Proper Food Combining for Maximum Results

When studying proper food combining, you must study with the best: Dr. Herbert M. Shelton and Dr. William Howard Hay. Although their teachings are not new, they are considered to be top authorities in the field of food combinations. A proper food combining chart is quite simple and easy to follow.  It is basically combining the best foods for the perfect digestion.

Food is processed differently in the body.  Fruits will digest quickly and foods like meat and starches may take a few days to process through your system.  So if you eat fruit after a meat meal, the fruit must wait until the meat is processed, thus causing the food to be fermented and not digested properly.

People often use proper food combining for weight loss, digestion problems, and energy problems associated with poor digestion.

Food Charts and Combination Foods

In order to understand about food combining, it is necessary to understand which foods belong in each of the groups listed.  The following list will explain in detail the foods belonging to starch, proteins, sweet fruits starchy vegetables and acid fruits.

Protein foods include: Nuts, seeds, olive, flesh foods, cheese, eggs, lentils, gooseberry, avocados, soy beans, and coconuts.

Starch foods include: Potatoes, corn, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips, bean (lima), beets, carrots, Hubbard squash, peas, pumpkin and yams.

Non Starch Vegetables include: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Romaine lettuce, cabbage (all varieties), cauliflower, celery, Swiss chard, Cucumber, Eggplant, Lettuce, okra, pepper (sweet), rutabaga, squash and turnips.

Sweet Fruits: Banana, date, fig, prune, raisins, dried fruit, mango, persimmons and papaya.

Sub Acid Fruits include: Sweet apples, apricot, blackberry, cherries, nectarine, peach, pear, plum, and raspberry,

Acid Fruits include: Grapefruit, guava, kumquat, lemon, lime, Orange, pineapple, pomegranate, sour apples, sour grapes, strawberry, tangerine and tomatoes.

Dr. Shelton Rules for Food Combining:

Dr. Shelton was ridiculed and shunned in many circles in his lifetime (1895-1985).  He was even sued for a death of a diseased woman taking one of his fast, but now years after his death he is praised as the “Father of Natural Hygiene.” His philosophies on food combining and the principles of natural hygiene have saved thousands of lives worldwide.  Sadly he never lived to see his popularity and how it grew to what it is today.

According to Shelton, “To a single article of food that is a starch-protein combination, the body can easily adjust its juices. . . to the digestive requirements of the food. But when two foods are eaten with different . . . digestive needs, this precise adjustment of juices to requirements becomes impossible.”  Here are his principles of food combining:

Do not combine starch foods and acids at the same meal.
Do not combine proteins and carbohydrates at the same meal.
Do not combine acids and proteins at the same meal.
Do not combine fats and proteins at the same meal.
Do not combine sweet fruits and proteins at the same meal.
Always eat melons alone, before the meal preferably.
Do not eat sweet and sugary desserts after the meal.

Food combining has been taught for years and all the way back to 1911 when Dr. Hay first introduced this new concept to renew health and avoid debilitating diseases.  As with any diet or life plan, there are opponents to this philosophy.  A proper diet consists of organic fruits and vegetables and no sugar, white flour and white rice.  Red meat has been shown to cause cancer and should only be consumed once a week and no bigger than the size of your fist.  Longevity and healthy living starts with you.