The Basics of Food Combining… my way
I'm not an expert or a health professional. What I'm sharing here is my own personal take on food combining which works for me. There are lots of food regimes out there, and it’s difficult to know which ones are worth investing your time (and sometimes money) in. I’ve read books, watched videos, joined online groups, but at the end of it all, no one can tell me what works for my body better that I can.
My food combining follows three basic principles.
1) Never eat protein foods and carb foods in the same meal
2) Never mix protein foods
3) Always eat fruit on an empty stomach
(I also avoid dairy*, minimise wheat and bread**)
Why?
Because... Your stomach uses different enzymes to digest protein and carbs. These different enzymes conflict with each other and cancel each other out, meaning that a meal can sit in your stomach for up to 24 hours, some of it already digested it will start to ferment and encourage the growth of harmful bacteria and fauna. Carbs take, on average, three hours to leave the stomach. Proteins can take up to six hours. As fruit takes less than an hour to digest, this is always eaten on an empty stomach.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And once you get the hang of it, it is. But getting the hang of it takes time. The thing is too, this isn’t a ‘diet’. Once you start food combining, and feel the benefits of it, it becomes second nature and a way to eat for the rest of your life. Of course you can ‘cheat’, now and then, and you’ll feel what happened when you cheat and that’ll help you next time when you assess the risks involved in cheating, i.e. bloating, constipation, sluggishness...
After a while of eating this way, it will become apparent to you when your stomach is empty, or whether it still has food in it, whether you need extra meat or and big dose of chocolate!
My day
As a part time freelance graphic designer and full time mother, I work from home, which means I am in full control of what, when and how I eat. If you work/study full time, as I have in the past, planning is the key!
8-9AM: I eat fruit for breakfast, usually a banana or two. This is usually the only time I’ll eat fruit so I do try to eat at least two pieces. fruit is digested quicker than anything else. If eaten on top of other foods, it will start to ferment. This is bad. Different foods have different digestion times. Allow 1 hour for bananas. Water melon takes 5 minutes!
10AM: At least 1 hour after eating fruit: Pancakes and good quality, freshly brewed coffee for breakfast proper.
Here's my breakfast pancake recipe: http://proteinfreerecipes.blogspot.com/2011/10/breakfast-pancakes.html
This hearty meal tides me over until 2PM.
2PM: Carb meal. Pasta, potatoes, cous cous, rice, tortilla or flatbread wraps. Salad.
**AVOID BREAD! Avoid all types of yeast!
Yeast is an organism which requires food, warmth and moisture to thrive and reproduce. Once in your gut, it feeds of the sugars found in the food you eat and starts to multiply. The sugars and starches ferment into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Not nice. Not good for your health. There are some types of yeast that are beneficial, but personally, I think it’s all evil.
For salads, a good salad dressing is essential. I used to buy fresh salad with all good intentions and then it would more often than not rot in the draw at the bottom of the fridge. Then I discovered the miracle of vinegar and olive oil! There is no right and wrong way to make salad dressing. You can mix up a batch and keep it on the fridge or you can pour the raw ingredients over your salad without mixing at all. For tip and ideas, look for recipes on YouTube. Never add sugar or honey to salad dressings. This limits them to being used with carb meals only.
6-7PM: Protein meal. This is basically where the problem lies. Most people don’t have a problem eating a bowl of pasta and tomato sauce, but a bowl of minced beef and tomoto sauce isn’t so appealing. But grilled chicken breast, roast chicken, fried salmon fillets, beef burgers, a tin of tuna... all these can be enjoyed with a properly dressed salad or on a bed of stir fried veggies. Once I’ve eaten my protein meal, that’s it for the day. Proteins takes up to 6 hours to leave the stomach. And until that happens, your stomach need to focus all its attention on breaking down that meat!
An alternative to a animal protein meal is a nut/seed protein meal. I usually only have nuts once a week, because they are hard to digest and they cause bloating. Nuts are supposed to be eaten raw, but I mix roasted salted cashews with raw almonds and walnuts. This is really a snack, eaten while watching TV usually.
The 70% rule.
The rule I try to stick to is that I am 70% strict with my eating. The food I eat is a minimum of (usually more than) 70% whole and healthy, I eat well at least 70% of the time, and I try not to fill my stomach more than 70% full. The rest of the time, I eat dairy free chocolate, crisps, Coke, chips, whatever I want. This is an eating regime which needs to last. Being too strict is a recipe for disaster and misery.
Life is for living! If you find yourself in a five star restaurant in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Zurich, are you really going to complain about the sauce for truffle ravioli being made with cream and champagne? Obviously not!
*DAIRY: Lots of people have trouble digesting /tolerating milk and dairy products. Cows have two stomachs - that should tell us something. But also goat's milk has a high phlegm content and creates havoc in your gut and sinuses. Lactose is also a problem for some, but milk protein is also a demon! My tip, cut it out!
