Body Ecology - Food Combining Basics

Food Combining Basics

Eating foods that are not compatible causes gas, bloating, poor digestion and weight gain.  The benefits you can expect from proper food combining:

You’ll feel better and be less bloated and gassy

You will have a plan to follow and be able to stick to that plan

You won’t be overweight, and should lose weight.  Food are assimilated and metabolized better so your body doesn’t have to resort to storing fat. 

3 Basic Rules of Food Combining

Rule #1 Eat fruits alone on empty stomach

Fruits encourage the growth of yeast in the body, so only allow lemons, limes, unsweetened cranberries, and black currants in the beginning three months.  All other fruits are too sweet in the beginning.  Fruits pass through the digestive system very quickly and leave the stomach within 30 minutes.  However, if eaten with other foods such as protein or starch, the fruit gets trapped and begins to ferment.  Yeast will feed of the sugars produced from this fermentation process.

You can eat acidic fruits with protein fats such as kefir, yogurt, nuts or seeds.  So you could combine strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, or grapefruit with yogurt, kefir or a handful of soaked and sprouted sunflower seeds.  

The only time your stomach is truly empty is when you wake up.  This is the best time to eat fruit.  Remember not to introduce other fruits too soon – This is the biggest mistake most people make.  Fruit is a perfect breakfast because they contain lots of water, which is important to hydrate you after a long sleep.  Drinking a glass of water with lemon or black currant juice is a great way to start the day.  It gives you lots of energy and stimulates the peristaltic action of the colon.  

Rule #2  Always eat protein with a non-starchy and/or ocean vegetable

When you eat eggs, meat, poultry and fish you produce hydrochloric acid.  When you eat starch such as potatoes or rice, you produce an enzyme called ptyalin.  If you eat them together, they neutralize each other which stop digestion.  Enzymes cannot do their job, resulting in poor digestion and fermentation.  Eat protein foods with the following:

Arugula

Asparagus

Bamboo Shoots

Beet Greens

Bok Choy

Broccoli

Brussel Sprouts

Burdock Root

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Celery Root

Chives

Collard Greens

Cucumber

Daikon

Dandelion Greens

Endive

Escarole

Fennel

Garlic

Green Beans

Jicima

Kale

Kohlrabi

Lamb’s Quarters

Leeks

Lettuces

Mustard Greens

Okra

Onion

Parsley

Radishes

Red Bell Pepper

Scallions

Shallots

Spinach

Sprouts (except mung beans)

Swiss Chard

Turnips and Turnip Greens

Watercress

Yellow Squash

Zucchini

These non-starchy vegetables go with anything.  Eat them with oils, butter, ghee, animal flesh, eggs, grain, starchy vegetables (like acorn squash and potatoes), lemons, limes, sunflower, caraway, flax or pumpkin seeds

Menu Tips:

Fish with stir-fry or steamed veggies

Chicken with leafy green veggies and an all-veggie soup

Large veggie salad with protein (salmon or boiled egg) and dressing (organic, unrefined oils)

Onion, red pepper and zucchini omelet or ocean veggies omelet with steamed asparagus and garlic

Rule #3 Eat grains and starchy vegetables with non-starchy and/or ocean vegetables

Grains allowed in the beginning are amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat and millet.  Starchy vegetables include acorn and butternut squash, lima beans, English peas, fresh corn, water chestnuts, artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes, and red skin potatoes (only red skin).  Combine these with non-starchy vegetables or ocean vegetables.

Menu Tips:

Millet Casserole, steamed leafy green vegetable and yellow squash and leeks sautéed in butter

Buckwheat/quinoa/millet croquettes, steamed greens, and carrot cauliflower soup

Dill potato salad, watercress soup, and leafy green salad

Acorn squash stuffed with curried quinoa, broccoli with butter, and sea vegetable hijiki with onions and carrots

Fats:

In the beginning, stick with fresh pressed organic and unrefined oils like sunflower, flax, evening primrose, borage, pumpkin and safflower.  Olive oil is also great.  Fats are unrefined, organic coconut oil, butter and ghee.  (raw butter best if available)

Never combine large amounts of fat with your protein.  Example, mayonnaise with tuna is too much. 

Use small amounts of oil to keep food from sticking like coconut, olive oil, butter or ghee.  Never eat hydrogenated fats such as margarine, they are poisonous.

Protein Fats:

Avocado, olives, cheese, seeds and nuts (except chestnuts and peanuts which are starch).  They combine best with non-starchy and green veggies, ocean veggies and acid fruits.

Dairy:

Most milk products contain lactose (milk sugar) that feeds yeast.  Cultured dairy foods are ok, such as kefir.  These combine well with acidic fruits, seeds, nuts and non-starchy vegetables.  Kefir dressing with lemon juice and herbs is great for a salad.  Black currant juice and cranberry juice are excellent in kefir. 

Beans, Peas and Soybeans:

These are not recommended.  They are protein and starch, making them difficult to digest, causing gas and bloating.  They can be introduced at a later time when digestion becomes stronger.  They combine best with non-starchy green veggies and ocean veggies.  If eating soybeans, only eat fermented such as miso, natto, tempeh and wheat free tamari.

Sugars, honey, molasses:

Sugar feeds yeast.  These will be introduced intelligently at a later date.  Stevia can satisfy the natural sweet cravings.  When you are healthy and balance is restored, we can re-introduce raw honey, rice or maple syrup, or molasses.  Blackstrap molasses is particularly high in minerals.  Sugars should always be eaten alone as they do not combine with anything. 

Weight:

Following this plan will result in weight loss.  You will be less bloated and full feeling.  You may discover you seem hungry more often.  This is because you have no bloated feeling after meals that people are so commonly used to.  Eat smaller meals more often, not a problem.  If your food is combined properly, eat as much as you want!  Just remember a protein meal can take up to 4 hours to properly digest. 

Water:

Drink 8 glasses per day minimum, but not during meals.  It is very important to drink water early in morning to re-hydrate the body.  Try to drink hot tea or room temperature water, never cold.  It is a complete shock to the system and will sit in your stomach until the body warms it enough to make it useable.   Try to get the majority of your daily intake of water in the morning.  

Dr. Vaughn