The Femme Files

Say Goodbye to Normal Eating; Say Hello to Better Digestion

Eggs and toast; chicken with rice; ham and cheese sandwich –would you suspect that these common combinations are an absolute “no no” for your digestion?

If you often feel heartburn, bloated, or gassy after you eat, even when you’re maintaining a “healthy” diet, than there is an uncommon dietary practice you should consider trying. It can be a bit daunting, but it certainly isn’t for your digestion if you do it right.

It’s called the food combining diet and its premise is that combining certain foods can either make or break your delicate digestive system.

Emphasis should be placed on ‘delicate’ because that is what our digestive system is. It cannot breakdown everything it is fed, especially when it’s a smorgasbord of different foods!

So let’s start with the golden rule of the food combining diet…

PROTEINS AND STARCHES DO NOT MIX

Say goodbye to any bread, pasta and rice with meat combination-the most culturally common combination of food on the planet! Oh chicken sandwich and sushi roll, how you will be missed…   but why?

Well, the enzymes required to break down protein (meat) require an acidic environment, while starches and sugars (bread, etc.) require an alkaline environment. When you consume the two together, it is believed that the stomach basically ends up in a neutralized environment; unable to digest anything resulting in the gassy, bloated feeling.

If there is one thing to take from the food combining approach the most important would be too never mix proteins and starches! When in doubt, think lo-carb diet to remind you i.e. burger without bun, curry without rice or chicken with salad.

Of course, there are many more recommendations. They are:

-Always eat fruit in the morning on an empty stomach. Fruit digests really quickly so if you eat it with protein it will get stuck, left to ferment, creating gassiness or bloating. 

-Most vegetables can be eaten with starches. (A salad sandwich gets the tick of approval)

-Avoid drinking ice cold drinks with your meals, it dilutes digestive enzymes.

-Chew food thoroughly (almost to liquid) as digestion begins in the mouth.

As it is seen, food combining is all about enhancing digestion, which essentially, is where all health begins. If you don’t break down and assimilate food properly, you won’t receive adequate nutrition, setting your body up for numerous health problems.

Obviously, making these changes aren’t going to happen overnight and it can be quite daunting. But if you start making little changes – reducing your protein and starch mixture – you may see enough improvement to keep continuing your proper food combining efforts.

Femmefile readers, please share you food combining diet experience!