About Difficult

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Difficult means difficult to digest. Beans are difficult to digest because they contain natural protein-digestion inhibitors (saponins) to protect them from insect invasion. Red meat, nuts, cheese, and wheat are difficult to digest because they are heavy, dense foods.

Digestion: the energy hog of the body

Digestion consumes up to 60% of daily metabolism. Whenever you have indigestion, are feeling tired or stressed, you can reclaim some of your natural vitality by avoiding difficult to digest food. This also give the GI tract a chance to rest between meals.

Overlooked by Western medicine

In the mid 1800's, a doctor by the name of William Beaumont heard a gunshot outside his window. He rushed to the scene to find Alexis St. Martin wounded in the stomach. Fortunately, Alexis survived, but with a hole in his midriff and his stomach. Dr Beaumont seized a golden opportunity to test the effect of digestion on various foods. He insert food into Mr St. Martin's stomach and recorded the time it took for the contents to digest. Thus, Mr. Beaumont made a chart indicating the digestibility of most items in the grocery store.

Digestibility is highly prized and prioritized in Ayurveda. Resting your digestion is a key component to resting your entire body and healing. Western doctors are aware of Mr. Beaumont and his studies, but fail to educate their clients on this treasure-trove of knowledge.

Fermentation in the GI tract

When foods are too difficult to digest, bacteria in our gut digests the foods faster than digestive organs, fermenting the foods. Everyone has a different amount of power in the digestive tract. This can be determined by a practitioner in a consultation. The cardinal sign of a difficult-to-digest food is gas and bloating. Stinky gas means that bacterial waste products are accumulating in the digestive tract. Eventually, fermentation irritates the GI tract, causing diarrhea and burdening the liver and kidneys with a substantial toxic load.

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