An easy way to begin
thinking about food combining is to consider the concept of time. Some foods
take a long time to digest. Others move through the body relatively quickly.
(On average, fruits take 30 to 60 minutes to digest; vegetables, grains, and beans take one to two hours; cooked
meat and fish take at least three to four hours; and shellfish takes four to
eight hours.)
When you combine
foods with varying transit times, trouble may ensue, because digestion isn’t as
efficient. For example, say you eat a meal that includes shrimp and pineapple.
Because the pineapple is combined with the slowly digesting shrimp, it sits in
the stomach hours longer than it would on its own. As a result, the sugars in
the sweet fruit ferment, which leads to bloating and gas.
And, says Alder, an expert in nutrition, the
problems only multiply from there. If food rots in the stomach or intestines
instead of being efficiently digested, we don’t absorb all of its nutrients.
“Anytime you have fermentation or putrefaction, it can create gases that are
toxic and even carcinogenic. These gases require energy because other organs
have to work harder to detox the body. These toxins in the system may also
cause fatigue, irritability, headaches, and foul breath
initially, then later may result in colitis, inflammation, constipation,
arthritis, high blood pressure, and other unpleasant issues.”
Ultimately, the key
to good and bad combinations is to listen to your body, not follow a set of
rules. “Why not try it?” says Alder. “It doesn’t cost any money. And sometimes
it helps alleviate symptoms.” After all, isn’t feeling better worth a little experimentation?
Below are some food
combinations to test, and if they don’t sit well, consider avoiding:
1. Fruit With or
After a Meal
Examples:
·
Strawberries on your salad
·
Mango salsa on fish
·
Apple pie or fresh berries for dessert
Why: Fruit goes
quickly through the stomach and digests in the intestines. When you combine
fruit with foods that take longer to digest — such as meat, grains, and even
low-water fruits like bananas, dried fruit, and avocados — it stays too long in
your stomach and starts to ferment, because fruit, says Alder, really acts like
a sugar.
Bhaswati
Bhattacharya, MD, a holistic health counselor and physician in New York City,
agrees. “Sugars are actually not easy to digest, according to Ayurveda, because they are heavy and require good fire to
process. That is why fruits should be eaten alone.” Bhattacharya adds that
fruits (especially fresh, seasonal fruits) are also “energetically purifying
foods and complete foods,” and to combine them with proteins and carbs takes
away their pure energy.
Instead: Eat fruit 30 to
60 minutes before your meals. When fruit is eaten alone on an empty stomach
before a meal, it prepares the digestive tract for what’s to come. Water rinses
and hydrates the tract, fiber sweeps and cleanses it, and enzymes activate the
chemical process of digestion. That’s why, says Alder, eating fruit first makes
the digestive tract “more capable of absorbing nutrition.” After a meal, wait
at least three hours before eating fruit. It’s best to eat most fruits on their
own — especially melons, because they are high in sugar and enzymes specific to
each melon. If you want to experiment with food combining, eating fruit alone
is a great first step.
2. Animal Protein
Plus Starch
Examples:
·
Meat and potatoes
·
Chicken and pasta
·
A turkey sandwich
Why: Alder believes
that if an animal protein is eaten with a carbohydrate, such as meat and a
piece of bread or a potato, the different digestive juices will nullify each
other’s effectiveness: “The protein will putrefy and the carbohydrate will
ferment. The result is gas and flatulence in the system.”
Adding protein
enzymes and carb enzymes into the same space and time basically makes
everything “unclean,” says Bhattacharya, but she also admits that many people’s
bodies are suited to traditional foods like rice and sushi, and, yes, meat and
potatoes. And combinations like beans and rice, which make a healthy, complete
protein, don’t apply to this “bad combo” category. “Rice and beans have a
synergistic effect, promoting better assimilation of each when they are
together,” says Bhattacharya.
Instead: Combine protein
or starches with nonstarchy vegetables. If you do have to mix animal protein
and starch, add leafy green vegetables to minimize the negative side effects.
3. Fats With Wrong
Foods
Examples:
·
Olives with bread
·
Tuna with mayonnaise
·
Meat fried in vegetable oil
Why: Fats require
bile salts from the liver and gall bladder to break down; mixing them with
other digestive chemicals can cause distress. For example, large amounts of fat
with protein slows digestion, notes Donna Gates, author of The Body
Ecology Diet (Hay House, 2011). Bhattacharya says that fats and oils
need to be combined according to the digestive fire of the person eating them.
“If combined with foods properly, fats build a little fire and induce foods to
be carried to the liver better,” she says. “Fats are to be avoided when the
fire is too low in the gut, as they douse the fire.”
Instead: Gates recommends
using small amounts of fat — particularly, organic, unrefined oils like olive
or coconut — when cooking vegetables, grains, and protein. She also suggests
that protein fats like avocados, seeds, and nuts should be combined only with
non-starchy vegetables. Alder recommends always including a raw leafy green
vegetable when eating fats.
4. Liquid With Meals
Examples:
·
Water during your meal
·
Juice with your meal
·
Tea right after your meal
Why: Water goes through
the stomach in about 10 minutes. Juice takes 15 to 30 minutes. Any liquid in
your stomach dilutes the enzymes your body needs to digest proteins,
carbohydrates, and fats.
Instead: Drink as much water
as you wish at least 10 minutes before you eat. After eating, wait about an
hour to have any liquid — or longer for a more complex meal.
5. Two Concentrated
Sources of Protein
Examples:
·
Bacon and eggs
·
Nuts and yogurt
·
“Surf and turf”
Why: Concentrated
proteins take a long time to break down, taxing the digestive system and
depleting energy. In Ayurveda, the combination of different meats, or meats
with fish, is to be avoided.
Instead: It’s best to
eat meat in the last course of your meal. “The first course should not be meat;
it should be light vegetables or protein. Meat should be the last course, as
digestive fire and enzymes are at their peak,” says Bhattacharya. “Never wait
more than 10 minutes between courses in the same meal. Or else the digestive
appetite and enzymes start to shut off.” Alder says that if you have to eat two
concentrated protein sources together, it’s best to add high-water-content
vegetables such as onions, cauliflower, broccoli, or lettuce.