Starches Proteins Fats Sugars Watery Vegetables bread meats butter honey zucchini potatoes eggs oils fruit green beans noodles fish lard sugar tomatoes manioc/yuca most nuts nuts molassas peppers baked goods dry beans avocado malt syrup eggplant grains nut butters maple syrup radish winter squash split peas dried fruit rutabaga parsnips lentils melons turnips sweet potatoes soybeans carrot juice Brussels sprouts yams tofu beet juice celery taro root tempeh cauliflower plantains wheat grass juice broccoli beets "green" drinks okra spirulina lettuce algae endive yeast cabbage dairy carrots Standard dietitians divide our foods into four basic food groups and recommend the ridiculous practice of mixing them at every meal. This guarantees indigestion and lots of business for the medical profession. This chart illustrates the actual food groups. It is usually a poor practice to mix different foods from one group with those from another. The Digestive Process After we have eaten our four-color meal--often we do this in a hurry, without much chewing, under a lot of stress, or in the presence of negative emotions--we give no thought to what becomes of our food once it has been swallowed. We have been led to assume that anything put in the mouth automatically gets digested flawlessly, is efficiently absorbed into the body where it nourishes our cells, with the waste products being eliminated completely by the large intestine. This vision of efficiency may exist in the best cases but for most there is many a slip between the table and the toilet. Most bodies are not optimally efficient at performing all the required functions, especially after years of poor living habits, stress, fatigue, and aging. To the Natural Hygienist, most disease begins and ends with our food; most of our healing efforts are focused on improving the process of digestion.