Welcome to My World – Food Combos to Avoid

Hello World!  Today I’m writing about food combos that you should avoid eating together, and I’ll explain why.

First a question for you:  Have you ever woken up with this great idea for a blog post, or for something else you wanted to do, but by the time you got to your computer, you forgot what it was? I guess I had either a “blonde” or a “senior” moment 🙂 . Blonde moment sounds much better, but whatever it was, I still can’t remember.  I should have written it down immediately, but I didn’t, and now it’s gone. This happened to me today and, for the life of me, I can’t remember what the idea was. These ideas usually come back to me when I’m not thinking about them, but that hasn’t happened today…

Do you ever have a great idea & then can't remember it when you want to? Best if we write these ideas down when they occur.

Do you ever have a great idea & then can’t remember it when you want to? Best if we write these ideas down when they occur.

Bad Food Combos that Should Not Be Eaten Together

About one in three Americans has some kind of digestive problems. Tara Alder used to be one of them. At 19, she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Anti-inflammatories and steroids helped temporarily but didn’t solve her problem. Her doctor referred her to a surgeon, who suggested removal of the diseased portion of her colon and, possibly, a temporary colostomy.

“The idea of surgery frightened me, so I asked about healing through

Does your anxiety &/or depression manifest itself in your gut?

Does your anxiety &/or depression manifest itself in your gut?

nutrition,” Alder recalls. Today, the 41-year-old Alder is a natural-health coach and internal-cleansing specialist in Eugene, Ore. She counsels people on sensible ways of eating to enhance their digestive system, and she says that proper food combining is a key part of her teachings.

An easy way to begin thinking about food combining

is to consider the concept of time. Some foods take a long time to digest, while others move through your body relatively quickly. (On average, fruits take 30 to 60 minutes to digest; vegetables, grains, and beans take one to two hours; cooked meat and fish take at least 3 to 4 hours; and shellfish takes 4 to 8 hours.)

When you combine foods with varying transit times, trouble may ensue,

Some foods take longer to digest in your body than others.

Some foods take longer to digest in your body than others.

because digestion isn’t as efficient. For example, say you eat a meal that includes shrimp and pineapple. Because the pineapple is combined with the slowly digesting shrimp, it sits in your stomach hours longer than it would on its own. As a result, the sugars in the sweet fruit ferment, which leads to your bloating and gas.

And, says Alder, your problems only multiply from there.

If food rots in your stomach or intestines instead of being efficiently digested, you don’t absorb all of its nutrients. “Anytime you have

Is your food digesting too slow or Do you have an iron deficiency? Dragging your feet all day? Are you Fatigued?

Is your food digesting too slow or Do you have an iron deficiency? Dragging your feet all day? Are you Fatigued?

fermentation or putrefaction, it can create gases that are toxic and even carcinogenic. These gases require energy because other organs in your body have to work harder to detox your body. These toxins in your system may also cause you to feel tired, irritable, have headaches, and foul breath initially, then later may result in your having colitis, inflammation, constipation, arthritis, high blood pressure, and other unpleasant issues.”

Ultimately, the key to good and bad combinations is to listen to your body,

not follow a set of rules. “Why not try it?” says Alder. “It doesn’t cost you

Do you listen to your body?

Do you listen to your body?

any money. And sometimes it helps alleviate your symptoms.” After all, isn’t feeling better worth a little experimentation?

Below are some food combinations for you to test, and if they don’t sit well, you should consider avoiding them.

1. Fruit With or After a Meal
  • Strawberries on your salad
  • Mango salsa on fish
  • Apple pie or fresh berries for dessert

Why: Fruit goes quickly through your stomach and digests in your

To me, healthy food is much more appealing to the eye than junk food, and some will even help lower your BP,along with improving your memory & keeping your brain healthy

To me, healthy food is much more appealing to the eye than junk food, and some will even help lower your BP,along with improving your memory & keeping your brain healthy

intestines. When you combine fruit with foods that take longer to digest — such as meat, grains, and even low-water fruits like bananas, dried fruit, and avocados — it stays too long in your stomach and starts to ferment, because fruit, says Alder, really acts like a sugar.

Bhaswati Bhattacharya, MD, a holistic health counselor and physician in NYC, agrees. “Sugars are actually not easy for you to digest, according to Ayurveda, because they are heavy and require good fire to process. That is why fruits should be eaten alone.” Bhattacharya adds that fruits (especially fresh, seasonal fruits) are also “energetically purifying foods and complete foods,” and to combine them with proteins and carbs takes away their pure energy.

Instead: Eat fruit 30 to 60 minutes before your meals. When fruit is eaten

I can't say this enough, fresh fruit so much prettier & tastier than junk! And it's also much healthier for you... Also blueberries help keep your brain young! You need to remember when to eat your fruit.

I can’t say this enough, fresh fruit so much prettier & tastier than junk! And it’s also much healthier for you… Also blueberries help keep your brain young! You need to remember when to eat your fruit.

alone on an empty stomach before a meal, it prepares your digestive tract for what’s to come. Water rinses and hydrates your tract, fiber sweeps and cleanses it, and enzymes activate your chemical process of digestion. That’s why, says Alder, eating fruit first makes your digestive tract “more capable of absorbing nutrition.”

After a meal, wait at least 3 hours before eating fruit. It’s best to eat most fruits on their own — especially melons, because they are high in sugar and enzymes specific to each melon. If you want to experiment with food combining, eating fruit alone is a great first step.

2. Animal Protein Plus Starch

Examples:

  • Meat and potatoes
  • Chicken and pasta
  • A turkey sandwich

Why: Alder believes that if an animal protein is eaten with a carbohydrate,

Who knew when we were growing up not to eat chicken & pasta together? I didn't, did you?

Who knew when we were growing up not to eat chicken & pasta together? I didn’t, did you?

such as meat and a piece of bread or a potato, the different digestive juices will nullify each other’s effectiveness: “The protein will putrefy and the carbohydrate will ferment. The result is gas and flatulence in your system.”

I find this so interesting as I grew up eating meat and potatoes as I’m sure many of you also did. Our parents didn’t know any of this back then. 

Adding protein enzymes and carb enzymes into the same space and time basically makes everything “unclean,” says Bhattacharya, but she also admits that many people’s bodies are suited to traditional foods like rice and sushi, and, yes, meat and potatoes. And combinations like beans and rice, which make a healthy, complete protein, don’t apply to this “bad combo” category. “Rice and beans have a synergistic effect, promoting better assimilation of each when they are together,” says Bhattacharya.

Instead: Combine protein or starches with nonstarchy vegetables. If you do have to mix animal protein and starch, add leafy green vegetables to minimize your negative side effects.

3. Fats With Wrong Foods

Examples:

  • Olives with bread
  • Tuna with mayonnaise
  • Meat fried in vegetable oil

Why: Fats require bile salts from your liver and gall bladder to break down;

Tuna salad is good for you, If you don't add mayo.

Tuna salad is good for you, If you don’t add mayo.

mixing them with other digestive chemicals can cause distress. For example, large amounts of fat with protein slows your digestion, notes Donna Gates, author of The Body Ecology Diet (Hay House, 2011).

Bhattacharya says that fats and oils need to be combined according to the digestive fire of the person eating them. “If combined with foods properly, fats build a little fire and induce foods to be carried to the liver better,” she says. “Fats are to be avoided when the fire is too low in your gut, as they douse the fire.”

Instead: Gates recommends using small amounts of fat — particularly, organic, unrefined oils like olive or coconut — when cooking vegetables, grains, and protein. She also suggests that protein fats like avocados, seeds, and nuts should be combined only with non-starchy vegetables. Alder recommends always including a raw leafy green vegetable when eating fats.

4. Liquid With Meals
Examples:
  • Water during your meal
  • Juice with your meal
  • Tea right after your meal

Why: Water goes through the stomach in about 10 minutes. Juice takes 15 to

You should avoid drinking liquid with your meals.

You should avoid drinking liquid with your meals.

30 minutes. Any liquid in your stomach dilutes the enzymes your body needs to digest proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Instead: Drink as much water as you wish at least 10 minutes before you eat. After eating, wait about an hour to have any liquid — or longer for a more complex meal.

5. Two Concentrated Sources of Protein

Examples:

  • Bacon and eggs
  • Nuts and yogurt
  • “Surf and turf”

Why: Concentrated proteins take a long time to break down, taxing the

When you were growing up, did you ever think bacon & eggs was a bad combo?

When you were growing up, did you ever think bacon & eggs was a bad combo?

digestive system and depleting energy. In Ayurveda, the combination of different meats, or meats with fish, is to be avoided.

Instead: It’s best to eat meat in the last course of your meal. “The first course should not be meat; it should be light vegetables or protein. Meat should be the last course, as digestive fire and enzymes are at their peak,” says Bhattacharya. “Never wait more than 10 minutes between courses in the same meal. Or else the digestive appetite and enzymes start to shut off.” Alder says that if you have to eat two concentrated protein sources together, it’s best to add high-water-content vegetables such as onions, cauliflower, broccoli, or lettuce.

I find this to be very interesting information as many of these combos, we all grew up eating. I know I did and at the time, didn’t have a clue they weren’t so great for me.  Oh, well, I guess we live and learn, and, continue to learn until we die… Let me know your thoughts on this. You can leave me a comment below.

Have a great healthy day!

You should do what is best for you!

You should do what is best for you! Let the creative juices flow. Be happy & Healthy!