Glossary

Terms of the Tayyibat system

Tayyibat: The good, pure and wholesome things. The family of foods favoured by the system for their digestive lightness.
Khabaith: The opposite category in the system: foods deemed heavier for the body and to be limited.
Ghee: Traditional clarified butter, central to the system. Stable for cooking, free of milk solids, recommended over modern oils.
Freekeh: Roasted green wheat, a traditional Levantine grain. Cooked in broth, it forms the base of several signature dishes.
Histamine: Hormone-mediator triggering digestive enzymes. Released in controlled amounts with tayyibat foods, possibly in excess with certain khabaith such as eggs, chicken, yogurt and white flour.
Two-hour rule: Spacing meals by two hours so the body can leave digestion mode and enter the repair-and-combustion mode driven by glucagon, growth hormone and the sympathetic axis.
Duodenum theory: The doctor's framework explaining how the stomach empties in batches into the duodenum, triggering hormonal cascades that determine the digestive and post-digestive phases.
Gluconeogenesis: The liver's manufacture of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources. Activates between meals to keep blood sugar stable when meals are spaced.
Reactive hypoglycaemia: Blood-sugar drop that follows a strong carbohydrate meal. Insulin sweeps glucose into storage too efficiently, leaving the muscles in deficit.
Six pillars: The pedagogical foundations of the system: tayyibat-vs-khabaith, natural fats, hunger-driven eating, daily movement, whole grains, alternated protein days.
Attaybatte preparation: The specific preparation that makes the tomato tayyib: peeled, deseeded and cooked. The three conditions are cumulative; raw, unpeeled or with seeds, the tomato is excluded.
Tayyibat rank: The internal hierarchy among the allowed land meats: lamb first (reference), liver second (weekly, micronutrient-dense), goat third (gentle alternative), beef last (heaviest, requires the signature boil-then-sear method).
Beef method: The signature beef cooking: long simmer for 60 to 75 minutes to render and tenderise, then a short sear in ghee for 8 to 12 minutes. The only method accepted for beef in the system.
Insulin: The storage hormone, dominant during the two hours after a meal. Drives glucose, amino acids and fatty acids into cells. While it stays high, fat oxidation is paused.
Glucagon: The mobilising hormone, active between meals. Releases stored glucose from the liver and unlocks lipolysis. Becomes the dominant signal once the two-hour window is respected.
Combustion mode: The metabolic state that follows digestion: glucagon, growth hormone, adrenaline and cortisol relay, the body burns its own reserves for fuel. Reached only when meals are spaced by at least two hours.
Autophagy: Cellular self-cleaning that recycles damaged components. Activated after the digestive phase, it sustains tissue repair and is one of the long-term benefits the system claims from the two-hour rule.
Hunger signal: The body's authentic call for fuel, distinct from appetite or craving. The system asks to eat when this signal appears, not by the clock.
Riwāyat Warsh: The Qur'anic reading transmitted by Warsh from Imam Nāfi', dominant across North Africa. Several passages cited around the principle of tayyibat use this transmission.
Date (rank 1): The highest-ranked fruit in the system. Dense, digestively gentle, traditional energy bridge in Levantine and Gulf cuisines. Often paired with ghee, sourdough or qishta at suhoor and breakfast.
Qishta: Traditional clotted cream skimmed from simmered fresh milk, characteristic of Najdi and Levantine breakfasts. Paired with dates, honey and Arabic coffee.
Akawi: Levantine brined white cheese, soft and salty, accepted in the aged-dairy palette. Eaten with zaatar, olive oil and sourdough at breakfast.
Warak enab: Vine leaves stuffed with rice and minced lamb, a Levantine classic. Tayyib in the system but to be eaten rarely and in small portions, not as a weekly staple.
Sourdough: Naturally leavened bread made from a wild fermentation starter, with no commercial yeast. Long fermentation breaks down phytic acid and gluten, making the bread digestively friendlier than industrial loaves.
Allowed spice palette: The narrow list of spices and condiments the system accepts: salt, green cardamom, saffron, thyme (zaatar), green anise, moderate olives, moderate preserved lemon, moderate ketchup and mustard. Everything outside this list is excluded.
Halal: Permitted under Islamic dietary law. The Tayyibat system is built on halal sourcing of meat (lamb, goat, beef) and rejects pork, blood, carrion and alcohol by default.
Tayyib (singular): Singular form of tayyibat. Means good, pure, wholesome. Applied to a specific food, it declares this food fit for the system in its specified preparation.
Khabīth (singular): Singular form of khabaith. Means impure, harmful, unsuitable. Applied to a specific food, it declares this food incompatible with the system regardless of preparation.
Aged dairy: Cheeses and butters that have undergone enzymatic or microbial ageing: akawi, kashkaval, halloumi, parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, ghee. The system accepts these and rejects fresh dairy.
Wild sea fish: Sea fish caught in the open ocean, not farmed. The only category of fish the system accepts (sardine, mackerel, sole, sea bass, hake, tuna). Farmed fish, shrimp, squid and crab are excluded.
Liver day: Once a week the system schedules a lamb liver portion. Liver concentrates retinol, copper, iron, B12 and choline, working as the system's micronutrient anchor without supplementation.
Rest day: A day without animal protein. Grain-vegetable-fat combinations dominate. Lets the digestive enzymes shift gears and supports weekly weight stabilisation.
Protein day: A day where lamb, goat, beef, liver or wild fish anchors the main meal. Three to four protein days per week is the system's working frequency for healthy adults.
Suhoor: Pre-dawn meal during Ramadan. Tayyibat suhoor leans on dates, qishta, ghee, sourdough, akawi and Arabic coffee to slow-release energy across the fasting day.
Iftar: Breaking-fast meal at sunset during Ramadan. Tayyibat iftar opens with three dates and water, then waits ten minutes before the main protein-grain-cooked-vegetable meal, respecting the two-hour rule afterwards.
Three-date rule: Open every meal coming after a fast (suhoor, iftar, intermittent fasting break) with exactly three dates and water. Slow-release glucose primes the digestive engine without spiking insulin.
Cooked-only rule: Vegetables enter the system mostly cooked. Tomato, onion, bell pepper, garlic-leek family, cabbages, courgettes, all stewed, steamed or sautéed. Raw salads are reduced to rare occasions.
Family meal: The shared single sit-down meal anchoring an Arab day. Tayyibat is designed to fit it: rice or freekeh, stewed lamb or wild fish, cooked vegetables, dates and tea afterwards.
Khatm: Arabic seal or signature motif, used in Sehtin's visual identity to mark editorial sections and key passages. Has no dietary meaning, purely brand semiotics.
Zaatar: Levantine herb mix built on thyme. Allowed pillar of the system, paired with olive oil, sourdough and akawi at breakfast. The mix accepted is thyme-led, not the commercial blends with sumac.
Arabic coffee: Lightly roasted Arabica brewed with green cardamom, sometimes saffron. Sugar-free by construction. Tayyibat-compatible at any time of day, including during the post-meal two-hour window.

This article relays the public teachings of Dr. Diaa Al-Awadi for educational and informative purposes. It is not medical advice. Consult your physician before any dietary change. Legal notice.