Food combining is such an interesting and my favorite trick. A plate, which is full of everything. It helps our digestive system as well. Because the stomach has to face all the varieties of food at a single moment and it makes the stomach more efficient.
What Is Food Combining?
Food combining is combining all the foods of different groups with a balance. But, we should aware that improper food combining can lead us to disease and digestive distress.
For example, steak with a potato? It is a totally wrong combination. It would lead us to disease and negative health.
It is a belief of our ancestors. They believe that our digestive system always needs more energy than other systems of the human body.
It is the procedure of Ayurvedic medicine and they named it in the mid-1800s “trophology”. Trophology means the science of food combining.
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Then in the 1900s, Hay’s diet bring back this method. Now, it is a part of modern diets. Generally, food-combining diets assign foods to different varieties and groups.
These are usually broken down into carbohydrates and starches, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and proteins. There is also another classification of foods, such as acidic, alkaline, or neutral.
Different foods are digested at different speeds. If we will combine a fast-digesting food with a slow-digesting food it will cause a “traffic jam” in your digestive tract. That will lead to negative digestive and health.
Food-combining diets tell us how to combine these groups in a meal. It is very important to combine proper foods. Because improper foods can lead us to harm. Let’s have a look at the rules of food combining.
Rules of Food Combining
These laws of food combining vary depending on the source, but the most common rules are:
- Eat fruit on an empty stomach.
- No combination of starches and proteins.
- No combination of starches with acidic foods.
- Don’t combine different types of protein.
- Only consume dairy products on an empty stomach, especially milk.
- Proteins should not be mixed with fat.
- Sugar should only be eaten alone.
- Fruits and vegetables should be eaten separately.
According to science:
In 2019, a poll concerning this topic was conducted in Germany by Kitchen Stories. They said that 48.8% of the German people interviewed followed a special diet during the period considered.
Similarly, in order to check whether this procedure is helpful in weight loss. Two persons were given diet plans. One with a balanced diet plan and the other with a food combining diet. They are only allowed to eat 1100 calories per day. After 6 weeks, both lost 6-8kg. It means that food combining is no better than a balanced diet.
Avoiding mixed meals:
There are many foods that consist of fats, carbs, and protein. Our digestive system digests these meals very easily. After entering food into the stomach, gastric acid is released and then pepsin and lipase also released which results in protein and fat digestion.
So, pepsin and lipase are released no matter, if there is any protein or fat present in the food.
Then, food moves into the small intestine. The gastric acid from the stomach is neutralized and the intestine is flooded with enzymes that work to break down proteins, fats, and carbs.
Our digestive system is a multitasking organ.
The pH of the Digestive Tract
There is another belief in combining food is that combination of wrong pH foods. pH is basically a scale that tells the acidity and base of foods. Enzymes need a specific range of pH so that it can function properly but it is not necessary that all the enzymes required the same pH.
However, acidic food doesn’t affect the digestive tract. Our body keeps the pH of each part of the digestive tract in the correct range. Otherwise, low pH is much better because it digests the food easily and activates the enzymes.
It is important to maintain this low pH because it helps start the digestion of proteins and activates the enzymes produced in the stomach. It also helps kill any bacteria in your food.
More acidic or alkaline meals add more or less digestive juices so that it can get the required pH level.
Food Fermenting in the Stomach
It is saying that the effect of improper food combining is that food ferments or putrefies in the stomach.
It does not happen.
The fermentation process occurs when microorganisms start to digest food. But, as it is told to you that the stomach maintains an acidic pH that your food is essentially sterilized. That’s why almost no bacteria can survive.
Yes, fermentation occurs in the large intestine and many beneficial bacterias live here. It reduces inflammation, improved blood sugar control, and lowers the risk of colon cancer.
NOt To Combine:
But it doesn’t mean that we can combine any kind of food. Some combinations can cause a lot of damage such as
- Citrus Fruits and Iron
- Carrots and Fat
- Spinach and Dairy Products
Best To Combine:
- combining foods rich in vitamin C
- add some cheese or olive oil to your salad
- Made your broccoli topped with butter
Conclusion:
Food combining is not scientifically based. The saying that improper food combining causes poor digestive and negative health is also not true. Also, it is scientifically proved that food combining is no better than the balanced diet. If you want to continue with it, you can.
As it is consit of many rules, so food combining is not easy to follow. Also, it is said that there is no proof that it has any benefit.
For more information on healthy diet, have a look on
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