If you’ve ever felt bloated or gassy after a meal, chances are you didn’t combine your food properly.
Foods have different transit times and require specific digestive enzymes. Bad food combinations can cause indigestion and fermentation, which may lead to inflammation, a precursor to illness.
Additionally, when the body has to work overtime to deal with difficult to digest food combinations and their toxic byproducts, it drains you of your vital force. This is abstract of course science to some and common knowledge to others.
Combining foods correctly and eating them at an appropriate time is essential if you want to enjoy good digestion and optimal health.
When you adhere to the rules of good food combining, the digestive system doesn’t have to work so hard and the conserved energy can be used elsewhere in your body. There are no possible negative side effects to correct food combining as described herein. Only possible benefits.
There are three basic types of food: concentrated foods (proteins and starches), high water content foods (fruits and veggies), and fats.
1. Do not combine proteins with starches. Meat and potatoes are a lousy combo! Proteins are best consumed on their own, or with small amounts of vegetables. Combine proteins with raw leafy greens or gently steamed light starch vegetables. don’t combine multiple sources of animal protein in one meal. Different kinds of plant based proteins together are ok.
Leafy green vegetables and light starch vegetables (carrots, beets, artichokes, peas, string beans, broccoli, cauliflower) work well with both starches and protein.
2. Fruit should be eaten alone and not mixed with any proteins or starches. Because fruit is mainly comprised of water, it only takes about 30 minutes to move through the stomach. If it gets stuck behind something with a longer transit time, it may ferment and cause indigestion.
Fruit eaten alone and on an empty stomach can cleanse the digestive track, enabling it to absorb nutrition more easily. wait at least 30 minutes after eating fruit before consuming another type of food.
Eat acid fruits (blackberries, citrus fruits, pineapple, sour plums, pomegranates, raspberries, sour apples, strawberries) with sub-acid fruit (apple, blueberries, pear, kiwi, mango, nectarine, peach, sweet plums).
Sweet fruit (bananas, dates, grapes, dried fruit) combines with sub-acid fruit, but make sure to eat sweet fruit after sub-acid fruit.
Don’t combine sweet fruit and acid fruit. (melon should be eaten alone.)
(All fruit acids convert inside the digestive system to neutral salts when they mix with your digestive alkalies. Fruits are alkalizing to the blood never acidic).
Because juices and blended drinks require little to no digestion, it is okay to combine fruits and vegetables in this form.
3. Avoid drinking liquids with meals. Drinking liquids with meals can dilute the stomach acids necessary for digestion, potentially creating fermentation in your stomach. drink enough water throughout the day, but be sure to drink in between meals, and not with them. Drink liquids at least 30 minutes before a meal, or one to two hours after a meal.
4. Fats and oils combine well with everything (except fruit), but slow down digestion. Choose organic, unrefined oils like flax seed or coconut oil.
Avoid trans fats. Never, ever cook fat foods in fat.
Soak and sprout seeds and nuts to ease digestion.