harmonious Eating, as we have called it.

Even if you feel perfectly healthy, try harmonious eating for a few weeks. You may be surprised by how much better you feel. If you are not well and particularly if you have a digestive or bowel or weight problem, then Harmonious eating will produce significant long terms benefits.

What to Eat With What?

In Harmonious Eating, all foods belong in one of three groups, Protein, Neutral and Starch. Starch foods can be combined with Neutral foods, and so can Protein food. But starch and protein foods should never be eaten at the same meal. Allow an interval of at least four hours between meals. And if you do snack in between, make sure it’s on Neutral foods.  

The Protein Foods are, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, whole eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, all fruits expect those in the starch group, all the legumes lentils and all dried beans.

The Neutral Foods are, All vegetables expect potatoes, all nuts except peanuts, butter cream, egg yolks, Cold pressed sesame, sunflower or olive oils, all salad stuffs, seeds and sprouted seeds, herbs, honey, and maple syrup.

The starch Foods are, potatoes, bread, flour, oats, wheat, barley, rice, millet, rye, Buckwheat, sweet fruits, bananas, Ripe pears, Ripe papaya, very sweet grapes, dried fruits, milk and yogurt,  and small amounts of honey.

You will be eating in a new pattern which at first sight may look like deprivation. So no more fish and chips, steaks, and kidney pie, burgers in a bun or cheese sandwiches. With a little imagination you will quickly find that you don’t need to discard all of your favorite foods. You just have to prepare them differently and change your eating patterns. With Harmonious Eating the urge to snack nibble at regular intervals throughout, the day is greatly diminished, and often disappears altogether, so that unwanted pounds melt silently away.