Do you consistently get bloating and gas after a heavy meal? If you do you, might want to learn about the theory of food combining.
Those who promote food combining believe that certain foods can be eaten together for ease of digestion while other foods should be avoided together because they could potentially cause stomach upset.
This theory has to do with the digestive times of certain foods.
For example, a light watery fruit might take 30 minutes or so to digest when a piece of chicken breast might take up to a few hours.
It is believed that the fruit has to wait in the digestive track for the chicken to digest and in the process can ferment, producing gas and even alcohol, and possibly indigestion.
One of the cardinal rules of food combining is to eat fruit alone on an empty stomach, especially melons, including water melon.
It is okay to combine different varieties of fruits together as long as super starchy fruits such as bananas are not combined with super acidic fruits such as lemons and limes.
Proponents of food combining also believe that starchy and protein foods should not be combined together because it takes a slightly different stomach environment to digest them and eating them together can lead to poor digestion.
So this means that the common combinations of meat (a protein) and potatoes (a starch) cannot be eaten together if you are following the rules of food combining.
Luckily, non starchy vegetables such as leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans...
(etc.
) can combine with either a protein or a starch.
So a properly combined meal might be a piece of salmon with some steamed kale or some brown rice topped with steamed broccoli.
There are many food combining rules but the 3 most important are: 1.
Eat Fruit Alone on an Empty Stomach2.
Don't Combine Proteins and Starches3.
Non Starchy Vegetables can Combine With Proteins and Starches The theory also believes in chewing your food until it is almost a liquid state.
The enzymes in your saliva start breaking down the food before you even swallow it, so this can greatly improve digestion.
The food combining theory is somewhat controversial.
Some people argue that there is no hard science behind the theory, while others completely swear by it, and have even claimed that it helped them to loose weight! I personally was a very strict food combiner for many years and I did notice an improvement in my digestion.
Now, I am a little more relaxed with the rules but there are some that I rarely break.
For example, I only eat melons alone on an empty stomach to avoid stomach upset.
Also, I don't eat many desserts, especially those with dried fruits and nuts.
The fruits don't combine well with the fat and protein in the nuts and it almost always gives me gas and bloating.
A lot of food combining requires experimentation, you'll quickly figure out which combinations work for you and which don't! If you have digestive problems food combining is a relatively easy and inexpensive treatment with no side effects, it just might be worth a try! For more further information please see the resources below: