The Food Combining Diet for Vibrant Health

Combining foods that are compatible with each other in terms of digestive chemistry is believed to significantly improve a person’s overall state of health. It can contribute to optimal nutrition because it allows the body to digest and utilize nutrients in food to a full extent.

A major benefit to food combining is that it can drastically reduce and even eliminate indigestion problems. People have taken a back seat and accepted the discomforts of indigestion by spending millions of dollars on treatment for its symptoms. Instead of turning to drugs to mask the symptoms of poor digestion many are taken an active role in eliminating a possible cause of indigestion in their own diet.

Food combining

The theory is that different food groups are digested in different lengths of time. Adequate digestion can be aided along by making sure each meal is made up of foods that have similar digestion times. Along with aiding in digestion, proper food combinations can contribute to a more effective utilization and assimilation of nutrients. This is also known as the hay food combining diet.

Digestive chemistry dictates what the principle of food combining diet plan should be. Different enzymes are needed to digest different foods. Some need an acidic environment and others need an alkaline one. Basic chemistry has established that acids and bases, or alkalis, will neutralize each other if brought into contact. When this happens it can retard digestion and cause indigestion, gas, and bloating.

Problems that can occur

The digestion of proteins calls for a highly acidic environment. Carbohydrates such as starches, fruit, sugars, and fats need an alkaline medium. The digestive process can be compromised and delayed when foods that require opposite digestive conditions are eaten together at the same time.

The conflicting responses that are generated when proteins and starches combine created a medium of digestive juices that digest neither food type very well. When this situation happens it can result in gas, bloating, abdominal cramps, and decreased absorption of nutrients.

Foods such as fruit are quick to digest. However their progress through the rest of the digestive system can be delayed if there are other slower digesting foods in the stomach.  Some of these foods can take up to eight hours to leave the stomach. While fruit and starches are stuck waiting in the stomach they can begin to decompose and ferment. This can also produce gas and acid with indigestion and discomfort.

It also requires excessive amounts of energy to force your body to digest foods that are difficult to break down at the same time. As it is, our body uses about eighty percent of our energy on digestion and metabolism. We are asking our body to overtax itself when we consume incompatible food combinations. You can relate to this if you think back to how some meals such as the traditional meat and potatoes can make you feel tired and sluggish afterwards.

Why you may feel tired after a night’s sleep

Another area to give attention to is how sleep can be affected by combining foods. Many adults still wake up tired and worn out even after getting six to eight hours of sleep. One possible explanation for this is that while you were asleep your body was busy working to digest the incompatible food combinations you burdened it with throughout your day. Sleep is also the time when your body heals and repairs itself. So you may be asking too much from your body and feel the results of this by waking up feeling drained of energy instead of revitalized and refreshed.