Our bodies are beautifully created "machines" with many moving parts; each part depending on the others. I often compare the human body to a car or any machine with many moving parts. Long ago when I bought my first car, my dad drilled into my mind the importance of putting good gasoline in the car and getting regular oil changes. He knew better than I did what my car would need to function well for a long time. Guess what? Our heavenly Father knew that our bodies need plenty of water, plenty of good oils, and plenty of fiber (which is like a scrub brush in the colon) to function well for a long time.
Every day, I eat food. You probably do, too! What goes into my mouth (the beginning of digestion) should make its way entirely through the digestive tract within 24 hours. The body takes the nutrients it needs and then what's leftover should exit the body. All of that should take place within 24 hours. Your bowels should move at least once every single day. If that's not happening (which it wasn't for me for many years), then your body has to find room for that "waste". Often the organs become squeezed or totally compressed by this waste that has accumulated.....and they don't like it! Your body also has to deal with the toxins that your body wanted to get rid of in that waste so now the toxins are being absorbed back into your body and stored somewhere. Only God knows where!
Can you see that vibrant health and healing truly begin with a well functioning digestive system? Anytime things aren't moving well, there are problems looming. For me, diverticulitis and polyps in my colon (large intestine) were a direct result of my bowel not moving regularly and not moving completely. When I added much more water, great oils, and plenty of fiber to my diet, my body responded and the diverticulitis was healed. That whole idea of low-fat or no-fat diets is not in line with God's design for our bodies. That low-fat or no-fat idea first came about in the 1950s from studies that were faulty. Then the American Heart Association took hold of the idea, and in 1961 issued its first anti-fat guidelines warning that fat is bad and it leads to cardiovascular disease. Our bodies need plenty of good oils (NOT canola oil or vegetable oil) to be properly lubed for all the movement. Water, oil, and fiber are the keys to getting things moving in the digestive tract daily.
If your bowels are moving well every single day (without the use of any supplements, OTC meds, or prescriptions), then you can ignore this "food challenge." Otherwise, here's my food challenge:
Drink this much water: Drink 1/2 your body's weight in ounces of water each day. (Eg. If you weigh 150 pounds, then drink AT LEAST 75 ounces of water.) That means water.....you can't count coffee, tea, or anything else although you can put some freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice into any of that water. Adding freshly squeezed citrus is a great choice!
Eat two medium size avocados sometime during the day hopefully with some other great food choices. A medium size avocado has almost 14 grams of fiber AND it has wonderful oil that your body will love.
The next morning, start your day drinking more water. Again, getting in the "AT LEAST" amount of water into your day. Then see what happens.......no guarantees but I'm almost positive things will be moving. And that's great news for your body!
I'm suggesting this food challenge just so you can see how well your body functions when you feed it well. I'm not suggesting that you need to regularly eat two avocados every day but eating an avocado a day is a fabulous choice!
Getting enough fiber from foods into my diet daily is a conscious choice and one that I struggle with many days especially when I'm traveling or away from home. Generally, women should consume about 25 grams of fiber daily & men about 30-38 grams. Recently, I stumbled across a list of foods (see below) which shows grams of fiber from greatest to least. This list certainly doesn't include all foods and it may not even have some of the great sources of fiber (I added some to the list), but I'm sharing it to get you thinking. An eye-opener to me was raspberries with 8 whopping grams per cup. Of course, you always want to eat organic raspberries (all berries should be organic) because the conventional ones are heavily sprayed.
One of my favorite dishes at summer pitch-in meals is 3 Bean Salad. That standard recipe got a big overhaul by me and became the Bean & Corn Salad (see below) which is loaded with great fiber and a dressing that's full of nutritious ingredients. This salad keeps well for several days in the refrigerator and it's good to take to gatherings because there are no ingredients that need careful refrigeration. It's also a recipe that is easy to double. A serving of the Bean & Corn Salad eaten with a sliced avocado on top is a wonderful source of fiber and so many other amazing nutrients. I hope you enjoy the salad knowing that your body is being well fed with nutritious food God provided!
