Hungering for knowledge, Master Carlos came to read more and more on the subject and over the years he compiled what he learned, developing would be consecrated as the Gracie Diet. He left the health problems behind and the weakly youth turned into an athletic adult.
He also noticed, just like a farmer who controls the soil’s PH before planting the seeds, that the blood’s PH is a key element during the digestive process and that it must be kept neutral, which helps the transformation of the food. He observed, then, that a certain combination of foods kept the blood neutral, as opposed to some mixtures that made it acid or alkaline.
He brought all his study together and created the eating method known as the Gracie Diet, which went through careful research and was developed throughout the years, consuming most of the last 50 years of his life.
The next step was to prove the efficiency of the method and there was no one better to test his discoveries on than his own offspring. Carlos Gracie instilled in his children, nephews and grandchildren the need to listen to the body and offer it only nourishment that is of benefit to it. Little by little, the family’s body type began to change and the Master’s descendents were growing ever bigger that his 5’2″, 139 pound frame. In fact, according to Rilion Gracie, “healthy nourishment modified an entire family”.
Master Carlos’ idea is global and overcomes all problems. It is about not mixing: cereals with other cereals, fat with sugar, nor acidic foods with any other acidic food. Meals are to be eaten in intervals of, at the least, five hours, eating again only when the stomach is empty.
But that is not all. Beyond worrying about solid foods, Master Carlos sought to complement them with teas, using what nature offers as cures for man’s ailments. “Our body is machine running on blood. If the blood is pure, the machine runs well”, says Rilion Gracie. “My father’s objective was to make sure the family’s fighters were well, or in other words, free of any illness that might arise and make combat unviable”, Rilion concludes.
The following tables are the core of the Gracie method for a nourishing diet. By complying to the different combinations of the food groups, in accordance to the tables, you are able to keep meals as neutral as possible. As a result, you will balance out the pH level in your body, which will improve digestion, as well as prevent and combat illness.