How Not to Get Sick Over Passover

1. Why is this week different from all other weeks?

This week we do not eat leavened bread or other leavened products. Additionally, Ashkenazim do not eat grains, legumes (include beans, soybeans, peas, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, carob, tamarind, alfalfa), rice and pastas. Most Sefardim eat Kitnyot, which includes some of these foods. 

The matzah represents the bread prepared in haste at the time of our exodus from Mitzrayim (Egypt), which had no time to rise. The only ingredients in kosher for passover matzah are flour and water and it must be prepared from beginning to end within 18 minutes, regardless of the type of flour used. Because matzah is made in this manner (without yeast, sugar, eggs), our digestive tract must work much harder to break down the dense refined flour. Our Passover diet is lacking two key nutritional elements: fiber and yeast.

2. Why is matzah so difficult to digest?

Without both elements working together, our body struggles to digest and pass a cement-like, most uncomfortable stool. 

The first key nutritional element, fiber, helps absorb fluids in the stomach. The fiber content eases the bulky mass of our former meal down the gastrointestinal tract until we have an easy evacuation. 

The second element, yeast, reacts with stomach acid to break down the fiber. One works with the other to maintain balance in the GI tract.

3. Doesn’t oil lubricate?

Yes, but… Oil is a fat, also known as a lipid. There are three categories of fat: unsaturated,

saturated and trans, with unsaturated being the healthiest. Although your diet may include plenty of healthy fat, even consuming large amounts will not give the desired result. 

Fats are used for energy and other functions along with carbohydrates. Unused fats are stored for future need. Unneeded stored fat deposits can lead to health issues such as weight gain, plaque in vital organs and arteries, and can lead to kidney, liver or heart disease. Fats do not break down the same way as fiber does (nutrients are pulled and utilized by different cells for different uses). Fat molecules are thicker and metabolized as needed from stored reserves. 

4. What can we eat to make sure we don’t get “sick” over Pesach?

So, matzah turns to cement and grains and legumes are off-limits. Potatoes are a staple  but unless you are eating the skins they lack the much needed fiber. Still, there are many foods you can have that will help your body stay happy during the week and beyond. 

• Increase water intake – plain water, tea, coffee, soups, and pure fruit juices (avoid or limit sodas as they cause an increase in salt intake and could lead to dehydration and harder stools) help the fiber do its job more efficiently (and comfortably).

• Eat the matzah sparingly – at the seder, we are required to eat a certain amount of matzah (a kezayit – the size of an ancient olive, today about the size of an egg when matzah is stacked vertically). The remainder of the week we abstain from leavened bread. Meaning, if we want to eat a “bread”, it must be in the form of matzah but we do not have to eat