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Trophology Trophology is the name given to the theory of eating only certain foods at certain times and not mixing foods together in one meal. The best known term used when describing this practice is “food combining”, oddly enough, whereas it should perhaps rather have been called “food separation” due to the „rules‟ of separating protein from carbohydrates at each meal, and eating fruit on it‟s own. Whilst this may be helpful for certain digestive complaints for short periods of time, in the long term there are a host of problems which seem to surface with this lifestyle from nutrient deficiencies to blood sugar problems and more. We have to throw away our brains - the rationale is so absurd that a Grade 11 Biology student will be able to set one straight here. In truth, modern science laughs at this myth, and threw it out as nonsense long ago, according to Dr. Sheldon Margen, Professor Emeritus of Public Health Nutrition, University of California at Berkley, California. Trophology is based on the somewhat far-fetched concept that starches and proteins should not be eaten in the same meal because they are not fully digested and tend to ferment in the stomach. Of course this is scientifically inaccurate as fermentation cannot take place in the presence of the hydrochloric acid in the stomach which would kill any yeasts which are responsible for fermentation. At a pH of 1-3, gastric juice is powerfully acidic and one of the functions of this acid is to kill micro-organisms in the food such as bacteria and fungi. Pure concentrated hydrochloric acid has a pH of 0. History Food combining grew out of a trend with the unlikely name of „natural hygiene‟ [which actually has nothing to do with hygiene, nor is it „natural‟]. To fully understand why this is an ancient, unscientific lifestyle one has to examine the history of where this came from and look at it in the light of scientific fact. An interesting article from www.medhunters.com has this to say: “The natural hygiene movement began around 1850 and has several mutations and philosophies, which range from rational to extremist. The most recent promoter of the movement is Herbert M. Shelton, who ran an unaccredited "school" in Texas from 1928 to 1981. After the school close, in 1982, a federal court awarded US$873,000 to the family of a patient who died while being treated at Shelton's school. In the last month of his life the patient had lost 50 pounds and was the sixth person to die in five years while undergoing treatment at the school.” You can read more about the disturbing philosophy on their website. [www.medhunters.com/articles/dietaryLifestylesPartFourNaturalHygiene] The author of the above article also mentions that the movement discourages any liquids being taken with meals, and that „correct combinations‟ (separation of protein from starches, and fruit eaten on it‟s own) should be followed, both notions of which he states are unscientific. The theory hypothesizes that since fruits digest quickly, starches slowly, and proteins digest even more slowly, mixing all of these items in one meal will cause food to ferment in the stomach and create digestive upset. Scientists and anyone with the most basic medical training will of course know this to be incorrect. 1 Interestingly, The International Hygiene Society (http://naturalhygienesociety.org/present.html) has this to say, and I quote: “Where does the term Hygiene came from? The Greek goddess Hygieia (Hygeia) gave the name to "Hygiene", as the movement was first named in the 1800's - and "Natural Hygiene", as Drs. Shelton and Cursio called the revived movement in the 1900's.” The article on their site goes on to say: “INHS warns about long-term veganism because of the dangers of deficiency. Short-term veganism is fine. We mention this, because since the 1940's, many NH doctors have recommended vegan diets. But this is beginning to change. INHS agrees with modern anthropology that humans are omnivores.” Natural Hygienists maintain that consuming a high-protein food and a high-carbohydrate food at the same meal will, at the least, tax the body‟s enzymatic capacity. In Food Combining, Shelton grouped foods into seven partially overlapping categories: 1. proteins such as nuts, peanuts, and avocados 2. starches, including sweet fruits, such as peanuts, chestnuts, pumpkins, bananas, and mangos 3. fats such as most nuts and avocados 4. acid fruits such as citrus fruit and tomatoes 5. “sub-acid” fruits such as pears and apricots 6. non-starchy and green vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, and watercress; 7. melons such as watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe. The idea that protein and carbohydrate cannot be taken together is based on erroneous theories regarding digestion. The body is perfectly capable of digesting mixtures of nutrients. The stomach is an acidic environment while the small intestine is alkaline. Digestion of protein starts in the stomach and is continued in the small intestine where most food digestion occurs. Virtually all foods contain a mixture of protein and carbohydrate. Problems Unfortunately, as with all fads, trophology lends itself to various versions of the original concept, with various branches forming with different ideas. Vegetarianism is an offshoot to some extent of this concept, as is veganism, raw foodism, fasting and near starvation. Whilst all these may not be wrong per se, they lend themselves to extremism – and whilst there is merit in a high vegetable diet and in eating a certain amount of food raw – the problem arises when it becomes an obsession, and is practised to the point of being unbalanced and unsafe. Worse still, it has in some quarters, where people are not educated to know the difference – become an accepted means to attaining better health. The rules are also for the most part difficult and unsustainable, anti-social and very timeconsuming. In nature carbohydrates and protein appear together in every single food source other than lean animal protein – so technically one is never really separating proteins and carbs. By eating only fruit until midday, the body is being set up for blood sugar imbalance without any protein to prevent the sugar spike (which is what high-quality protein does). People who begin the day with protein experience more energy, greater concentration without being tired a few hours later, and do not experience the sugar highs and lows. 2 Trophology promotes regular fasting to „cleanse‟ the body. While fasting is not a bad thing if you are fairly healthy, it can be problematic in very sick people, children, underweight persons and the elderly – so this is not a diet for everyone, but for a select few. Health professionals for the most part these days recommend strongly that fasting shouldn‟t be undertaken unless supervised and monitored by a suitably qualified medical professional. The body is exquisitely designed to be self-cleansing – that‟s what the liver, colon and lymphatic systems are for – in fact each cell of the body has an intricate system of cleansing and waste disposal. A safe and more sustainable alternative to fasting would be to train the body to self-cleanse through sensible eating, vegetable juicing, targeted high-quality nutrient supplementation and a balanced lifestyle. Liver support and healthy eating habits then enable the correct natural processes to take place without forcing the body to do anything unnatural. Trophology discourages nutritional supplementation however. Patrick Holford, international nutritionist and author, more than 15 years ago had this to say in his Spring 1994 edition of Optimum Nutrition: “The key elements in Dr Hay‟s original theory, expounded in the 1930‟s, was to eat „alkaline forming foods‟, eat fruit on its own, avoid refined and heavily processed foods, and not mix protein rich and carbohydrate rich foods. Protein and carbohydrate are digested differently. That is a fact. Carbohydrate digestion starts in the mouth when the digestive enzyme amylase, which is in the saliva, starts to interact with the food you chew. Once you swallow food and it enters the relatively acid environment of the stomach, amylase stops working. Only when the food leaves the stomach, where the digestive environment becomes more alkaline, can the next wave of amylase enzymes, this time secreted into the small intestine from the pancreas, continue and complete digesting carbohydrate. Protein, on the other hand, is not digested at all in the mouth. It needs the acid environment of the stomach and may hang out there for 3 hours until all the complex proteins are broken down into small groups of amino acids. This only happens in the stomach because of high levels of hydrochloric acid, which is needed to activate the protein-digesting enzyme, pepsin. Once small groups of amino acids leave the stomach they meet peptidase enzymes, again from the pancreas, which break them down into amino acids, ready for absorption.” It would seem trophology has no firm basis, scientific or otherwise. Bear in mind too that it is out-dated by around 100 years, and the theories totally disagree with our present knowledge of physiology and nutrition. “Food combining" originated at the turn of the century, when people knew very little about basic physiology and nutrition. What other reputable discipline would still be using imagination rather than scientific proof to promote a theory? Keep up with Modern Science Biochemistry and nutrition have come a long way in the last 95 years since „food combining‟ was introduced; it‟s unfortunate some still promote this debunked theory. If food combining theories were true, the human race would not have survived to this point, as most basic foods contain a combination of proteins and carbohydrates in the one food. This applies to foods such as beans, grains, seeds, nuts and breast milk. The only possible advantage to diets that promote these theories are that they might encourage people to eat more fruit and possibly eat less overall, but there is no evidence to support separation from other food groups. 3 Every major cuisine in the world combines protein and carbohydrates on the same plate, from the traditional meat and potatoes, to Asian stir fry chicken with rice, Middle Eastern couscous with lamb and the Mediterranean use of bread with all meals. It is also a myth that fruit should be eaten on its own. Fruit is the perfect complement to every meal. This movement also proclaims that food putrifies in the body if not eaten according to the rules. Food cannot putrify in the body for at least three reasons: Firstly, as mentioned, the powerful acid in the stomach would kill bacteria responsible for putrefaction. Secondly, bile which neutralizes the acidic chyme which leaves the stomach has antiseptic properties which would further retard putrefaction and thirdly there is simply no time for putrefaction to occur since the food is pounced upon rapidly by a variety of digestive enzymes beginning selectively in the mouth (for starches) and stomach (for proteins), but really speeding up in the small intestine as pancreatic juice and intestinal juice are secreted into the small intestine to digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats simultaneously. We were designed to eat meals of mixed foods by virtue of the enzymes secreted at the right time and the make-up of our incredibly complex digestive system seems to expect foods to arrive as a mixture. Most food is totally digested and absorbed into the blood within less than ten hours after eating so there is no time for putrefaction. Only if constipation is a problem, the likely cause being a lack of dietary fibre, not incorrect food combining, could putrefaction become a problem in the large intestine. Whilst the food combiners claim different time frames for absorption, eating and waste excretion - scientists note that that the food-combining theory actually preaches the opposite of what research shows to be factual concerning digestion. Doctors can use fiberoptic gastroscopes to look into the body and observe digestive processes as they take place in the stomach and intestines. The "neutralized digestion" food combiners caution you about just simply does not exist. Digestion occurs when we eat, period - not during some time-sensitive day shift. Food Combining May Create Deficiencies Most importantly in the long term, these would include zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and more than likely protein, since the diet limits (or avoids) animal protein and eliminates dairy products. Whilst dairy products are unnecessary for most healthy human beings, and calcium can be obtained from many other sources – those who do not possess some sort of nutritional background could find themselves seriously deficient in many areas of their nutritional status. Unsustainable and Unrealistic All fad diets are unrealistic - you can't follow them forever, and this one is no exception. It's like holding your breath; you can only do it for so long, eventually you have to breathe. Fad diets deprive you so much that eventually you end up bingeing and overeating like there was no tomorrow. The very best way to eat is in a balanced, healthy fashion, not completely excluding any food group unless clearly intolerant or allergic to it (as in celiac patients who avoid gluten). In fact learning to eat healthily is difficult enough for most untrained people today without adding this heavy load onto their shoulders in the vain hope it will improve their health. The Acid Foods Myth Another branch of trophology seems to trap people into an obsession with being “alkaline” rather than “acid”, and eating according to what they believe will make them more alkaline. Many people believe eating foods that "make the body (or the blood) acid" is bad for our 4 health. The good news is that this is extremely simple – no matter what food you eat will not make your blood or your body more or less acid. It simply does not make scientific sense. Your blood and all your organs are buffered to maintain the pH level (the standard measure of acidity) within very close limits. Any deviation from this narrow range results in severe, lifethreatening illness. You would need to consume a bottle of antacids at once to decrease the acidity of your body, whilst putting your health seriously at risk. There is very little you can do to increase the acidity because your kidneys respond very rapidly to maintain the pH of your blood no matter what you eat. Foods as they Appear in Nature Most foods in nature comprise both protein and starch, and most fat as well – the best example of which is breast milk. Human breast milk is actually a combination of all three starch, protein, and fat. If combining starch and protein were so bad, why didn't God invent breast milk to carry these nutrients separately? We need to be using our grey cells more often instead of falling for the latest fads. Food combining diets separate protein foods from carbohydrate foods - nature doesn‟t. Beans, lentils, nuts and seeds all contain both, and the healthiest nations of the world are the nut, bean and seed eaters. Combining protein with carbohydrate- eg. fish with rice - reduces the GL of a meal considerably, which in turn helps to stabilize blood sugar levels. The textbook, Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies points out, “…what the advocates of food combining don‟t tell you is that almost all foods, even when eaten individually, are combinations of fat, protein and carbohydrates to begin with. In other words, very few foods are exclusively one of the 3 macronutrients. This kind of nonsense works best with people who have little idea of what constitutes food and how their bodies work. They don‟t understand how a common food like bread is a combination of starch, protein, a number of minerals and vitamins including most of the B vitamins. If you eat the whole grain (the brown wheat kernel with the germ that can sprout), you‟ll also get considerable fiber from the outer brown layers and some fat and vitamin E from the germ. Other ingredients in bread usually include some sugar, fat, and salt. Thus foods are combinations of nutrients and many other natural chemicals”. (UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, April 1996, p. 6,7) A combination of nutrients and other food components can often improve absorption dramatically rather than the opposite. For example, the vitamin C in the orange juice can enhance the absorption of the iron in cereals. Variety aids digestion rather than making it more difficult. The fact is, the human digestive system is wonderfully equipped to handle foods in any combination. One can eat a varied diet of vegetables, fruits, cereals, pulses, etc all in the same meal, without any apprehension. If the food eaten is rich in fibre, unrefined and healthy – the colon will do an excellent job of eliminating waste under these circumstances. It appears that there is overwhelming evidence on the side of a varied, balanced and natural diet, not a philosophy out of the mind of one man‟s imagination. As for that supposedly fermenting fruit, anyone who has studied human physiology can tell you that fermentation does not occur in the stomach due to the very high naturally acidic nature of the stomach. Fruit is nutritious, raw or cooked, and is readily digested in combination with other foods, including vegetables, grains and dairy products. Fruit is not always a hard-andfast category anyway: many things we call vegetables, such as tomatoes and avocadoes, are 5 really fruits. Virtually all foods then are themselves combinations. It is beneficial to eat fruit after a protein meal rather than having fruit on an empty stomach. The protein helps slow down the absorption of sugar, preventing the sugar swings that can unsettle some people. Most people today have digestive troubles because of the low quality of foods ingested – not because of “incorrectly” combined foods! The fact is, most human digestive systems are equipped to handle foods in any combination, if the colon, if fed with a fibrous, unrefined diet. It does an excellent job of eliminating waste in those circumstances. So the overwhelming evidence is on the side of a varied, balanced and natural diet, not a philosophy out of the mind of one man‟s imagination. "There is no truth to the concept that the 'wrong' combination of food (protein and starch) will make you fat or will rot in your stomach. If this were true, then millions of Japanese, Chinese, and other Asians would be very overweight since their traditional diet consists of rice, fish and vegetables or noodles, chicken/beef/pork, and vegetables. Regarding weight loss, Dr Jeremy Sims MB BS FRIPH FRSH DipN&H says "For healthy weight loss it is important to ensure your meals contain all the major food groups. Separating carbohydrates and proteins, for instance, has no basis in logic (or scientific evidence)." The Role of Enzymes Protein and carbohydrates require separate digestive enzymes to break them down. These are secreted in response to the presence of food in the intestine and not whether the food is protein or carbohydrate even though they work independently of each other. All foods, as previously stated regardless of their „acidity‟, are processed in an acidic environment in the stomach before being neutralised in the intestine. Most foods naturally contain all the macronutrients in different ratios. Though food combining may be tempting, the reality is that it is based on a theory that has since been well and truly debunked by science. In fact, trying to eat a diet where carbohydrate is not eaten at the same time as protein is impossible – food simply doesn‟t come like that; and your digestive system is quite happy to process all these components together. If you are having digestive issues or decreased energy levels, it‟s probably time to see a suitably qualified nutritionist or health professional concerning the state of your digestive system and overall lifestyle. Britain's leading nutritionist, Jane Clarke, says “Sorry, but food combining is just a silly fad!” When asked whether there was any truth to this lifestyle, she answered: “Food-combining doesn't make scientific sense. Our bodies are designed to digest different foods together, and there isn't any physiological reason why we can't digest and absorb proteins and carbohydrates from the same meal. Different foods are broken down and absorbed in different parts of the body. For instance, with sugars, this process starts in the mouth with the enzymes in our saliva. Some of the sugar is quickly absorbed through the mouth, which explains why we get an instant sugar hit from a chocolate bar, for instance. More complex and difficult-to-digest foods, such as wholemeal bread and red meat, first have to be crushed and squeezed by the teeth and the muscles in the stomach before the enzymes which have been released into the small intestine can break them down into absorbable form. 6 This is why these foods take longer to digest. The plus side is that they keep us satisfied for longer. Some foods, such as wholewheat bread, can't be completely broken down and digested, which is why, nutritionally, these high-fibre foods are so wonderful for gut health. The undigested elements of fibrous foods produce fatty acids in the colon. These prevent abnormal cell activity, reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease. High-fibre foods also help to produce softer stools that are easy for the gut to deal with. Meanwhile our liver and pancreas produce digestive juices. These contain enzymes to digest proteins, some that digest carbohydrates, and others that work on fat. Why would the body do this if it wasn't meant to have all types of food put into it? It certainly does not put the body under any sort of strain eating both protein and carbohydrates in one meal. Furthermore, most foods contain both carbohydrate and protein, so the theory of food combining just doesn't stack up.” Andrew Weil, M.D states “From a medical point of view, there really is no reason to avoid any food combination except those that you find distasteful or physically unsettling. The human body is built to handle whatever foods you consume, regardless of whether you eat them separately or together”. Whilst on the subject of enzymes, trophology teaches that water should never be consumed with meals because it will „dilute the enzymes‟. The word „dilute‟ implies „to weaken and thereby render less effective‟. This is also complete nonsense because enzymes are used over and over again with small amounts being able to perform many acts of digestion. If anything the presence of liquid allows them to move around more rapidly to attack more substrate than if they were stuck in stodge. To this end the gut will remove water from the blood to make the food less viscous so drinking water with a meal spares this sacrificial act by the blood. In final analysis, food combining is nothing more than another gimmick diet that uses a shred of fact to make an outrageous conclusion according to Joel Fuhrman, MD. He states: “Unfortunately, while advocates of raw-food and other fad diets sometimes present valuable advice for optimal health, too many incorrect and unscientific claims are mixed in for my taste”. This is in essence so true – many of the faddish type diets do contain many elements of truth, but they lose their way turning it into a hard-and-fast one-and-only way to health, and this is where the wheels come off. The food combining concept of Trophology is simply another fad diet. It has been around in its modern format since 1985 when the book, written by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, was first published. Biochemistry and nutrition have come a long way in the last 95 years since the concept of „food combining‟ was introduced; it‟s unfortunate some still promote this theory. It would be wiser to choose a way of eating and exercise that you can live with for the rest of your life. Yes, it's easy to lose weight on a fad diet if you are determined, but how can you prevent the pounds from coming back if you don't know how to eat healthy and exercise regularly? Weight loss diets have a failure rate of over 90%. The moral of the story: learn how your body really works, stick to solid science, and learn to tell sense from nonsense. That's the best lesson I think these theories have to offer! 7 Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-509672/Sorry-foodcombining-just-silly-fad.html#ixzz0RBQCSA97 8