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.

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.