Download For Digestive Bliss Eat Foods that Don`t Fight

Food and Food Combining
For Digestive Bliss Eat Foods that Don't Fight
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 by: Barbara Minton, Natural Health Editor
(NaturalNews) How we eat may be just as important as what we eat. The diets eaten by most
Americans are based on the belief that any number of different foods can be digested at the same
time. This belief may be why more than half the population suffers from some sort of digestive
distress for which there seems to be no remedy. As sales of antacids soar off the charts, maybe it's
time to rediscover the art of food combining.
Indigestion and irritable bowel syndrome are modern phenomena
Our ancestors did not eat the way we do. Their diets were composted of one or two foods at a time
as they came across them, with many meals consisting of nothing but animal protein. With the
advent of agriculture, a more varied diet became available, but it was still based mainly on the
consumption of meat, and dairy products. Vegetables and fruits were available only in their season,
with the exception of a few root vegetables that could be stored. The food processing so taken for
granted today had not yet been invented, and processed carbohydrates were not a part of the diet.
Rolaids hadn't been invented either, and it appears that our ancestors did not suffer from the
digestive problems so prevalent in modern times.
Dr. Hay used theory of food combining to regain his own health
The art of food combining is the brain child of Dr. William Hay who after several years of medical
practice found his own health in shambles. Suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease and
weight gain, he decided to take a close look not only at what he was eating but how he was eating it.
His discoveries and dietary changes brought him remission of symptoms and reduction of weight by
50 pounds in just a few months. And like most theorists who have come up with an idea that really
benefits people, Dr. Hay was ridiculed by his peers. Today, the scientific community is finding
evidence that Dr. Hay was onto something. Research is showing a connection between
carbohydrates and allergies, diabetes, skin problems, migraines, depression, chronic fatigue, and
psychiatric disorders.
Food combining reflects the principles governing digestion
The theory of food combining is based on the idea that good health results from a body that is
slightly alkaline and attuned to the basic principles of digestion. It is a scientifically based system of
selecting foods that are compatible from all that are available. By grouping the right foods together
people can be assured of effortless digestion and more complete assimilation and use of nutrients
by the body. When foods are correctly combined, nutrients from them can be used to their fullest
extent to promote good health.
Digestion is facilitated by juices and enzymes produced in response to a cue from the food that has
been eaten. The juices can be alkaline or acid depending on the requirement of the enzymes they
contain. These enzymes are active only in a suitable media with well defined acid-alkaline ranges.
They are destroyed by variation in those ranges. Carbohydrate foods stimulate the secretion of
enzymes made specifically to break down carbohydrates, while protein foods require the secretion
of enzymes made specifically to break down protein. Fats too have specific enzymes needs to
facilitate their breakdown.
For example, the salivary enzyme, amylase, is produced in response to eating carbohydrates, and its
job is to break down carbohydrates for digestion. Amylase is only active in an alkaline medium and is
destroyed by a mildly acidic environment. The gastric enzyme, pepsin, is produced in response to
eating protein, and its job is to break down protein for digestion. Pepsin is only active in an acid
medium and is destroyed in an alkaline environment. While the body will produce juices and
enzymes specific to any type of food that has been eaten, it is unable to do so when a variety of
foods are eaten together. According to Dr. Hay, it is the combining at the same time of foods
requiring both acid and alkaline medium for digestion that is responsible for 90 percent of digestive
problems.
Good digestive outcome requires meals comprised of similar food types
When foods are improperly combined, fermentation in the digestive tract and digestive distress is
the likely outcome. When foods eaten at a meal are of the same type, there is no fermentation and
proper digestion is allowed to take place. The best way to avoid fermentation is to avoid mixing high
protein foods with high carbohydrate foods. While almost every food contains some amount of
protein, those with high concentration of protein remain in the stomach for several hours while the
gastric juices and enzymes do their work. Depending on the complexity of the protein eaten, this
time can be up to six hours.
Here are the basic rules of food combining:
Number one: Protein and carbohydrate concentrated foods
Breakdown of protein requires an acid medium, and digestion of protein dense animal products
requires high levels of hydrochloric acid. Since digestion of carbohydrate dense foods requires an
alkaline medium in order to be broken down, high carbohydrate foods that have been mixed with
high protein foods will not digest but will sit there fermenting, producing indigestion, bloating and
gas. And since this fermentation of carbohydrates will inhibit the digestion of the protein, more gas,
bloating and discomfort will be produced. This makes the typical American meal, composed of a
large hunk of meat along with potatoes and bread, a recipe for digestive disaster.
Dr. Hay's research found that most protein foods are best digested when accompanied by a fresh
green salad. Other concentrated protein foods like nuts and seeds combine well with acid fruits such
as oranges, pineapples blackberries, or strawberries. They also work fairly well with sub-acid fruits
such as apples, cherries, mangos, or peaches. The vitamin C in these fruits aids digestion of the
mixture.
Number two: Eating two concentrated proteins together
Each type of protein requires a specific character, strength and timing of digestive juice secretions.
This means that no two types of concentrated protein should be consumed together at a meal. Nuts,
meat, eggs, cheese, or other protein foods should not be eaten together. And no two types of
animal protein should be eaten together, a rule that may be hard to swallow by the surf and turf
crowd.
Number three: Protein and fats
Fats inhibit the secretion of gastric juices needed to digest meat, fish, dairy products, nuts, and eggs
by as much as fifty percent. When fat concentrated foods are eaten with protein concentrated
foods, the digestive breakdown of the fats is delayed until gastric juices complete their work on the
complex proteins. This means fats will remain undigested in the stomach for a long period of time.
Although some high protein foods also contain high amounts of fat, these fats will be held in
suspension awaiting breakdown without impeding gastric action. However, free fats such as oil,
butter and milk fat will coat the gastric mucosa, inhibiting gastric juice. This is why fried chicken is so
hard to digest.
Number four: Acid fruits with carbohydrates
The enzyme in saliva that begins the breakdown of starch concentrated foods in the mouth does the
important job of converting complex starch molecules into more simple sugars. In order to work, the
enzyme requires a neutral or slightly alkaline medium, the natural condition found in the mouth.
When acid foods are eaten, the action of the enzyme needed to break down starch is halted because
the medium needed has been altered. Thus acid fruits should not be eaten at the same meal as
sweet fruits or other starches. This combination is what makes spaghetti and other dishes combining
tomatoes with starch so bloating.
Number five: Acid fruits with protein
Oranges, tomatoes, lemons, pineapples and other acid fruits can be easily digested and produce no
distress when eaten away from starchy and protein foods. However, when included in a meal that
contains a protein concentrated food, the acid fruits seriously hamper protein digestion. This is in
part what makes the typical American breakfast of orange juice, bacon, eggs and toast such a
digestive nightmare
Number six: Starch and sugar
Eating starches that have been disguised as sweets is not a good way to eat starch. Although the
"treat" produces an abundance of saliva, the saliva contains none of the enzyme needed to digest
the starch because the sugar has turned the environment acidic. This is why such items as fruit filled
Danish settle on the digestive tract like a sack of bricks. The carbohydrates are fermenting in the
body, producing noxious gases.
Number seven: Consuming melons
Melons should not be consumed with any other foods. Watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and the
more exotic melons should always be eaten away from mealtime and alone. Melons are meant to
decompose quickly in the digestive system, which is what they will do if there is no interfering with
the process.
Number eight: Consuming milk
Milk is best left to babies who traditionally consume it alone, away from other foods. Milk does not
digest in the stomach, but in the duodenum, so the presence of milk in the stomach does not
promote secretion of gastric juice. The use of acid fruits with milk does not cause any digestive
difficulty, although the benefits of the antioxidant potential of the fruits may be lost due to the
affinity they have for the protein in milk.
The goal of food combining is digestive bliss
If all this seems overwhelming, especially at first, here is the bottom line. Starches, fats, and green
vegetables may be eaten together as they require either an alkaline or neutral medium for their
digestion. Similarly, protein foods, green vegetables, sugars and acid fruits may be eaten together as
they require an acid or neutral medium for their digestion. Starches and proteins, fats and proteins,
proteins and acid fruits, starch and acid fruits, and starch and sugars should not be eaten together
for those people looking to attain optimal digestion and gastric comfort.
Meals that contain the smallest number of courses will produce better digestive results. A one
course meal is ideal. As a general rule, simple meals are more conducive to good health than are
more elaborate meals, no matter how much attention the person planning the meal has devoted to
food combining.
As the typical American meal consisting of protein, carbohydrates and fats may remain in the
stomach for up to six hours, the potential is there for several hours of digestive misery. And
remember, carbohydrates are always the last to be digested. If another meal is eaten before the first
one has completely digested, the protein is again digested first, leaving the carbohydrates to be
stored as fat. This is why weight loss is a secondary benefit to food combining. When foods are
properly combined, they are not stored in a line waiting to be digested.
On the other hand, carbohydrates eaten without proteins remain in the stomach for about one hour
or even less. A fruit meal remains in the stomach for an even shorter period of time. The ideal
regimen of food combining would be a fruit meal for breakfast, a starch meal with a vegetable salad
or non-starchy vegetables for lunch, and a protein meal with a salad and non-starch vegetables for
dinner.
References:
Grant, Doris, Joice, Jean, Food Combining for Health.
Food Combining, The Internet Health Library 2000.
Food Combining Diet for Weight Loss, healthylifestyle.com.
About the author
Barbara is a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal finance, a breast
cancer survivor using "alternative" treatments, a born existentialist, and a student of nature
and all things natural.