Tip 94. What
y
ou need
to kn
o
w
a
b
out combining foods, Rule #2.
The most important rule
for combining foods is to avoid mixi
n
g protein a
n
d carbohydrate concentrat
e
d foods. Alt
h
ough every
f
ood contai
n
s
some protein, those r
e
garded as
p
rotein concentrat
e
d foods demand the lon
g
est diges
t
ive time. They
are held in
t
he stomach for some hours until
t
he gastric
j
u
ices has pe
r
formed its task. This may vary fr
o
m two-and-a-half to six hours, dep
e
nding upon
t
he complexity of the protein in the f
o
od. If a pro
t
ein food is
mixed with starch-concentrated or sugar-conc
e
ntrated foo
d
s, it will
u
s
u
ally result in
fermentation. This may lead
to
indi
g
estion
and
g
as
in
the
st
om
ach.
Animal-food proteins, s
u
ch as meats, fish and c
h
eese, requi
r
e very high
concentrati
o
n of hydrochloric acid. Their
gastric di
ge
stin will be
g
reatly inhibi
t
ed by carbohydrate fermentation in the stomach. This will p
r
oduce more gas and inc
r
eased disc
om
fort. Eating meat, potatoes,
bread and sweets should, therefore, be especi
a
lly avoided.
Protein foods are best digested when eaten with fresh vegetable salad.
Primary pro
t
ein foods such as nu
t
s, seeds a
n
d soyabeans also combine very
well with acid fruits like or
a
n
g
es, pineapples,
grapefruit
a
nd lemons, and fairly well
with sub
-
acid fruits, like grapes,
p
ears,
apples, berries, aprico
t
s
and peach
e
s. These vegetables
a
n
d fruits are rich natural sources of vitamin C which aids p
r
otein diges
ti
on.
Tip 95. What
y
ou need
to kn
o
w
a
b
out combining foods, Rule #3.
The second
important rule for food c
o
mbining is
t
o avoid mix
i
ng proteins
and fats at
t
he same meal.
Fat in foods
inhibits
t
he secretion of
g
astric j
u
ice
t
hrough the small wall. Thus when
fat-concent
r
ated foods
a
re taken wi
t
h protein fo
o
ds, gastr
i
c
catabolism will decrease
by the degree of li
q
uid concent
r
ation in the
stomach. Fat will remain undigested
i
n the stomach until gastric j
u
ic
e
s
complete
t
heir work on the complex protein m
o
lecule.
Although all
primary pro
t
ein foods c
o
ntain high concentration of fat, such
lipids will be held in suspensi
o
n,
awaiting ca
t
abolism in
t
he intestine,
without impeding gastric action. Fr
e
e fats like oil, butter,
a
nd milk tend to coat the
gastric mucosa, thereby inhibiting
its effort to secrete
gastric j
u
ice.
Fat surrou
n
ding fried f
o
ods is also
r
egarded as
f
ree fat and it
interferes
w
ith gastric
c
a
t
a
bolism.
Tip 96. Eat different foods at different meals.
Eat different foods at dif
f
erent meals.
A meal consisting of pro
t
eins, carbo
h
ydrates and fats may r
e
main in the stomach for six to seven hours before the stomach is
e
mptied. If carbohydrates are eaten without protei
n
s
, they
remain in the stomach for a relatively short period. A fruit meal remains in the stomach for even shorter time.
It is advisable to eat these different f
o
ods at diffe
r
ent meals- a fruit meal, a starch meal
and a protein meal. The ideal practice is a fruit
m
eal for breakfast, a starch meal with salad and non- starchy vegetables for lunch, a
n
d a protein
meal with a salad and
n
on-starchy vegetables
for dinner.
|