Your Probing Mind

Your Probing Mind By Dr. Virginia Vetrano

“Mono-Eliminating Diet”

What are your feelings about a “mono-eliminating diet, ” e.g. oranges or grapefruit?

An “eliminating diet,” mono or otherwise, is useful when for some reason a genuine fast cannot be taken. Bear in mind that the fast is always more efficacious and more rapid in permitting the body to rid itself of toxic wastes than any kind of eliminating diet. One week of a complete fast is probably more beneficial than two or three weeks of an “eliminating diet.”
It is often thought that one can do the “eliminating diet” on his own, bypassing the service of a Hygienic doctor. While I am not trying to make people more dependent upon doctors for everything, I am trying to stress the fact that most people have insufficient knowledge of their condition and the “elimination diet,” and often damage themselves by the improper application of Hygiene. Many people come to me after having placed themselves on an “eliminating diet” and carrying it out for too long. Many people tend to vascillate back and forth from one type of “eliminating diet” to another; and from stuffing to underfeeding so long that real deficiencies are produced and health is not regained. They do themselves much harm and come to me suffering with the same problems for which they started the diet, as well as suffering with deficiencies. The pathetic thing is now they are too thin to fast for speedy recovery of their health and too sick to eat. What do you do with them? They’ve gotten themselves in real trouble and have actually made themselves sicker and unable to be helped by the Hygienic doctor until they carry out his or her instructions in Hygienic living and have eaten properly for a year or more.
Juice diets, and the orange or grapefruit diet may be used judiciously with beneficial results, but these should not be carried out for months at a time, nor should a person go three or four days out of every week on a juice diet over a long period of time. He will become weak, and run into deficiencies.

Protein Foods

Is it true that the food I eat today is not digested, assimilated and put to use until several hours later? Why then does eating nuts early in the day give me a protein kick and in general help me to feel more satisfaction and less desire for unwholesome foods?

Eating protein foods, especially nuts, satisfies for many physiological reasons. One of them is probably because of their high fat content. Fat seems to be used for energy longer than carbohydrates before being stored by the body. Sugars and starches are absorbed and gotten out of the small intestine and circulation quickly, and then rapidly converted into glycogen in the liver. Perhaps, with nothing in the intestines to be absorbed, hunger is again manifested. Proteins take quite a bit longer for digestion and absorption, and perhaps this is another reason why they satisfy more. Once they have been absorbed through the digestive epithelium, however; the amino acids are readily taken up by the cells. In spite of this, they still satisfy and prevent people from desiring junk foods or sugars between meals. This is one of the main reasons that we began serving the protein meal at noon instead of in the evening at the Health School.

Sequence of Eating

In what order should you eat foods?

Formerly it was thought by a few Hygienists that it was necessary to eat the least concentrated food first and the most concentrated food last. The reason for this was that the foods were supposedly layered in the stomach, and it was thought best not to mix them; to permit the juicier foods to be evacuated from the stomach first. It has been shown, however, that food does not stay in layers in the stomach, and the pyloric valve does not open with each peristaltic wave so that food will become mixed in the stomach even if you eat the most concentrated food last. For instance, let us say that you eat some subacid fruit first. The pyloric valve stays tightly shut for fifteen minutes after the beginning of a meal, then it begins to open and pass a tiny bit of food to the duodenum. Each time there is a contraction of the stomach, the food is pushed forward toward the pylorus (the lower end of the stomach). As the valve opens only occasionally and not each time the peristaltic wave pushes food toward it, the food is pushed toward a closed valve. The food cannot get out of the stomach at the valve, so it streams back toward the upper end of the stomach, thoroughly mixing with the food eaten last. Even if some food empties from the pylorus when it opens, only a small amount is evacuated and the rest is propelled backward to be thoroughly mixed with the contents of the upper stomach. Eat your foods in proper combinations, and you won’t have to worry about the sequence in which you eat them. Food becomes mixed in the stomach regardless of sequence of eating.
It is wise, however, to remember to chew your foods well, and separately. That is, do not use a tomato or lettuce to moisturize nuts to help get them down. Chew your nuts well, and alone; swallow them. Between mouthfuls of nuts you may eat some salad foods. Never use the moisture of the less concentrated foods to help liquify nuts or other concentrated foods. The salivary glands will secrete sufficient moisture of the proper kind for this purpose and your foods will be better digested.
Sometimes it is wise to eat the least sweet fruit first when eating three fruits at one meal, otherwise the last part of the meal may be less tasty. If you eat dates first, for instance, and then take apricots, which are less sweet, you may not enjoy them as well after the very sweet fruit because of the unavoidable comparison of sweets.

Melons

Why do you eat melons alone?

Melons are best taken alone because the sugar and other nutriments are in a less stable form than the nutrients of other fruits. Orange juice may be kept in the refrigerator for an hour with little change in flavor, but if you refrigerate watermelon juice for only 10 minutes, its flavor, color and composition change. It decomposes much more quickly than other fruits. Consequently, if it is held in the stomach awaiting the digestion of other foods, it will decompose (ferment) and cause a great deal of gastric distress. Eating watermelon with nuts can really be troublesome.
One should not take watermelon with other more concentrated fruits. The more concentrated the food is, the longer it takes to propel it from the stomach, and if the melon is held in the stomach mixed with the other fruit, then it also will be held in the stomach for a longer period of time. Watermelon must be evacuated from the stomach as rapidly as it would be if eaten alone. If eaten with foods that slow its evacuation time from the stomach then it will ferment in the stomach and cause trouble.

Can you eat watermelon seeds?

Watermelon seeds can be saved and eaten if desired. There is some nutrient inside the hard shell, but the shell itself is composed of indigestible cellulose, and I do not think it wise to consume so much cellulose. In wild nature, animals would not normally try to chew something so hard and indigestible. Primates eat the fruits and spit out the hard seeds. Man, unfortunately, has the ability to analyze foods, consequently he discovered nutrients in the seed, so he tries to eat the seed, forgetting that most of the watermelon seed is indigestible, and may serve only to irritate the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Many seeds of fruits are poisonous; they contain benzaldehyde and cyanide.

Nuts with Acid Fruits

Why is innpt advisable to take nuts with acid fruits?

We no longer serve nuts with acid or subacid fruit mainly because of the sugar content in the fruit. When fruit is held in the stomach awaiting the digestion of nuts, it has a tendency to ferment, and cause digestive troubles. The sugar content of organically grown citrus fruit is very high, and high concentrations of sugar inhibit gasiric secretion thus also interfering with protein digestion. It was formerly thought that the citrus didn’t interfere with protein digestion but with greater study, observation and reflection, thoughts have changed.
Acid fruit such as tomatoes and grapefruit may not be deleterious, because of their diminished sugar content. Even if one eats the citrus thirty minutes prior to taking nuts, in most cases, there will still be a great deal of fruit in the stomach. The pyloric sphincter stays tightly shut for approximately 15 minutes after a meal begins. After fifteen minutes, the stomach begins gradually to evacuate, and then not rapidly. The food gets mixed in the stomach. If you desire nuts in the morning for breakfast, then it would be best to take them at least one hour after finishing your citrus or other fruit.

Beverages

What kind of beverage do you suggest besides water?

Many years ago Dr. Shelton pointed out that water is the only drink. All other substances are either food or poison. If you are thirsty, you should drink pure water. If you are hungry, you should eat. If you are thirsty it doesn’t mean you must eat a piece of watermelon, unless you are hungry at the same time. Drink only when thirsty and eat only when hungry. Poisonous soft drinks, coffee, tea, and other unnourishing beverages, and other poisonous fluids should never be used to quench a thirst. Pure water is best.

Dried Fruits

Are there any subacid dried fruits?

The sugar concentration is naturally greater in fruits which have been dried. Some fruits that are considered subacid are considered as sweet fruits, after drying, unless they are soaked to replenish the missing water.