Especially if you have a sensitive digestive system.
We love them in summer. Refreshing, hydrating, rich in fiber and minerals, raw vegetables are very interesting from a nutritional point of view. So we don’t hesitate to put them on the menu, ideally at the beginning of the meal to slow down digestion, stabilize blood sugar levels and avoid big blood sugar spikes. The fibers contained in raw vegetables will create a sort of “barrier” that slows down the absorption of carbohydrates consumed throughout the meal. However, for good digestion and to limit the risk of being bloated, there are combinations of raw vegetables to avoid.
If separately, these two raw vegetables, which we love to eat when the weather is nice, do not pose a problem, together, they can have harmful effects on our intestinal comfort. Indeed, one of them, composed almost entirely of water, is digested very quickly by the body. It is said to be a “fast-digesting” food. The other, richer in fiber and sugars, needs more time to be broken down and assimilated. It is said to be a “slow-digesting” food.
“The problem mainly comes from the difference in digestion time.“, explains Dr. Raphaël Perez, expert in nutritional reeducation and author of the book Food Pairing Guide (ed. Exuvie). These different digestion times can create a real disorder in the digestive process and promote the risk of fermentation of sugars, leading to bloating and stomach aches. Of course, it all depends on each person’s sensitivity: “It is especially people with sensitive digestive systems who will have difficulty tolerating it.r,” he continues.
Taste-wise, these two raw vegetables go well together and are often combined in mixed salads, such as Greek salad. But nutritionally, tomatoes and cucumbers don’t go well together. If you really want to eat them together, to limit digestive problems and reduce the risk of intestinal irritation, make sure to chew the raw vegetables well (the enzymes contained in saliva help to break down food and better assimilate nutrients), peel them (or even “remove the seeds from the tomatoes” according to the expert), especially if you have a sensitive stomach and intestines. Your belly will thank us.