Diet - FoodNerdy Recipes Management System

Find out here what food combining is and what advantages and disadvantages the diet offers. In the end, you can decide for yourself whether food combining makes sense for you or not.

What is food combining?

The basic principle of food combining is very simple: during the diet you must not eat carbohydrates and proteins together. This means that you have to change your diet: because you can no longer put cheese on bread and you can no longer eat legumes because they are rich in carbohydrates and proteins.

The background: The inventor of food combining, William Howard Hay, believed that carbohydrates and proteins are processed differently by the digestive system. By eating them separately, Hay says, you give the proteins and carbohydrates an optimal environment to digest. This is supposed to relieve the burden on the intestines.

In concrete terms, this means: Proteins need an acidic milieu, carbohydrates a basic milieu. According to Hay, carbohydrates are less digestible when they enter the intestines together with proteins. Because the acidic milieu of proteins is opposed to the basic milieu of carbohydrates. This leads to gas, bloating and weight gain. Conversely, the solution for Hay is: food combining.

What are the advantages of food combining?

Food combining should not just be a diet, but a complete change in diet. The separate intake of nutrients is said to help against feelings of fullness, flatulence and stomach pain. According to the proponents, food combining also has the following positive properties:
helps to lose weight,
balances the acid-base balance,
delivers more energy
provides a lot of vitamins, trace elements and minerals,
good for allergy sufferers.
Note: There must be at least four to five hours between meals. This gives the enzymes enough time to be absorbed by the organism and not to get in each other’s way.

Disadvantages: What speaks against food combining?

It has not been scientifically proven that carbohydrates and proteins can only be digested separately. In addition, many foods contain both proteins and carbohydrates. The body can still process them.
With food combining there is also a risk that you will eat an unbalanced diet and eat too many grain products.
If you stop eating rice with your vegetables from now on, your body will need other filling foods. This is often meat, fish or high-fat foods such as avocados. The food combining diet quickly gets a miserable ecological balance.
Of course, nobody wants to live exclusively on cabbage and do without potatoes in winter either. A diet based on seasonal and regional foods is therefore complicated with a food combining diet.

Losing weight through food combining?

The fact that you can lose weight through food combining is not due to the way you eat. Rather, you automatically eat more fruit and vegetables with food combining. Because of the waiting times between meals, you simply eat less throughout the day. This saves you calories, which leads to weight loss. There is therefore no direct connection between weight loss and food combining.

In view of the poor ecological balance, food combining is not recommended per se. In principle, however, an alkaline diet is not bad and if food combining helps you personally, it can make sense for you. Experts recommend, however, to lose weight carefully and not to force the weight loss radically.

Lifestyle

Blood Group Diet: It Really is That Useful

The blood type diet is based on the assumption that people can tolerate different foods depending on their blood type. The idea sounds interesting – but is there any scientific evidence that the blood type diet works?

In the 1990s, the American naturopath Peter J. D’Adamo invented the blood type diet. It is based on the assumption that our blood group is decisive for which foods we tolerate better and which less well. How can this work?

The four blood groups 0, A, B and AB differ in that different antigens are found on the red blood cells. According to D’Adamo, certain proteins from food, the lectins, couple to different antigens, causing the blood to “clump”. This increases the risk of many diseases. So the blood type diet means that you avoid foods whose lectins bind to the antigens in your blood. This should make you healthier and slimmer.

Blood group diet: which foods for which blood group?

According to the blood type diet, you tolerate the foods best that your ancestors ate when the blood type was created. This results in this list according to the blood group diet:
Blood type 0: According to D’Adamo, this blood type originated in the Stone Age when people lived as hunters and gatherers. Accordingly, you should eat a lot of red meat and fish, as well as a lot of fruit and vegetables. On the other hand, you should avoid cereals, legumes and dairy products. This diet is similar to a high-protein, low-carb Paleo diet.
Blood type A: This blood type is said to have emerged when people settled down and began to grow crops and other crops. That means you eat vegan for the most part, fish is also allowed every now and then.
Blood group B: Blood group B is said to have originated with the nomadic peoples of Asia. Accordingly, meat, dairy products, fruit and vegetables are on your menu.
Blood group AB: Your diet corresponds to a balanced mixed diet.
The classifications according to D’Adamo are in some cases much more precise, for example one blood group allows one type of fish and another allows that type of fish.

Does the blood group diet work? The state of research

There is scientific evidence that suggests a concept like the blood type diet might make sense:
A 2012 study came to the conclusion that the risk of developing certain diseases depends on blood type.
Nine years earlier, a review found that the way your body absorbs and processes nutrients is linked to your genes.
Is this evidence that the blood type diet works? No – neither publication shows that there is a connection between your diet and your health based on your blood type.

In fact, there is no evidence that the blood type diet works. In a systematic review study in 2013, scientists from the Belgian Red Cross looked for sources that prove that the diet works. You haven’t found a single meaningful study. Your review also prompted the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) to write in a press release that the blood group diet lacks any scientific basis. The University of Toronto even published a study in 2014 concluding that there is no connection between your health and your diet that depends on your blood type.

According to the current state of research, his theory of how the blood groups came about is also wrong. In 2012, scientists analyzed the genomes of several primate species and concluded that blood types have existed for millions of years.

Blood Type Diet: Interesting, but not recommended

You can probably lose weight if you follow the blood group diet: depending on your blood group, the selection of foods you can eat is very limited. This means that you will find it difficult to integrate the blood type diet into everyday life and you will probably eat an unbalanced diet. Therefore, experts advise against using the blood group diet, regardless of the scientific situation. If you eat a balanced diet and mainly eat seasonal vegetables and fruit, you will get all the nutrients your body needs.

Lifestyle

Potato Diet: How it Works and How Useful it is

Can a Potato Diet Work? And how can you lose weight with the “fatty food” potato? We explain why the diet works – but you should still keep your hands off it.

Potato diet: how it works

There are different variants of potato diets – all forms of this diet have a few key features in common:
Potatoes are at the top of the menu: you should eat around 600 to 1000 grams every day.
You should also eat potatoes with every meal if possible. If you don’t have an appetite for potatoes in the early morning, you can eat fresh fruit or whole-grain oatmeal with low-fat yogurt.
The potato diet does not dictate how you have to eat the potatoes. So you can freely choose between potato dishes.
Some forms of the potato diet allow you to eat vegetables, lean meat, and steamed fish on the side.
It is particularly important that you drink enough water, herbal tea or fruit tea during the diet. You shouldn’t be drinking less than two liters of fluids a day.

Why do potatoes help you lose weight?

For a long time, the potato was considered fattening – that has now turned out to be a mistake. The following ingredients will help you lose weight:
Due to their extremely high water content of almost 80 percent, potatoes are very low in calories.
This type of vegetable contains a lot of carbohydrates and fiber, which ensure a long-lasting feeling of satiety.
Potatoes have a high protein content. This saturates and stimulates the metabolism and muscle building.
They also contain vitamin C, which also promotes fat burning.
Potatoes also have a large amount of potassium. The nutrient helps your body break down water retention and burn calories.

Does a potato diet make sense?

Potatoes are filling and contain a number of important ingredients. The strong feeling of satiety makes it easier for you to do without sweets after eating.

However, it is not advisable to follow the potato diet for more than a week. Deficiency symptoms can then appear due to the unbalanced diet, which you can only compensate for with additional foods such as meat, vegetables or fish.

You may be fooled by the dehydrating effect of the potato. Potatoes primarily break down water and not fat. Despite the large number of dishes that are possible with potatoes, even this mono-diet can become monotonous over time. This carries the risk of a possible yo-yo effect as soon as you fall back on your old eating habits. Therefore, it makes more sense in the long term if you pay attention to a balanced diet and enough exercise to maintain or lose weight.

Lifestyle

Sirtfood: How Useful is The Trend Diet?

Stay slim and young with Sirtfood: That is what a new and very popular diet promises – the Sirt diet. Here’s what’s behind the claims.

The principle of the sirt diet sounds simple: Eat sirt food, i.e. foods that activate so-called sirtuins in the body. Among other things, these proteins are supposed to stimulate the metabolism and help the body to build muscles. In addition, sirtuins are said to be involved in numerous protective and repair mechanisms of the body. That’s why Sirtfood not only makes you slimmer, but also healthier – at least that’s the promise.

What is sirt food?

Sirtfood is food that contains molecules that are thought to activate the body’s production of sirtuins. Scientists have identified 20 such molecules so far. These include, for example, resveratrol, a secondary plant substance that is found in red wine, among other things. In an experiment on cell cultures, scientists have managed to activate the sirtuin Sirt1 with the help of resveratrol.

Here is a selection of foods that contain possible sirtfood activators:
Vegetables: Greens, cabbage, legumes, radishes, onions, garlic
Fruit: citrus fruits, apples, apricots, cherries, plums, grapes, berries
Spices: Chili, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Tonka Bean, Licorice
Cashews
black, white and green tea, coffee
red wine
cocoa
Basically, the diet consists of eating as many of these foods as possible – but of course not mainly red wine and chocolate.

This is how the Sirt diet works

There are several guides that suggest slightly different variations of the Sirt diet. This is how the diet works:
For the first three days, you’re only consuming 1,000 calories a day. You divide this into a meal rich in sirt food and three juices or green smoothies, which you mix together from the vegetables and fruits from the list.
For the remaining four days of the first week, increase your calorie intake to 1500 calories per day (exactly how much varies from guide to guide). You are now allowed to eat two meals rich in sirt food and drink two smoothies.
The guides then recommend continuing to eat a lot of sirt food and incorporating one or two juices a day. There are different statements as to whether you should further restrict your calorie requirements or not. Ultimately, that depends on how much weight you want to lose.

Sirtfood – the key to happiness?

This question has to be answered step by step. First of all, it is questionable whether the molecules that are supposed to activate sirtuins actually do so. Previous studies have been carried out on mice, yeast and cell cultures – it is not yet clear whether Sirtfood can also activate the sirtuins in the human body.

In addition, we know little about how the sirtuins – seven different ones have been identified in the human body – influence each other and whether there are “better” and “worse” sirtuins.
This leads to the second part of the question: How do sirtuins actually affect our body?
Sirtuins cleave certain chemical groups from some proteins: the acetyl groups. This is a signal to the body to boost metabolism. In this way, sirtuins are said to help with weight loss. In addition, scientists from the Max Planck Society have found, among other things, that increased activity of Sirt1 in mice causes them to break down fat.
A team of Japanese scientists has discovered that the sirtuin Sirt2 regulates glucose metabolism. It could therefore play an important role in diabetes therapies.
In general, sirtuins are said to be involved in numerous protective and repair mechanisms in the body and in this way reduce the risk of many diseases and even increase life expectancy. However, a lot of research still needs to be done in this area.
So there are many hopeful reports on sirtuins – but also a lot of research is still needed.

Is the Sirt diet recommended?

Sirtuins appear to be important to our bodies and they may actually be activated by sirt food. The basic concept of the Sirt diet sounds sensible at first. However, many nutrition experts advise against the diet. These are the reasons:

Eating only 1000 calories for three days is very difficult for most people and can quickly become yo-yo. The diet promises that you can lose up to seven pounds of fat in a week, but experts believe that the lack of calories causes the body to lose a lot of water.
It is said that sirtuins can be used to build muscle without exercising. There are explanations as to how sirtuins can boost muscle growth, but no evidence. On the contrary, the scientific consensus is that you can’t build muscle without exercising.
The foods on the sirt food list are certainly healthy in general, but you can’t eat a balanced diet from them alone. So the Sirt diet is not a diet that you can practice permanently.
In general, short-term diets aimed at losing weight quickly are rarely successful. Instead, you should eat a balanced diet overall and eat lots of seasonal fruit and vegetables. There will certainly be one or the other sirt food.

Lifestyle

“Paleo Diet”: That’s What The Stone Age Diet is all About

The “Paleo diet” only includes foods that our Stone Age ancestors ate. You can find out here what advantages and disadvantages it has and whether there is also a meatless version.

Paleo diet: Eat like in the Stone Age

Eating like in the Stone Age – according to this resolution followers of the Paleo diet eat. This is not a diet in the traditional sense. After all, you can eat as much as you want and you don’t have to count calories. Rather, the Paleo diet is a nutritional philosophy.

The representatives of this Stone Age diet adhere to the presumed diet of our ancestors – the hunters and gatherers. That is, they feed exclusively on foods that already existed in the Paleolithic period, such as:
fruit and vegetables
meat
Fish
eggs
nuts
Taboo, on the other hand, are foods that we have only been producing and consuming in large quantities since the invention of agriculture:
Grain
sugar
potatoes
Dairy products
legumes
and processed foods

Paleo diet to prevent lifestyle diseases

The basic idea behind this nutritional concept is that humans have spent far more time on this planet as hunters and gatherers than as sedentary farmers. His body therefore had more time to adapt to the diet of the time than to the modern diet.
Civilization diseases like
diabetes
high blood pressure
overweight
have arisen in our “settled time”. From this, proponents of the Paleo diet conclude that the Stone Age diet is more natural and tolerable.

Is the Paleo Diet Healthy?

There are few clinical studies examining the long-term effects of a Paleo diet. Existing studies show that the diet can have a positive effect on the body:

In a study of 70 overweight women, half followed the Paleo diet while the other half followed the Nordic Health Recommendations. Fat mass was reduced to a similar extent in both groups, but the percentage of triglycerides fell more in the Paleo group. A high proportion of triglycerides in the blood can promote arteriosclerosis.
In a study of patients with type II diabetes, the paleo diet also reduced the subjects’ fat mass and also improved their insulin metabolism.
In another study, in which only 20 subjects took part, the paleo diet reduced cholesterol levels.
The Paleo diet appears to have health benefits. However, one review notes that weight loss on the Paleo diet (like other diets) is probably primarily due to reduced calorie intake. The studies also do not show whether the Paleo diet also has positive effects in healthy people. In addition, despite isolated successes, there is no scientific evidence that the diet can alleviate conditions such as autoimmune diseases or allergies.

Is there a vegetarian form of the Paleo diet?

There is also a meatless version of the Paleo diet. Paleo vegetarians call themselves the vegetarian Stone Age eaters. And basically, both diets have something in common – they attach great importance to fresh fruit and vegetables.

However, a paleo-vegetarian diet eliminates meat in addition to grains, dairy, potatoes and legumes. It is therefore important to look for alternative sources of vegetable protein and to pay particular attention to the regular consumption of nuts, healthy vegetable fats and seeds.

It is advisable to consult a doctor or nutritionist beforehand and to carry out regular blood tests.

Food

Raw Food Diet

Not only in the meine ernte gardens, but everywhere where vegetables and fruit grow, there is a typical picture at harvest time: small and large hands reach for bright red tomatoes, poke for crunchy peas and reach for the sweetest apple on the tree. Many delicacies do not even end up in the harvest basket, but are eaten with relish in their “raw state” – far away from the saucepan and pan. Because that’s how it tastes best.

In the meine ernte team we deal a lot with different forms of nutrition. In this report we will go into more detail about the raw food diet and describe how you can integrate it into your everyday life.

Raw food definition

According to the 1997 Gießen Raw Food Study, a raw food diet is “a form of diet that largely or exclusively contains unheated plant (and sometimes animal) foods.” However, raw food does not mean that food is consumed exclusively raw, i.e. not heated at all. Only the limit to which food is heated is a maximum of 42 degrees. Background: Proteins are denatured at higher temperatures, which usually occur during normal cooking. For raw food representatives, this is an indication that the cell structure is damaged and the food is restricted in its actual function. Nutritional values such as vitamins and minerals are also often lost through cooking, as they evaporate in the steam or accumulate in the cooking water. The nutrients cannot be absorbed by the human body at all or only with difficulty.
In addition to heating over 42 degrees, there are other processing methods, such as fermentation, which are excluded by some of the practicing raw foodists. The principle: The food consumed should be natural and processed as little as possible.

Food selection

The basic components of the raw food diet are fruits and vegetables. These can be cleverly supplemented with nuts, sprouts, sprouts and wild plants. Cold-spun honey and cold-pressed oils as well as dried plants are also possible.

Foods that are typically NOT found on the raw food menu include:

legumes such as B. Beans
potatoes
Conventionally made bread (raw bread would be baked at 42 degrees for 6 hours)
Fried or boiled animal meat or fish
pasta
Legumes and potatoes have to be heated to a high temperature in order to kill substances that are toxic to humans and make them digestible. For other foods, processing is switched to raw food conditions. Raw foodists often also live vegetarian or vegan.

Raw food variants

Raw food is not just raw food. It offers variants and as with any diet – you decide for yourself what is good for you and how your individual diet should be structured.

Raw food containing animal foods

The consumption of animal foods is possible as part of the raw food diet if you do not want to do without them altogether. Raw milk cheese, raw fish and raw, possibly dried meat expand the menu. Above all, it is important to ensure good hygienic conditions, since spoilage germs can spread particularly quickly here.

Raw vegan

Raw vegans make sure to eat only plant-based foods. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, wild plants and some (pseudo) grains such as millet, quinoa, chia, couscous or amaranth are the main foods. The same applies here: Maximum heating up to 42 degrees and no industrial processing if possible.

Primal diet

The so-called Urkost describes a form of raw food in which the plants are eaten as they grow. The vegetables are not washed and any insects on and in the plant are also eaten. Except for this small protein snack, the Urkost is vegan.

Raw food – positive effects

Like many holistic and balanced forms of nutrition, raw food is also said to have positive health effects, such as:

higher efficiency
improvement of skin problems
Improvement of allergies/hay fever
An obvious advantage of raw food is the high fiber intake of raw fruits and vegetables, which, after digestion has adjusted, can prevent intestinal dysfunction such as e.g. B. constipation can relieve.

From our point of view, health improvements are based on the individual implementation and the health condition of the individual. However, in addition to the possible physical changes, we see other advantages with the raw food diet:

Taste expedition

The consumption of raw and little processed fruit and vegetables sharpens the sense of taste and lets us (re)discover the variety of natural tastes. Due to too many spices, fats and over-breeding of foods, many of us have lost our awareness of natural foods. For this reason, some raw foodists do without spices and also garlic and onions, as these can mask the original taste.

Conscious Eating

A conscious raw food diet means planning and research. One deals intensively with one’s diet, chews longer on the more al dente food, ideally also pays more attention to a better origin of the food, since eating it raw increases sensitivity.

Waste avoidance

Making conscious purchasing decisions can have a positive effect on the ecological footprint, since, for example, less plastic waste is produced, less is thrown away, etc.

Critics of raw food

The assumption of the raw food theory is that some nutrients are destroyed by too much heat (> 42 degrees) or changed in such a way that they are more difficult for the body to absorb. More energy must therefore be expended to absorb the beneficial nutrients from the cooked food. This idea applies to some nutrients such as B. Vitamin C quite justified. Raw foodists are much better supplied with vitamin C. However, the Gießen long-term study from 1997 with people who consumed at least 80% of their diet as raw food showed that the test persons were deficient in iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iodine, vitamin D, vitamin B2 and vitamin B2 had B12. Therefore, the raw food should be well planned and a sufficient supply of these critical nutrients should be ensured.

Here is a selection of vitamins and nutrients to keep an eye on:
Vitamin B12
Basically, high amounts of B12 are only found in the innards of animal meat, including certain sea creatures, as well as in certain types of cheese. Supplementation should be considered, especially in the case of predominantly vegan raw food, and the level should be checked by a doctor if necessary.

Vitamins A and E

There are certain nutrients that are only made accessible to the body through the heating process. These include vitamins A and E – a heated z. B. steamed or boiled carrots therefore have a higher availability of vitamin A than a raw carrot.

Iron and proteins

The iron and protein intake is critical for raw foodists, since animal products are often avoided. The easiest way to get enough protein and iron from a plant-based diet is primarily to eat legumes (beans, peas, etc.). Unfortunately, these are not an alternative source of raw food: they have to be cooked because they contain lectins, which are toxic to humans when raw. Iron is necessary for blood formation and the need should also be covered.

The nutrients described are intended to show you by way of example that the nutrient intake is changed by raw food and that you should keep additional aspects in mind, as is basically the case with every form of nutrition. If necessary, you can have this checked by visiting your family doctor.

Recipes and tips in the household:

If you feel like (increasingly) eating raw food, you can start with a variety of new recipes. Gradually replacing meals with raw foods avoids spoiling the fun by making the switch too quickly. As always, we are in favor of particularly simple solutions: Breakfast can be a bowl of fruit or a green smoothie, for example. When it comes to smoothies, you should make sure that you consume them just as slowly as you would solid fruits and vegetables. Your stomach can process the added fructose and fiber better. Smoothies are also ideal as a snack on the go, but the following applies: the higher the “green content” (vegetable) in the smoothie, the healthier it is. How about a frothy gazpacho made with fresh tomatoes, peppers and zucchini? Or zucchini noodles with homemade basil pesto? Or cold soaked couscous with spring onions and apples for lunch or dinner?

Food

Vegan Foods: Popular Foods on an Animal-Free Diet

There is a wide variety of vegan foods – some of which you may not even know. We’ll show you how to recognize vegan foods and which ones are particularly important.

This is how you recognize vegan food

Vegan foods are free from animal ingredients and are usually specially labelled. Fruit and vegetables don’t need to be labeled – they’re vegan by nature.

Important vegan foods

A balanced diet is important for everyone – including vegans. With a diet without animal products, you have to make sure that you consume certain vitamins and minerals that are otherwise found in meat and eggs, for example. Because some substances are found in high concentrations mainly in foods of animal origin. Therefore, you should pay attention to the following nutrients:

Legumes, nuts and seeds are a good source of protein. They also contain many vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin B2, vitamin B3 and calcium.
Vitamin C not only strengthens the immune system, but also promotes iron absorption. So if you eat foods that are particularly rich in iron, such as oatmeal, lentils or Brussels sprouts, you should also take vitamin C at the same time to better process the iron – for example with paprika or a glass of water with lemon juice.
Omega-3 fatty acids are not only found in fish, but are also found in linseed oil, hemp oil, walnut oil and rapeseed oil. Omega-3 fatty acids are particularly important for the brain and eyes. They also reduce the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Vitamin D is found in many types of fish and in egg yolks. Porcini mushrooms, chanterelles and button mushrooms are a good vegan alternative. However, with sufficient exposure to sunlight, the human body can produce its entire vitamin D requirement itself. Therefore, you should be outdoors every day.
Vitamin B12 is mainly found in meat, fish and dairy products. Vitamin B12 can only be found in animal-free foods in fermented plant-based foods such as sauerkraut and beer and the alga chlorella – but very little. Many vegans therefore resort to vitamin supplements.

Lifestyle

9 Common Diet Mistakes to Avoid When it’s Hot

The right food and drink can help us to better endure the current temperatures. We show 9 common mistakes that you should avoid.

We have trouble sleeping, feel lethargic, get headaches or can’t concentrate – our bodies react strongly to the hot summer weather. Eating the right diet can help you endure the heat better.

However, we often eat exactly the wrong thing and make our condition even worse. You should pay attention to these things:

1. Heavy eating in the evening

When the temperature is high, we often don’t feel an appetite during the day – and then compensate for this with a barbecue in the evening. But be careful: A high-fat meal in the evening can prevent us from getting a restful sleep at night. Therefore, before going to bed, we should primarily eat light foods, such as rice with vegetables or salad.

2. Drink a cold beer

In order to cool off when the temperatures are high, people like to have a cool beer, especially in the evening. However, alcohol is not a good idea in the heat: it also removes water and valuable minerals from the body – and we are more susceptible to heat stroke, writes the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA).

3. Eat low in salt

You really shouldn’t eat too much salt. However, if we sweat a lot at high temperatures, we also need more salt. So if you are suffering from circulatory problems at the moment, you can consciously add a little more salt to your food.

4. Drink hot coffee

Hot coffee also makes us sweat in a hot summer. The caffeine it contains also has a diuretic effect. Normally, the body can compensate for the loss of fluids well. When it’s hot, however, our body loses a lot of water anyway due to a lot of sweating. You should therefore be a little more careful in summer: drink a little less coffee than usual and let it cool down before you drink it.

5. Leave your groceries at home and transport food to be grilled far away

Bacteria multiply particularly well in the heat and high humidity. Meat, poultry, egg dishes, dairy products and fish are ideal breeding grounds for microorganisms. Anyone who interrupts the cold chain for too long runs the risk of salmonella.

Therefore: groceries belong directly in the fridge. At least salmonella cannot multiply below six degrees. In this way you not only save your health, but also your food from the garbage can.

6. Refresh yourself with lemonade

This doesn’t just apply to heat: those who frequently consume sweetened beverages supply the body with unnecessary calories. Lemonade, for example, can contribute to obesity. Better to use so-called infused water: tap water with a squeeze of lemon juice or a few slices of cucumber. It tastes much better and comes without sugar.

7. Eat fatty meat and sausages

In order for our body not to overheat at high temperatures, it has to work hard. Heavy food, such as high-fat meat, is an additional challenge because it takes a lot of effort to digest – we should therefore particularly avoid such meals when it is hot. In general, it makes more sense to eat little or no meat anyway. This is better for the climate, the animals and the environment.

Opt for fruit instead. This provides vitamins, minerals and water. Melons, tomatoes and cucumbers are particularly suitable as a snack in summer because they have a high liquid content.

8. Avoid spicy foods

Chili, garlic, paprika, pepper – hot spices make us sweat. Especially chili makes us sweat on the skin. In fact, the pod cools the body down. It works like this: The pungency molecule capsaicin it contains signals to the brain that there is a heat source in the mouth. This so-called phantom heat triggers a cooling reaction in the body.

When it is hot, however, we benefit from another property of spicy foods: they often contain ingredients that inhibit bacterial growth. You should therefore not do without spicy food in the heat.

9. Drinking (ice) cold drinks

Drinking a lot is important, the German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends around 1.5 liters of water. In high heat, the body needs a lot of fluids.

However, cold drinks should only be taken in sips, as these drinks have a cooling effect. If you drink too much cold water quickly, you risk stomach ache – and rob the body of additional energy because it has to warm up cold liquids in order to be able to process them. It is therefore best to drink lukewarm beverages when it is hot.

Food

Pegan: This is How the Vegan Paleo Diet Works

The pegan diet combines the paleo diet and veganism. We explain to you what constitutes the diet and whether it is healthy.

Veganism and Paleo seem mutually exclusive at first glance:

While you do without all animal products on a vegan diet, meat, fish and eggs play an important role in the Paleo diet.
Whole grains and legumes are important sources of nutrients in a vegan diet. In Paleo, on the other hand, they are taboo.
However, the American doctor Mark Hyman combined the two diets into the pegan diet. This largely corresponds to the Paleo diet, only the proportion of animal products is greatly reduced – fish, meat and eggs are still allowed. The pegan diet is not vegan.

These foods are suitable for a pegan diet:

Fresh vegetables should be the most important part of your meals, combined with plenty of fruit.
Nuts, seeds and avocados as well as olives, olive oil and coconut oil serve as sources of fat.
According to the Paleo philosophy, fish, meat and eggs should come from species-appropriate and natural animal husbandry or wild-caught where possible and play a minor role in your meals.
On the other hand, you should use these foods sparingly in a pegan diet or avoid them altogether:

Grains containing gluten do not belong on your menu. Gluten-free grains and legumes are allowed in small amounts.
You should avoid dairy products and consume them very sparingly.
Refined sugar is taboo. Instead, you can use small amounts of coconut blossom sugar, syrups or concentrated juices to sweeten.
Most oils and fats are considered over-processed and therefore not pegan. Excluded are the fat sources mentioned above.
Processed foods should be avoided as much as possible.
Ultimately, you can decide for yourself how strictly you want to interpret the guidelines. A vegan pegan diet is also possible.

How healthy is the pegan diet?

The pegan diet is very similar to the paleo diet. Experts are discussing how healthy this is.

The DGE gives a positive assessment of the high proportion of vegetables and fruit and the absence of processed products. According to the DGE, studies also show that you can reduce fat mass, improve your insulin metabolism and possibly lower your cholesterol level with a paleo diet.
The DGE is critical of the fact that people who eat paleo eat a lot of animal products. The problem is less with the pegan diet. However, the DGE also criticizes that not eating dairy products, legumes and whole grains can promote nutrient deficiencies – this can also happen with the pegan diet. Finally, the scientific basis of the Paleo diet is also questionable. It is based on the assumption that our bodies are still adapted to the Stone Age diet and cannot handle agricultural products such as milk or grain. However, there is no evidence that our genetic makeup has not changed since the Paleolithic period. In addition, people at that time also had very different diets depending on the region.
If you follow the pegan diet strictly (vegan), you should have your blood values checked regularly to avoid nutrient deficiencies (e.g. certain B vitamins, zinc, iodine, iron or calcium). Get some advice or consult your nutritionist before beginning a strict pegan diet.