FOOD STACKING

Food stacking, what to eat, when and why! I am going to share with you a few simple hacks you can start today, for making the most of what and how you eat. First, I think it’s important to note, I do not believe in extreme restrictive dieting or anything that requires cutting out entire food groups. That said, if your goal is to lose fat, you will need to create some level of a calorie deficit. My personal favorite is through intermittent fasting, but there are many ways to achieve this. (More on IF in another Blog post)
Today I want to discuss food stacking, what it is and why it can be extremely beneficial in helping our body process and optimize nutrient absorption. First, let’s consider what’s happening to the food once we eat it. Think of your colon as a pipeline, and the food we eat is being funneled in order, into this pipeline. Now consider how long it takes for this food to travel from one end to the other. The digestive system takes between 5-12 hours to fully digest. This means that the food you eat in a 5-12 hour period are all working their way through the colon together. If the foods you eat make you feel bloated, or just crappy, it may have more to do with how you have them stacked in your colon more than what you actually ate. Understanding how the body digests certain foods differently could mean all the difference for how you feel and how efficiently you absorbed nutrients. Digestion requires more energy from the body than any other process. Therefore giving your digestive system a little help can lead to measurable improvements.FOOD STACKING, is something I have personally practiced for years and at this point, is second nature for me. In my constant quest to reduce bloat, use food for me, not against me, and create a healthy environment in my gut, I have discovered that “when” you eat specific foods is just as important as what foods you eat. The research behind food stacking (as well as my own personal experience) shows significant benefits from starting your digestive system off slowly. By letting it warm up, then build throughout the day, eating lighter foods to heavier foods out ability to process and absorb is improved. This is why I always always, start with warm lemon water and a synbiotic before anything everyday. This simple daily ritual gives the body a gentle wake up call and activates the digestive system without stressing it out. Lemons are loaded with enzymes specific to rebuilding tissue in the liver, which is your main fat burning organ. Warm lemon water, floods the system with these enzymes flushing mucus and toxins that have accumulated the day before and overnight. Adding in a pre and probiotics(symbiotic) on an empty stomach is a big MUST for me. Prebiotics feed the good bacteria in the gut, which will help to counterbalance and reduce the bad bacteria that accumulates with consumption of highly processed foods, medications and alcohol. (More on that in another post) I want to share the benefits of this simple daily practice because it is useful in order to prime the digestive system for the day.

Now for the FOOD. The rule of thumb I like to follow is, after warm lemon water and coffee, I start light, with a green juice or fresh fruit or fresh/frozen fruit smoothies. If smoothies are your thing, then adding greens right into it can side step a green juice. Smoothies are a great way to start the day, because they are blended, they are easier on the body to digest first thing, plus they are a simple way to flood the body with a ton nutrients. There are a few benefits to starting your day off with fruit. First, fruit takes the body considerably less time and energy to digest. Typically the heavier and more acidic the food, the more time and energy will be spent processing it. This is the reason for starting light and building throughout the day to end with your heaviest meal.
Consider this, If meat takes twice as long a s fruit for the body to process and digest, eating a burger then eating and apple, (that apple that would normally take 30-40 minutes for the body to digest) is now stuck in the colon behind the hamburger for the next 5 hours….waiting, fermenting, causing gas and not absorbing…Ugh! The apple that could have passed though, been optimally absorbed, is now on the slow boat mixing with the hamburger to become an acid mess. This could be why if you grab a piece of fruit for an afternoon snack or an evening sweet treat, you experience extreme bloating, stomach aches or even constipation. That fruit and its juiced must sit on top of the heavier, more acidic food the entire way down the colon.
Eating the heaviest food in your last meal of the day gives the body more time overnight to process it through the digestive system with less blocking its path.

We love the rule of thumb start light, end heavy. It is an easy way to understand what to eat when. Meals ideally will have a good balance of lean protein, carbs and fats, even if just a little. 1tbs of natural nut butter provides good fat and protein, it counts, a scoop of spirulina is a great form of plant based protein, it counts, fruit and veggies are carbs, they count.

Here is an example of a simple stacked day of eating;
⁃ 7am: drink warm lemon water (option to drop chlorophyll)
⁃ 7:30am: Black coffee with a little coconut cream frothed
⁃ 8:30am: Workout, Move your body
⁃ 9:30am: Drink water *tip; drinking 80oz a day is ideal, drink half before noon
⁃ 10:30am: (1st meal) Smoothie with berries, banana, spirulina or plant based protein powder, pinch of sea salt, 1tbs nut butter or coconut oil, handful of greens, coconut water, blend
⁃ 1:30pm: (2nd meal) Sourdough toast with avocado and 2 poached eggs, fermented veggies/ OR loaded salad
⁃ 5:30pm: (3rd meal) Pasta with hall veggies, 1/3 lean meat or protein
⁃ Then stop eating!!! The body needs time to rest and take a break from digesting. Ending your food intake early evening is ideal for optimal recovery and fat burning overnight.Give these simple tweaks a try for a week and see how you feel.

XO
Maria