Easy (easy to digest)
Easy to digest means foods that are light and do not require a lot of effort to break down and absorb in the digestive tract. Other important qualities that can make a food easy to digest are cooking the food, and keeping the meal simple, as in eating only one type of food per meal.
Digestion Takes a Lot of Work
We use up to 60% of our daily energy on digesting our food. When you are sick, taking the burden off your digestive organs gives your body some extra energy to heal itself. Easy foods pull less blood into the digestive track, which leaves more blood for the brain and keeps the mind alert.
What Kinds of Foods are Easy?
Most cooked, soft, and soupy foods are easy. Less fiber in food makes it easier to digest. Foods that are like baby foods are easy to digest. No one gives a baby steak or a salad to wean it from mother’s milk. Instead, babies get mashed cooked vegetables, mashed soups, mashed porridge etc. The idea is to get maximum nutrition with the least amount of digestive effort.
Far East specialty
In both Chinese medicine and Ayurveda dishes such as Congee and Kitchari have been used for ages as a centerpiece concept and practical tool for healing, since these dishes are very east to digest while very nourishing.
Ingredients that are Easy
Grains
Basmati Rice, Buckwheat, Oats / Oatmeal, Poha, Rice Cakes
Beans-Legumes
Mung Bean
Vegetables
Butternut Squash, Carrot, Celery Root, Leek, Onion, Pumpkin, Summer Squash, Sweet Potato, Zucchini
Greens
Arugula, Celery Stalk (cooked), Endive, Garlic Mustard, Kale, Watercress
Meats
Bone Broth, Chicken Soup, Egg Whites, Fish
Dairy
Goat Milk (boiled)
Nuts-Seeds
Almond Milk, Coconut Water, Pumpkin seeds, Sunflower Seeds
Oils
Ghee, Olive Oil, Sesame oil
Fruits (on an empty stomach, in moderation)
Apple (cooked), Banana, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cherry, Grape, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Lemon, Lime, Mulberry, Orange, Papaya, Peaches, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Strawberries
Sweeteners
Barley Malt, Fructose
Ferments
Alcohol, Miso, Olives, Pickle (Cucumber), Red Wine, Red Wine Vinegar, Sake, Sauerkraut, Soy Sauce, Tamari, Umebushi Plums, White Vinegar, White Wine (Dry type)
Spices
Ajuwan, Basil, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cayenne Pepper, Celery Seed, Chamomile, Chilies, Cinnamon, Coriander Seed, Ginger, Cumin, Curry Powder, Dill, Fennel Seeds, Green Tea, Jalapenos, Mint, Paprika, Parsley (Fresh), Saffron, Sassafras Leaf, Turmeric
Other
Vegetable Stock