Food Combining

Food Combining is very important to maximizing the benefit of what you eat. When certain foods are eaten together they can fight each for the proper mixing of digestive fluids and extend the digestion time to unacceptable periods of time causing food to stagnate and sometimes putrefy in the digestive tract.

Food Classifications

Vegetables

Fruits

Legumes

Carbohydrates

(concentrated starches like grains, breads, cereals, potatoes, and sugars)

Proteins

(meat, fish, cheese, poultry)

The Rules of Food Mixing

Vegetables and Fruits should form the major part of your diet.

Eat fruit alone or not at all.

Sugars and Carbohydrates should not be eaten with Proteins

Only eat small amounts of Fats, Proteins and Starches

Eat only Whole grains and Unprocessed Starches

Never eat white flour and sugar or any foods made with them.

Never eat highly processed fats or artificial food like margarine.

Wait until one set of food is digested before introducing another group.

The problem in digesting a mix of the groups is that they require different  digestive fluids.  

Proteins need an acid digestive fluid. If an alkaline medium is introduced, like starches or sugars they neutralize  the acidic medium and the proteins are not completely digested

Carbohydrates need an alkaline digestive fluid.  Starch digestion starts in the mouth where saliva ,  contains ptyalin, an enzyme that helps split starches into lower forms. The introduction of meat and other foods that need the acidic juices slows or stops the digestive process and the food can ferment and in some cases rot before it is processed.

When high starches and high proteins are mixed in a meal there is too much acid to to process the starch and not enough acid to process the protein.

Ratio of acid and alkaline forming foods

The body also needs the correct ratio of acidic and alkaline foods. Note this is the ratio of the result of the food not it's pH when ingested. The proper ratio is 4 parts alkaline foods to 1  part acidic forming foods. The reason is that the body eliminates alkaline for times faster that acid. The ratio is very sensitive in that there is only the range of 7.1 pH to 7.6pH between the conditions of acidosis and alkalosis. The best pH of the blood itself has been shown to be near 7.5pH. This level makes the body feel good and function with physical efficiency. This pH allows vitamins to function better. It is in this balance lies the secret to great health and disease resistance.

Alkali-forming Foods;

Fresh fruit (except plums and cranberries), vegetables, potatoes cooked and eaten with the skins on,  almonds and milk.

Acid forming foods;

Cereals and sugars, meat, poultry, eggs,  fish, shellfish, cheese, most nuts, grains, breads.