Wellness Focus – Food Combining

Most of us want to eat a balanced diet but unfortunately we think that in order to get a balanced diet we need to eat every meal with all the food groups included; that is some protein, some carbohydrates, some vegetables and some fruits. Not all foods digest at the same Ph so some food may be incorrectly combined together when eaten and therefore interfere with ideal digestion.

Eating these together results in improper digestion and can cause obesity, bloating, gas, Hiatal Hernia, constipation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Allergies, Migraines and arthritis.

Proteins require acidic enzymes while starches require more alkaline conditions for efficient digestion. Here are some basic rules to follow at each meal for proper food combining:

• Don’t Eat Proteins and refined Carbs together. (there goes the burgers and sandwiches)
• Don’t Eat Proteins and Fruits together (there goes the after meal fruits for desert)
• Don’t eat Starches and Fruits together (who does that anyway? oh like pastries!)
• Don’t eat more than one type of protein. (there goes the all-you-can-eat buffet)
• Don’t eat deserts. (well, we all knew that one anyway)

Fruits are best eaten alone and not during regular meals but even here there are rules:

• Sweet fruits, sub-acid fruits and acid fruits can all be eaten alone.
• Sweet fruits can be combined with sub-acid fruits
• Acid fruits can be combined with sub-acid fruits.
• Avoid mixing acid fruit with sweet fruits.
• Melons are best eaten alone.

What does a healthy meal look like? Meat and vegetables are good but leave off the starches like bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. Pasta can be combined with vegetables or a salad; in fact most everything combines OK with vegetables or a salad. Eat fruits for snacks between meals.

Lastly, a balanced diet means balanced over 24 hours so it is smart to eat some foods separate from others. In fact we should be eating about five (5) times a day anyway, so this makes it easier to do that. Over a 24 hour period we should get 40% of our calories from Carbs, 30% of calories from fats/oils and 30% of our calories from protein sources. So work toward a balanced diet but with properly combined foods at separate meals. Have fun and good eating!

Yours in Health,
docMIKE