What is food combining?
Food combining is simply a nutritional approach that promotes eating certain foods in the same meal and avoiding other disadvantageous combinations as central to good health and weight management. You may have seen books or charts on the subject that may have seemed a bit intimidating. However Dr. Wayne Pickering offers a few easy to follow guidelines that are just as easy to remember.
3 Basics of Food Combination
Dr. Pickering lays out three basic commandments of eating that he recommends never breaking.
1. No proteins and starches at the same meal, as they neutralize each other and prevent proper digestion of either food. To ensure proper digestion of each food, wait two hours after eating a starch before eating protein. And wait three hours after eating protein before eating a starch.
2. No fruits and vegetables at the same meal. Fruits are either a single or double sugar, whereas the starches are a triple sugar. Fruits mechanically break down in your stomach, but chemically, they don't break down until they reach the third and fourth stage of your digestive system, which are in your small intestine. Starches, again, are broken down in three different stages, starting in your mouth.
3. "Eat melon alone, or leave it alone, or your stomach will moan." In short, melons do not digest well with other foods and will frequently cause problems unless consumed by themselves.
Why Food Combining Matters to Digestion
If the food you eat is not digesting properly, painful gas, heart burn, acid reflux and other stomach problems may arise. Your body may also become deprived of critical nutrients. Food is actually broken down in a number of different areas, starting with your mouth. (We will discuss chewing and digestion in more detail in later posts.) Food combination takes into account the area and complexity of digestion of each food, to ensure it goes through your entire digestive system with ease.
So put these simple rules to the test. The next time you sit down for a meal, remember these basic guidelines to combining your food and see how much better, more energetic you feel after eating. In the right combination, the food you love can love you back.
Source: Dr. Pickering: Why Food Combining Matters – Mercola.com