Food combining: do these rules make sense?

janewhite1

I'm always polite when someone proposes a wacky food plan on here, but since you actually asked for opinions?

No, that makes no sense whatsoever. It is one of many odd diets supported by their founder and a small group of adherents.

In fact, there are some reasons not to do it that way. For example, I have gastritis, and I can only eat fruit with lots of other food, otherwise the acid really hurts me.

rheanna

fox1,

The human race has spread all over the world over thousands of years by being able to eat a wide variety of foods. For most of that time, the important thing has been to get enough calories -- you had to eat whatever you could find and it would have been silly (and fatal) to have rules that said you couldn't eat one kind of food with another.

Once people settled down in an area, they developed cuisines based on what was local. If you look at cuisines from all over the world, you will see every one of those internet "rules" being broken all the time -- by people who have no difficultly digesting their food and growing strong healthy bodies.

Those rules are silly. Eat a variety of foods. Eat foods that taste good together. Enjoy yourself. And don't believe everything you read.

--Rheanna

dancing

[QUOTE=fox1;3354106]Are these food laws bunk?

<<<There is a lot of information on the net about food combining. Here are a few of the rules I've come across. Do you adhere to any of these?

a. Never combine protein and carbohydrates in the same meal.

b. Never combine acidic fruits (apples, oranges, etc.) and sweet fruits (bananas, figs, etc.)

c. Always eat fruit on an empty stomach, NEVER after a meal.

d. Drink between meals not with your meal, as it dilutes the digestive juices.

e. Never, ever, ever eat insoluble fibre alone.

f. Eat 2hrs+ before you sleep to avoid food fermenting in the stomach.

These are some of the "rules" I've found online.

Some of them make sense, others contradict almost the entirety of world cuisine (spaghetti bolognese, ham sandwich, sushi, green curry and rice, etc.). I don't know what to make of them.

The logic behind the "no fruit with meal" one is the fruit gets backed up behind everything and ferments. The no meat/carbs rule is because they supposedly require different digestive juices.In following this stuff (thinking I was doing the right thing), after eating a small lunch of smoked salmon with cooked Japanese spinach, salad (cabbage) and no carbs, I got major bloating.>>>


While respecting other opinions, I am a believer in food combining and have been practicing it for about five years. I do not eat meat and only dairy on occasion. All of the above apply when food combining and especially eating fruit by itself. I always eat fruit at least 30 minutes prior to a meal. Fruit digests very quickly and won't fement if eaten by itself; whereas, if one were to eat it with a meal or too close to a meal, it will just sit there and cause all kinds of problem, not to mention it will be a waste of fruit as it can't get to its destination. Yes, carbs and proteins require different digestive juices, so eating together, one of them will not digest and ferment.

Regarding what you had to eat, just a thought that the cabbage and or spinach caused the bloating and most likely the cabbage. Not that one shouldn't eat them, but when first beginning food combining, it's necessary to go slowly.......and also, cabbage is not agreeable to many, including myself (never eat it because it is so disruptive), whether food combining or not.

For further confirmation or knowledge and hopefully understanding more about food combining, I refer you to a book called "You Are What You Eat" by Gillian McKeith.