- Starches Veggies = OK
- Proteins Veggies = OK
- Proteins Starches = No No
- Plant Proteins Plant Proteins = OK
- Animal Proteins Animal Proteins = No No
- Starches Starches = OK
- Fats Proteins = No No (or pair moderately)
- Fats Carbohydrates = OK
- Fats Starches = OK
- Fruits are best eaten on an empty stomach
- Fruit Raw greens = OK (except melons)
If you've ever felt bloated, burpy, gassy, fatigue or even heartburn after a meal, chances are you're guilty of bad food combining.
With a few simple tweaks to your diet, proper food pairing can have you experiencing more energy, better skin, better sleep and natural weight loss within a couple of days. And, believe it or not, you don't have to be a vegan, vegetarian or raw foodie to do get results.
The gist of food combining is that different types of foods digest at different rates. When you eat several foods that digest at different rates your digestion gets out of whack and things begin to rot and ferment in your body. This "sludge" turns into stored toxins. And, when your body can't digest food properly it misses out on being able to absorb the nutrients in food leaving you with low energy, breakouts and poor sleep. It's an all around bad deal.
All food combining guidelines take into account the speed at which food digests. Fruit digests the quickest, then greens, then non-starchy vegetables, then starches and then, digesting the slowest, is protein. Eating foods in the correct order (according their transit times) ensures a traffic jam-free (and toxin-free) digestive tract.
When you get the combining right, your body gets to use the nutrients in the food. This leaves you with more energy, which inevitably equals more beauty.
Here are the food combining basics:
All of these guidelines can seem overwhelming at first, but it's really quite simple to find meals that work. As a compliment to the lovely Nadya Andreeva's post, '10 Common Food Combinations that Wreck Havoc on Your Health', here are 7 Food Combinations That Won't Wreak Havoc on Your Health:
1. Avocado sushi rolls - Avocado is a fat and rice is a starch.
2. Baked chicken with broccoli - Eat the broccoli first because it's a non-starchy vegetable, which digests quicker than chicken, which is a protein.
3. Pasta Primavera - Pasta is a starch and the rest of the ingredients are veggies.
4. Salad with guacamole and corn chips - Eat the salad and guacamole first because they're veggies, then the corn chips, which are a starch.
5. Green salad and grilled fish - Eat the salad first, which is a plant veggie, and then fish second, which is an animal protein.
6. Apple, followed by scrambled eggs twenty minutes later - The fruit goes first because it digests the quickest, protein comes second because it digests the slowest.
7. Steak with lightly sautéed spinach - Eat the spinach first because it's a veggie, then the steak, which is an animal protein.
I invite you to try a couple of these meals this week OR switch up the order in which you're eating your current meals. Remember, fruits go first, followed by greens, non-starchy vegetables, starches and protein.
Please leave a comment below. What has been your experience with food combining? Does it make a difference?