Secrets of Food Combining: Eating for Life

According to Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and other alternative medicine, if you combine the wrong foods, your body will become acidic and unbalanced, and actually will secrete enzymes that cancel each other out. This causes bloating, gas, weight loss and fluctuations in energy levels. In can also lead to slowed or impaired digestion, causing food to ferment in the stomach or toxins to be released in the intestines. 

Proper food combinations are based on the idea that there are foods groups that digest well with each other and others that don't. So what is food combining? What food is a protein and what food is a starch? Let’s take a look.

Food Combining Categories

• Lean proteins: lean fish, lean meats and poultry, low-fat dairy, protein powder
• Starches and starchy proteins: grains (including bread, pasta, etc), potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots, pumpkin, winter squashes, beans, lentils, peas, tofu, tempeh
• Fats and fatty proteins: avocados, olives, nuts, seeds, oils, butter, cheese, yogurt, eggs, fatty fish, poultry, meat
• Greens and non-starchy vegetables: leafy greens, sprouts, celery, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, radish, zucchini, onion, garlic, mushrooms, green beans, fresh corn
• Fruit: lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, tomatoes, strawberries, pineapples, apples, berries, pears, apricots, peaches, grapes, plums, cherries, mangoes, papayas, figs, bananas, dates, dried fruits, fruit juice, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew
• Sweeteners: sugars, syrups, malt syrups, honey

Proper Food Combinations

• Greens and non-starchy vegetables combine well with pretty much any type of food.
• Lean proteins combine best with greens and non-starchy vegetables.
• Starches and starchy proteins combine best with greens, non-starchy vegetables and fats.
• Fats and fatty proteins combine best with greens, non-starchy vegetables, starches.
• Fruits combine best with greens and should be eaten first as they exit the body most quickly.
• Sweeteners are best eaten on their own (i.e. in tea).

Exceptions

• Acidic fruits (citrus, tomatoes, strawberries, pineapples) combine well with fats or proteins.
• Melons should be eaten alone, since they digest faster than other fruits.
• Bananas can be eaten with starches due to their starchy content.