Food Combining Chart and Instructions

Doing a cleanse and being a vegetarian are the first steps to being truly healthy and avoiding physical suffering. But there is another very important point, and that is the one of food combining.

The body was not really designed to eat such a symphony of foods all at once, even healthy ones. This is due to the fact that our digestive enzymes require a certain PH, or acidity, to function. Also some foods require longer in the stomach (such as proteins) and others require less. Also some foods, such as fat, coat the stomach lining and make it difficult for the stomach to secrete acid, so eating nuts and olive oil together, although both healthy in other situations, is a bad mix. The olive oil coats the stomach and makes the body work very hard to digest the nuts.

So being healthy is not just about eating good food, but also eating that food in the right way and at the right times.

Below is a list of points to note:

1. Avoid mixing protein (nuts, tofu etc.) and carbohydrate concentrated (rice, pasta, bread, legumes) foods at the same meal.

2. Avoid mixing proteins and fats at the same meal.

3. Avoid combining totally different proteins at the same meal (cheese and nuts).

4. Avoid mixing carbohydrates and acid fruits (tomatoes, oranges etc) at the same meal.

5. Melons should be eaten alone.

6. Many fruits and vegetables do not mix well in the same meal.

7. Milk does not mix with any other food (pasteurized milk is highly acid forming).

The above points are the based on scientific principals of digestion and are the knowledge of most nutritionist. They can be learned at University.

At first the above points may seem daunting, but gradually they can be incorporated into any diet. Putting the list on the fridge is a good idea. Some examples of some well combined meals are as follows:

-Acid fruits (oranges) or sub-acid fruits (apples) and nuts (protein)

-Brown rice, vegetables and legumes (carbohydrate). Also some cold pressed oil can be added (uncooked) or avocado (a personal favorite).

-Nuts or Tofu (protein) with salad or vegetables.

-Salad, baked vegetables or steamed vegetables with fats (olive oil, avocado)

Some common examples of poorly combined foods are as follows:

-Tofu (protein) and white rice with fried oil.

-Tomatoes (acid fruit) and pasta.

-Cows milk with cereal (soy milk better).

-Pizza.

-Anything with fried oil or table salt.

Eating well combined food allows the body to digest more efficiently, thus leaving more energy and concentration for other constructive things. Eating a poorly combined meal will generally leave the person consuming it feeling full, bloated and tired.

The reason there is an emphasis on brown rice as opposed to white is because most of the vitamins and minerals from the rice is contained in the brown bit (germ). The germ of the rice also contains a lot of fibre which helps the bowels in their movements. White rice doesn’t really contain much nutrition apart from carbohydrates, where brown is practically a whole food, which even contains B vitamins.

Below is a food group table and a food combining table, showing what mixes with what. The table is taken from “New Dimensions in Health From soil to psyche” by David A. Phillips, one of Australia’s leading nutritionists.