When I heard about this my first thought was 'Oh my God how anal can we get?' If that's you, stay with me.
Advocates of food combining explain that some foods digest more quickly than others i.e. FRUIT. Fruit digests extremely quickly due to its high water content and simple sugars that your body easily breaks down. If you eat fruit after a meal that contains protein and fats, which are slower to absorb, then the easily digested fruit just sits on top of that food and begins the ferment. This can cause bloating and other side effects that you don't want while trying to rock that crop top that you decided was worth it to buy full price. And those jeans that look really good with it. Side note: Did you know you get 6% back at Nordstrom with AMEX?
HOW DO I DO IT?
The basic rules are to:
- Eat fruit by itself, in the morning.
- Melon should always be eaten alone.
- Sub-acid fruits pair with both sweet fruits and acid fruits, but acid and sweet shouldn't be mixed. If that is Greek to you the chart below might help.
- Don't eat proteins and starches together.
- Raw vegetables go with anything.
- Don't mix fats and proteins.
While I'm by no means the food combining police I do implement this when it's convenient. For example, if I have the choice to eat fruit before or after a meal, I will eat it before. If I see melon on the brunch menu next to bottomless mimosas, I'll order it solo. I do notice better digestion by implementing these simple techniques but I definitely don't do it all the time. I also like to eat fruit with a nuts or seeds to make it a more balanced and more filling meal. Unfortunately this would probably ban me from the food-combining lunch table in the cafeteria.
NOTE: There are various schools of thought on food-combining. As always, I encourage you to try it for yourself and see if you reap any benefits. Here are two articles - one supporting and one viciously demonizing- for you to make your own informed opinion and decide if it's something worth your while.
