Paris in August with indigestion

Paris in August sucks - that’s what everyone says. At times I say that too, just because it’s true. But on other occasions, depending on my state of mind, Paris in August is cool: There’s that nice respite from the crowds. No queueing, no waiting. The dreaded trip to the post office, now a five minute stroll; walking into Mono-Prix for cleaning supplies at rush hour, a five minute chore instead of 40 minutes. Ok, so I’m exaggerating. It’s foreigners, who stay in Paris through the summer, who’ll mumble, «Paris sucks in August.» Parisians will never say Paris sucks in August; sucez is too provocative a word and also too blatant a description, think subtle. Parisians can be so understated that they’ll simply convey their distaste for Paris in August through soulful stares of pity, when you inform them that you’re spending most of the summer in the city of lights. But what most Parisians don't openly acknowledge is that Paris in August has its charms, of which I try to take advantage.  (Having the less obscure Parks to myself and strolling in the middle of street lanes that are usually packed with traffic is nothing to snore at). But this past weekend Paris sucked, at least for me it did. The lugubrious sky and damp chill only mirrored the general mood of ultra suckiness. Stuck inside, pretty much the entire weekend, was also brutal for someone who is desperate to spend time in nature, especially when it's still relatively warm. But I had no choice, I had to abide to the rules as I finished up the last leg of a yoga Teacher Training. A challenge. As we learned a new type of breath retention, all I longed to do was to streak through the rain, despite the damp chill. I absolutely love walking in the rain in the summer. Not only is it free MSM (Methyl Sulfanel Methane) the stuff which at one time we used to find in our food, but I thought the rain would appease the nausea I continued to feel from the unfortunate incidence of indigestion, which I suffered the night before.

People who start going raw often deal with some serious bloating, gas, weird rumbles and discomfort after mealtimes. When you’ve been feeding your body processed foods, it goes berserk when you start eating large quantities of stuff like roughage or super intense chemical compounds like magnesium in high doses. The only way to handle it is by re-educating the stomach, which is where the green juices come into play. The best juice is celery due to the high levels of hydrochloric acid, the same acid that’s found in our stomach. People who eat cooked food have a messed up hydrochloric acid balance. Hence, the challenge they have digesting fibre. I drink a minimum of 5 green juices a week and I usually make a mix of leafy green, celery and then add a touch of sweet like lemon, apple or carrot to cut the sharpness of the greens. If you don’t have a juice extractor, you can make a green smoothie, but know that there’s a big difference between juicing and making a smoothie. As Dr Clement pointed out: «Smoothies are amusing, an extra-curriculur activity, while juicing is for deep healing.»

The other piece of the puzzle for good digestion is proper food combination. Too many nuts are hard to digest, which is why when Kitchen Cru does its gourmet catering and events, we stay away from rich creamy concoctions. When we do work with nuts its in moderation and they’re usually fermented like a cashew cheese. A high raw diet can be hard on people past the age of 40, your body will most probably freak out. And it gets more of a challenge, if you don’t include the food combination guideline. There are lots of no-no’s on food combinations. It can get really overwhelming.  


The first mainstream book that brought food combination to the attention of the masses was Fit for Life by the Diamonds. Suddenly in North America and Europe new diet trends started popping up the moment people learned that you gain more weight, if you do improper food combinations. Not only have numerous studies demonstrated that cooked food increases the starchiness of food (if it's starchy by nature), but there are indeed different stomach enzymes necessary to breakdown different foods and when overlapping they cause indigestion and weight gain. Combining food properly is also an issue for raw foodies, but in many senses it affects us less, since we're not eating stuff like rice and fish or burger and fries. But Dr Clements and Dr Cousens discuss food combination in a raw food context. They say that fruit is best eaten on an empty stomach, particularly melons, but if you mix it with nuts it's ok. And they suggest that people not mix too many tastes, which not only opens up the appetite, leading one to eventually mix more and more foods and flavours, but it spells trouble with a capital 'T'. I’m usually pretty good about food combinations, but this past weekend it was just sheer fiasco. I can’t even tell you what I ate, because the rememberance of the meal makes my insides shudder. Ok...I know I can’t leave you in a lurch. After all, this is a raw food and health blog: I ate curry marinaded courgettes, which were then dehydrated with a garlic pâté. This would have been great with a leafy green salad. Instead, I ate it with tomatoes, olives, corn, chard and a fermented tofu dressing. It all tasted so yummy and I was so excited about finding organic raw corn (in Paris organic corn is often cooked and vacuum packed) that I ate two heads of corn; the latter smothered with fermented tofu and cayenne pepper, the way they eat corn in Cuba. (Actually in Cuba it’s mayonaise, cayenne pepper and salt). Yeah, I was astounded by my appetite. I literally devoured the food, enough to feed 2 people. I usually eat little, but stress and nostalgia got the better of me. And for the first time in ages, I became delusional with food. I forgot that there’s no way around filling the void through physical nourishment or re-capturing good memories through it . The latter is something Most people constantly try to do with comfort food and other 'love' nourishing foods. (Arepas, Venezuelan bread made out of corn, a a big food of my childhood)

Fermented soy products are raw living foods. The thing is to eat them in moderation. Miso, Nama Shoyu (as opposed to Tamari) and fermented tofu. Best to use them like condiments in a dressing, which I normally do. Contrary to popular perception, Soy isn't the ideal protein food to eat. Soy is not only high in estrogen, but most, if not all of it, is genetically modified, including the supposed organic stuff. If you’ve ever followed Percy Smeiser’s battle with Monsanto on colza, you’re aware that all non-GMO seeds like corn, colza and soy are probably contaminated by now. (However, Soy is great for people in transitional diets, since it is a good meat substitute).
So Saturday night, not only did I have an antediluvian moment by pigging out in a way I hadn’t in ages, I pigged out on most probably GMO foods. The latter didn’t dawn on me until much later, while recovering on the side effects of gluttony. To say that I had a very uncomfortable night is a bit of an understatement. After that meal I had pretty bad stomach cramps and bloating. No, the fermented tofu wasn’t expired. But tofu is a whole protein and corn is a serious starch. I couldn’t sleep due to the digestive pains. I know, I’ve become sensitive to digestion, but this was ridiculous. 5 years ago I could handle the combination; and when I think of how as a child I ate all that heavy Creole food, a lot of it meat, potatoes and fried foods, I'm surprised I wasn't sicker during my sick years. Saturday night I was acutely aware of how taxing bad food combinations are on my body (and it didn’t want me to forget!). Respecting food combinations is a sure way of ensuring your health, even if you’re not on the raw trip. Not only is improper food combination a great effort for the body, but we have limited enzymes and once we use all of them up, the Moirae cut our threads. Oh boy, just opened a whole can of worms ENZYMES!! Some other day I’ll get into that. Incidentally, if you do eat meat, I suggest you eat it with starch-less veggies, which can be digested with both carbs and proteins.

I woke up Sunday morning with a hang-over: My throat was parched and my insides felt as if they had been ravaged by a tractor. Puffy circles under the eyes and, worse, bloodshot eyes. Good thing I didn’t have a date Sunday night. I dragged my feet to yoga, walking past desolate neighbourhoods, and only feeling better half way through the afternoon. I fasted the whole day on water, as well as an aloe vera, water,  raspberry and honey concotion. Aloe Vera helps regenerate and soothes; I didn’t have raspberry leaves which are good for stomach and menstrual problems so used the fruit instead more so to cut the sharpness of the Aloe; and honey is a terrific anti-inflammatory. Broke my liquid fast in the evening during the yoga potluck. I actually didn’t feel like eating, but I didn’t want to be perceived as anti-social. I picked on savory fruits: tomatoes and cucumbers, which are easy to digest. Monday morning, still feeling slightly ravaged inside and still donning blood shot slits for eyes. It astounds me how fragile we are, but it’s only once we start getting in-tune with our bodies that we realise that acceptable social food combinations aren’t necessarily the healthiest. I know I'm long due for another cleanse, not only because I feel like crap, but I'm spying the muscadet grapes at the grocers. Still waiting to hear from Rotondi and it looks like David Wolfe is keen on speaking in Paris as well. More to come as I continue on the road of health, transformations and powerful insights a step at a time. 

Wishing you a magical week!

                                            Arletty Abady