Food Combining For Optimal Digestion

Proper food combining is essential for optimising digestion because different foods require different environments to digest and are broken down and move through the gastrointestinal tract at varying speeds.

Combining certain foods can lead to bloating, gas due to fermentation, dysbiosis, inflammation, lymphatic stagnation, issues with glucose metabolism, brain fog and fatigue.

The digestive process requires more energy than any other system in the body. Combining certain foods together puts added stress on the digestive system to do its job properly and tends to flare pre-existing health conditions and symptoms.

Adhering to the food combining principles listed below will allow your digestive system to process food much more efficiently and therefore you will experience a reduction in any unpleasant digestive symptoms and potentially many other symptoms you didn’t realise were linked to the health of your digestive system. Food combining is also a crucial practice to follow if you are healing from a chronic illness.

FOOD COMBINING RULES ~

DO NOT Combine Protein & Carbohydrates*

*The only exception is low carbohydrate vegetables and leafy greens with protein.

Protein rich foods require an acid environment with acidic enzymes to be digested whilst carbohydrates require an alkaline environment with alkaline enzymes. Consuming both protein and carbohydrates together typically leads to indigestion because proteins require a very acidic environment to be broken down into amino acids. Protein is very hard to digest. Consuming a carbohydrate with a food rich in protein will stimulate the secretion of alkaline enzymes and create a more alkaline environment preventing protein from being broken down adequately. This can lead to gas, bloating, stomach pain and fatigue.

DO NOT Combine Fat & Carbohydrates*

*The only exception is low carbohydrate vegetables and leafy greens with fats.

Combining fats and carbohydrates is a recipe for disaster. It is also one of the most common combinations found in modern cuisine because it is the most palatable and hugely addictive.

The body’s preferred fuel source is glucose, once a carbohydrate is broken down into simple sugars it’s enters the blood stream (fructose has to first be converted to glucose by the liver prior to reaching the blood stream). An increase in blood glucose stimulates the production of the hormone insulin. Insulin’s job is to deliver glucose into the cells where it is used for energy.

The issue is, if a fat is consumed at the same time as a carbohydrate or if a high fat diet is consumed prior to carbohydrate consumption, the fats are broken down into fatty acids in the small intestine, travel through the lymphatic system and then into the blood stream where they coat the cells and inhibit the uptake of glucose into the cells. This results in hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, lipid induced insulin resistance and may in extreme cases lead to diabetes. Blood sugar issues are not caused by natural sugars, but the fat it is combined with. This combination also tends to cause a flare in dysbiosis, fungal overgrowth in the GI tract and systemically and SIBO particularly when it comes to combining fat with fruit, starch or concentrated sugars like maple syrup, honey and coconut sugar. The reason this occurs is because carbohydrates are typically digested and metabolised very fast, fat slows down the digestive process and gut mobility when combined with carbohydrates and this tends to lead to the fermentation of sugars and starches in the gastrointestinal tract ~ hello flatulence!

DO always eat fruit alone on an empty stomach.*

*The only exception is consuming raw leafy greens, some low carbohydrate vegetables, greens powders, sprouts, spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla with fruit if tolerated.

DO always eat melons alone on an empty stomach.

DO properly combine fruits. Acid fruits can be consumed with sub-acid. Sub-acid fruit can be combined with sweet.

DO combine starches such as grains, beans and legumes with starchy vegetables, low carbohydrate vegetables and leafy greens only.

DO combine nuts and seeds with low carbohydrate vegetables and leafy greens only or eat alone.

DO eat concentrated protein sources with whole food fats, low carbohydrate vegetables and leafy greens.

A recommendation I give regularly is to also eat from LIGHT TO HEAVY over the day. This means you are consuming the foods with a faster transit time first and the foods that digest at a slower pace after. This is the best way to prevent fermentation and bacterial and fungal flares.

For example: In order throughout the day ~

~ Lemon water

~ Celery juice or green juice

~ Melons

~ Smoothie

~ Whole fruit

~ Raw salad with low carbohydrate vegetables and fat or cooked vegetables and salad. Any denser protein sources and fat are best left until later in the day after the lighter and easier to digest foods are consumed.

This approach is also in sync with the body’s natural rhythm of eliminating in the AM and building in the PM. Eating lighter in the day allows the body to complete it’s daily cycle of elimination and it also supports the liver in detoxification.

Not only do people report feeling better when they follow proper food combining principles but they typically lose weight, inflammation melts away and swelling and lymphatic stagnation resolves.

I will leave you with my favourite food combining charts below.

Image via The 80/10/10 Diet.

Image via @fullyrawkristina

Image via Dr Robert Morse

Have you tried food combining? What results have you had?

With love, Amy x