Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Food Combining

Food Combining:

I’ve spoken about it in my office so many times I guess it’s time to put my full explanation of food combining rules in writing.

First of all food combining does not need to be practiced by everyone. It is one of the most common suggestions I will make to someone with any digestive problems. The basics behind food combining are as follows:

-Don’t eat starchy foods around the same time that you eat animal proteins!

That’s it! It is one of the easiest recommendations I can give a patient that will most likely have a great impact on their digestive symptoms. Again, food combining is not for everyone. Patients that I have seen and have prescribed food combining will more likely receive the benefits; rather than the average person reading this blog. This is a reminder for patients that have forgotten the rules or for anyone with digestive issues that wants to try something that at least can’t hurt.

Now let me fully explain food combining. When you eat any protein, especially a protein from an animal source (i.e. eggs, milk, cheese, chicken, turkey, beef, pork, butter…) you need a very acidic environment in your stomach in order to digest it. When you eat something that is very starchy (i.e. breads, pastas, grains, rice, peas, potatoes…) you create a more alkaline environment in your stomach. You basically make it more difficult to digest your meal. Now if you want to build muscle or want to be on a diet that is good for balancing your blood sugar a complex ‘not properly combined’ meal is probably beneficial to you. Also if you don’t have any digestive problems find another topic to read. Look for more info on the rest of the blog.

If you do have digestive problems, virtually any, proper food combinations can help. Why would you want to burden the digestive system any further? All you have to do is separate your animal proteins from any starchy foods by at least 3 hours. Now I did write starches, not carbohydrates. Non-starchy vegetables and fruits can be combined along with proteins and of course along with other starches. Confused at all? Take a look at this chart:









So most sandwiches are out…Pizza? Gone!...Chicken and rice? NO!...Pasta with sausage? No!...Cereal with Milk? No again!....Get it?

What can you eat?

Breakfast: Cereal with Soy or Rice milk (not an animal protein)

Eggs

Omelets

Peanut Butter with Jelly

Muffins (yes they are made with eggs but most people tolerate bake goods as a starch)

Snack: Handful of nuts or seeds

Lunch: Salads with Chicken/Tuna or Egg (no croutons)

Soups

Veggie burger/veggie burrito (no cheese)

Grilled vegetable sandwich

Rice and beans

Snack: Piece of fruit

Dinner: Hamburger/Turkey Burger (no bun) with veggies

Pasta with Veggies

Roast chicken with veggies

Fish with veggies

It may be a simple concept to master but implementing a lifestyle of proper food combing is not easy. It takes getting used to. The best thing to do is try your best to do it 100% all out for 4 weeks and notice how it makes you feel. If you feel better than try throwing in a few non-combined meals and see how they make you feel.

If you feel better eating well combined meals than stick with it. Anytime that you want to eat a poorly combined meal than do it! Just remember that you will pay for it. You now will have the power to choose when you want to feel bad. Want a slice of Pizza? Go ahead have it! Maybe you’ll fell bloated for 6-8 hours and then you’ll go back on the wagon again. About 80% of my meals are properly combined and it’s easy for me to keep it up because when I don’t I feel like crap. I don’t like to feel like crap so I eat well. If you don’t mind feeling bad go ahead and eat whatever you want whenever you want. Food combing is a great way of eating though. Not too many rules to follow. There are no bad foods so you can eat anything, just watch how you combine them.

By the way if you do want to eat poorly combined meals occasionally try taking a quality digestive enzyme along with your meal. If you choose the right one it will make a big difference. I test 4 different ones out on my patients to find the best fit for each individual.

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