Food Combining Made Easy

One of the major cause for various health ailments is improper digestion of foods we eat. Since each food has different digestive requirements, it is important that whatever food we consume should be in right proportions and combination for good metabolism and proper digestion. Proper food combining made easy to digest ingested foods as well as the assimilation of nutrients in to the body. Some foods are light, more based in nature like a watermelon, and hence takes just 15 minutes to digest while heavy foods like nuts require more time. Hence, having a wrong combination of foods in a meal, can lead to severe indigestion, discomfort and putrefaction. Moreover, an undigested food mass can be a breeding ground of many bacteria which ferment and decompose the food mass. These microorganisms will release poisonous by products that can havoc the nerves of the digestive tract and lead to different digestive problems like acidity, constipation, bloating, heartburn, etc. Hence, to prevent such conditions it is essential to have a diet containing foods combined in a healthy manner.

Food Combining Guidelines

Below given are some basic rules to be followed before planning your meal, in order to have an easy digestion and good metabolism.

Acid and Starch Foods: You must have studied in chemistry that acid neutralizes base or any alkaline medium, the same rule is applicable in digestion also. Hence, avoid eating foods rich in acids and starches together as it may result in fermentation or impaired digestion.

Protein and Carbohydrate Foods: Similarly even protein rich foods and carbohydrate/fat foods should be eaten at separate meals. This is because protein foods require an acidic medium for digestion, while carbohydrate/fat foods are more basic in nature and require more time for digestion. Hence, undigested protein putrefies in bacterial decomposition and release some potent poisons and so it is recommended not to have both these types of foods together. Likewise, avoid eating sugar and protein rich foods together, rather try having one kind of protein food at a meal.

Fruits: Surprised? Well, even fruits require proper food combining and should not be eaten just like that. Fruits can be divided into three categories: acids (including oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, pineapples, tart plums, granny apples, peaches, etc.), sub acids (including apricots, berries, nectarines, mangoes, olives, figs (fresh), sweet apples, cherries, persimmons, grapes, etc.) and sweets (comprising prunes, raisins, dates, sweet grapes, pears, bananas, dates, dried figs, etc.). An acidic and a sub acidic fruit together form a good combination, likewise even a sub acid and sweet fruits when eaten together won't do any harm. However, it is recommended not to have fruits from any of these three categories together, else you might end up having an upset stomach. Avoid eating over ripe fruits and even watermelons which are more than 90% liquid with any other fruit as this can result in some digestive disturbances.

Beverages and Desserts: Avoid drinking beverages up to 20 minutes before a meal and wait at least an hour after eating. Desserts which are eaten after meals, lie heavy on the stomach and usually get fermented by bacteria into alcohols, vinegar or acetic acids. Hence, as far as possible avoid them or at least try having them in less amounts.

To sum up, we can say that our digestive tract will either be our highway to a good health, or to pain and suffering. Hence it is essential that we make right food choices in order to stay healthy and away from unnecessary digestive complications. One more point that you should always keep in mind is drinking enough water and chewing your food properly also aids in fast digestion.