FOOD COMBINING SIMPLIFIED

Proper Food Combining is a method of constructing your meals for the easiest, most efficient digestion and absorption of nutrients.

It aims to ensure energy is not wasted during the digestive process. As unique conditions are required for each macronutrient, not all foods digest at the same rate or using the same enzymes. F.C. tries to group foods together that do not work against each-other during the digestive process. Improper food combining may cause digestive symptoms such as bloating, burping, gas, constipation, urgency, loose stools, or abdominal discomfort.

F.C. can be quite a complicated system, and charts outlining it can get overwhelming. As there is no huge financial interest in proving its validity, there is little scientific evidence on the matter. I think in this instance, it’s always best to try it to see if it works for you. I know from clinical and personal experience, there are benefits to following F.C. guidelines. However I do believe there can be some flexibility with it, in order to make it more sustainable. I have devised a simplified way to abide by it 80% of the time:

1. Fruits are best earlier in the day, by themselves or with greens, on an empty stomach. Do not have as dessert;
2. Smoothies can bend the rules of food combining due to their broken-down, essentially ‘pre-digested’ nature. Plus, a good protein powder might also have some digestive enzymes in it, further assisting assimilation of nutrients. We can handle a little cross-over here,
   e. fruit with protein powder or nuts/seeds;
3. Do not combine carbs and protein, e.g. rice and seeds or if eating meat, fish and sweet potato;
4. Do combine carbs and fat, e.g. quinoa and avocado;
5. Non-starchy vegetables are neutral and can be consumed with all foods;
6. All meals should only contain moderate amounts of fat, i.e. 1–3 tbsp.

Note: protein, either animal or plant, naturally contains fat so no need to add extra. You will get good nutrient absorption of fat-soluble vitamins without overloading the system;

7. If you’re going to break the rules, dinnertime/dessert is the better time of the day to do so;
8. Overall, food combinations are easier when they are plant-based, although nuts should be considered a protein for the most part.

Hope it helped!!

Love and Light,

Mariana