GUIDE TO PROPER FOOD COMBINING
THE REASON FOR PROPER COMBINING:
To make digestion easier and more efficient! Most protein foods require an acid digestive environment for proper digestion; most carbohydrates digest properly in an alkaline medium. Therefore, if we are going to eat more than one food at a meal, we can greatly improve digestion, and avoid indigestion, by eating foods that will require the same gastric juices for digestion and compatible. Proper combining leads to good digestion and to better health. "The simpler the meal the better you feel."
PROTEINS
Protein foods are those that contain a high percentage of protein in their makeup. Most protein foods require acid digestive medium. Chief among these are the following:
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Nuts, Seeds
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All flesh foods* (except fat)
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Dry Peas (combined as starches)
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Cheese* and other dairy products
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*These substances are not recommended, but included for clarity.
CARBOHYDRATES
The carbohydrates are the starches and sugars. These we break up into three distinct groups in the following classifications: Starches, Sugar, and Sweet Fruits.
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STARCHES
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SUGAR
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SWEET FRUIT
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All Cereals
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Pure Maple Syrup*
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Bananas
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Dry Beans (except soy beans)
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Pure Honey
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Dates
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Dry Peas
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Figs
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Potatoes
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Raisins
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Yams
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Prunes
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Chestnuts
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Persimmons
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Squash
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Dried Fruit
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Pumpkin
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Corn
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Coconut**
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**Coconuts are a starch/protein combination and also a saturated fat
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*These foods are not recommended.
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Mildly Starchy
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Carrots
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Rutabaga
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Beets
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Artichokes
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Parsnips
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1. Avoid eating carbohydrates with acid fruits.
2. Avoid eating concentrated proteins with concentrated carbohydrates.
3. Do not consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal. Two concentrated proteins of different character and composition, such as nuts and cheese, should be combined. Gastric acidity, type, strength and timing of secretions for various proteins is not uniform. Since concentrated protein is more difficult to digest than other food elements, incompatible combinations of two different concentrated proteins should be avoided.
4. Do not consume fats and proteins. Our need for concentrated fat is small and most protein food already contains a good deal of fat. Fat has an inhibiting effect on digestive secretions and lessens the amount and activity of pepsin and hydrochloric acid necessary for the digestion of protein. Fat may lower the entire digestive tone more than 50%.
5. Use fat sparingly. Fats inhibit the secretion of gastric juice. Except with avocado, fats used with starch delay the passage of the starch from the stomach into the intestine. When fats such as avocados or nuts are eaten with raw green vegetables, their inhibiting effect on gastric secretion is counteracted and digestion proceeds normally.
6. Avocados. Though not a high protein food, avocados contain more protein than milk. They are high in fat and the small percentage of protein they contain is of high biological value. They are best used with a salad meal. Eating avocados with salad enhances their digestion. The next best combination for avocado is to take it with sub-acid or acid fruit. It is even better when lettuce leaves and celery are eaten with the fruit and the avocado. Since the avocado is low in protein, it may also be used with potatoes or other starch foods, provided a green salad is included in the meal. Avocados should never be used with nuts, which are also high in fat. Fats other than nuts and avocados are not recommended for regular use.
7. Do not combine sweet fruits with proteins, starches, or acid fruit. The sugars in sweet fruit should be free to leave the stomach within twenty minutes, and are apt to ferment if digestion is delayed by mixture with other foods. Sugar-starch combinations cause additional problems. When sugar is taken the mouth quickly fills with saliva, but no ptyalin is present. Ptyalin is essential for starch digestion. If starch is disguised by sugar, honey, molasses, or sweet fruit, digestion is impaired. Fermentation is inevitable if sugars of any kind are delayed in the stomach by the digestion of starch, protein, or acid fruit. Sugar also has a marked inhibiting effect on the flow of gastric juices.
8. Eat only one concentrated starch at a meal. This rule is more important as a means of avoiding over-eating starches than avoiding a bad combination. Slightly starchy vegetables may be combined with more starchy vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, but not with combination foods such as grains and legumes.
9. Acid fruits may be used with sub-acid fruits. This combination is best made with less sweet sub-acid fruits. Never use acid fruits with sweet fruits. Tomatoes should not be combined with sub-acid fruit nor with any other kind of fruit. They are best combined with a salad meal at which no starchy foods are served.
10. Sub-acid fruits may be used with sweet fruits. It is best to use the sweeter varieties of sub-acid fruits when making this combination. For people with poor digestion, bananas are bet eaten alone. For others bananas combine fairly well with dates, raisins, grapes, and other sweet fruit and with green leafy vegetables used sparingly, because the sugar concentration is naturally greater. It is best to have these fruits at a fruit mean combined with a salad of lettuce and celery.
11. Combine fruit only with lettuce and celery. These uncooked vegetables with a fruit meal may even enhance digestion of the fruit.
12. Salads combined very well with protein or starches. Non-starchy vegetables may be combined with proteins or starch. The green leafy vegetables combine very well with most other foods, and should form the major part of one's daily diet. Through the week, use as wide a variety of vegetables as possible. Lettuce and other green and non-starchy vegetables leave the stomach with little change. They pass through the stomach rapidly unless delayed by oily dressing or foods that require a more thorough gastric digestion.
13. Do not consume melons with any other food. Many people who have complained that melons did not agree with they have no trouble when eating only melons at a meal. Melons are more than 90% liquid and leave the stomach quickly if not delayed and fermented by combining with other food.
14. Sprouts. The best way to eat grains is as sprouts. Other seeds and legumes may be sprouted as well.
15. Other non-recommended foods. Cranberries, rhubarb, overripe fruit and bitter vegetables.
SPICES & CONDIMENTS
Salt, pepper, vinegar, oils garlic, radishes, mustard, cranberry sauce, and all other condiments are irritants, and should be avoided.
WATER
You should drink water only when thirsty. Dr. Shelton recommends that you drink water at least:
* 15 minutes before meals
* 30 minutes after a fruit meal
* 2 hours after a starch meal
* 4 hours after a protein meal
Don't dilute the natural enzymes in your body by drinking with meals.
