Order of the Meal

Part of the series,
Diet for Minerals

by Jon Sasmor RCPC (Mineral Guide, MinBalance LLC)
Updated April 2, 2022

The following order of eating will help you concentrate your digestive juices so you digest your food better. Then you absorb more from your food, and gain more efficient nutrition.

The order is especially important for those with weak digestion. However, many people have limited digestion without realizing it, so I recommend this order for everyone:

• Liquids away from the meal. Please finish drinking all liquids at least 10-30 minutes before the meal. This includes water, meat broth, vegetable cooking liquid, Bone and Ocean, carrot juice, adrenal cocktails, teas, infusions, coffee, kefir, etc. Don't drink liquids again until 2 hours after the meal. This is to avoid diluting your digestive juices. Exception: tea or coffee may be sipped with your meal, as they help block excess iron absorption.
• Relax! :) If possible, rest a few minutes before and after meals. Please eat relaxed meals, sitting and without doing something else at the same time, and without looking at electronic devices. Avoid stressful topics of conversation during meals.
• Cooked parsley and/or fermented foods such as sauerkraut. You may eat a few bites at the beginning of the meal to stimulate digestion. Or you may eat a few bites any time throughout the meal.
• Animal fats. May be eaten as a topping with high-protein foods and/or with vegetables.
• Extra chunks of suet. Ideally eat these first.
• Sea salt. Sprinkle generously, to taste, on all your foods.
• High-protein food (meat, egg yolks, fish, nut or seed butters, etc.). Eat your high-protein food first, when your stomach acid is most concentrated. Chew each bite thoroughly.
• Supplements (tablets, capsules, softgels, and/or oils). Eat supplements with or after your high-protein food:
  • For tablets, chew well.
  • For capsules, empty the contents into a small amount of water or into Activator Goo or sprinkle atop food, and eat the contents.
  • For softgels, bite the softgel open and eat the contents.
  • For oils, combine and eat as Activator Goo.
  Chew all your supplements because
  1. some absorption of nutrients takes place in the mouth and
  2. sensation of nutrients in the mouth signals the body for appropriate digestion further along the digestive tract.
  Exception: Don't chew tablets or open capsules if:
  1. the supplement is designed to dissolve later (such as a digestive aid or time-release magnesium) or
  2. you insist on swallowing the supplements or otherwise you won't take them.
• Fast-cooked mixed vegetables. Wait a few minutes after your high-protein food and supplements. Then, enjoy your vegetables.
• Okinawa purple sweet potato. You may eat the Okinawa purple sweet potato with your vegetables. Or, leave the Okinawa purple potato in your bowl and save it to be the last few bites of your meal, like a dessert. Chew extremely thoroughly until it begins to turn sweeter.