One thing that always drives me nuts is seeing "Healthy" Salads /Juices or Vegan/Vegetarian recipes that have food that doesn't mix.
Even if everyone swears it tastes amazing I still wouldn't eat it. Why?
Because it doesn't mix!!
Growing up vegan my mother taught us what mixed and what didn't mix, not exactly through schooling....it was more along the lines of "No, put that apple back. That doesn't mix, you have to wait an hour before you can eat that." Seeing as how there is a lot of misinformation out there on healthy diets I wanted to provide a guide to those who actually want to be healthy and stay away from foods that don't mix.
The principle behind food combining is that different food classes require different enzymes, different rates of digestion, and different digestive pHs for proper digestion. If the foods of the different food classes are combined incorrectly, the specific requirements for their proper digestion tend to cancel each other.
No digestion equals;
Rotting food in stomach=Heart Burn/Stomach Aches/Acid Reflex/Gas/Bloating....
I could go on, but it only gets more disgusting and I'm sure you get the picture.
This doesn’t leave too much in favor of raisins bran products, fruit preserves on toast or bananas in your cereal or carrot slaw with raisins, etc…all things that have food that doesn't mix. There are so many bad combination of this that we think are fine, because we were taught it’s healthy. But when you think about it, oranges and rice doesn’t sounds too good either.
So all those who want to know a thing or two about being Vegan, first things first:
Learn how to combine your foods properly.
(1) Fruits DO NOT mix with Vegetables!!!
So everyone out there who is Juicing to be healthy and adding apples to their veggies to sweeten up the drink or putting tangerine slices in salad, you aren't doing your body any favors.
Some foods are digested faster than others. If fast-digesting foods like fruits are held up in the digestive system for a longer time than necessary through being combined with foods that digest more slowly like vegetables, fermentation takes place. One word for you. EW.
Fruits and vegetables require different digestive enzymes, which tend to neutralize each other and no digestion is able to take place in your body.
(2) Fruits DO NOT mix with Proteins
Fruit digestion results in the release of an alkaline secretion, which neutralizes the acid secretions, needed for protein digestion. Because of this, it is not a good idea to eat fruits and proteins at the same meals.
(3) Fruits DO NOT mix with Starches
The fruit sugars are quickly absorbed into the intestines while the starch requires digestion in the mouth and stomach. Starch is the only food that begins to digest in the mouth with the enzyme Ptyalin. If the fruit sugars are held up in the stomach while the digestion of starch continues, the food will rot in no time!
A general rule regarding fruit if you haven't noticed the pattern already is to eat it by itself.
(4) Melons DO NOT mix with any other food....NOT EVEN FRUIT.
Crazy right? But its true.
They are in the simplest form and require not much digestion time at all in the stomach. So when you are eating any kind of melon, eat it alone.
(5) Proteins DO NOT mix with Starches
Mixing proteins and starches leads to disease states. Sound serious? It is. It takes a series of acid digestive juices to digest the protein and a series of alkaline digestive juices to digest the starch. Remember back in 6th grade science class when you learned that an Acid substance is neutralized by an Alkaline substance? Well guess what? It's true.
If starches are mixed with proteins, the enzymes in the stomach are diluted and the stomach feels full for longer because digestion of the proteins is inefficient. Acid is being produced for every mixed meal, which puts the stomach under stress. The acid has to be neutralised by the bile salts for every meal, which puts the small intestine under stress.
Why would we want to do that to ourselves?
We need to treat our bodies like the temples they are designed to be. Your body will thank you in its own way. Your skin will become clearer and tighter, your eyes will become brighter, your breath will smell better. You will feel lighter, and probably be actually lighter as well since proper food combining regulates the metabolism and helps you loose weight. You will have more energy, more clarity, and more marvelous savory meals now that your taste buds are awakened once again.
Rules of thumb for a Healthy Vegan Diet:
Combine foods properly.
Eat only Organic Foods and Whole Grains.
Eliminate all refined sugar and processed foods.
The Model Vegan
