Food Combining

Updated: 10/23/98

By: Brenda R. Generali, C.N.C. Do you have digestive trouble? In other words, do you belch after a heavy meal or feel full? Does it seem like food stays in your stomach for hours and hours? Do you still taste the food you ate 4 hours later? It typically takes 4 hours to break down fats and proteins (meat, eggs, dairy), 2 hours to break down starches (rice, potatoes, pasta), 1 hour to break down vegetables (salad, cooked or raw vegetables), and 1/2 hour to break down fruit. Think About This If you eat all the above types of foods together at one meal like most people do, how long do you think it will take you to break them down? If we add up the amount of time it takes to break each one of these food types down it would take approximately 7-1/2 hours for these foods to be broken down and leave your stomach to be absorbed in the small intestines. That's a very long time. Most people don't wait 7-1/2 hours between meals. Most people eat breakfast around 7 or 8 am, lunch around 12 or 1, and dinner around 5 or 6. That means that the last meal you ate is still in your stomach when you begin the next meal. And you're wondering why you're so tired and listless? Probably because your body is constantly trying to break down the food you're eating and all your energy is going to that task. How Can You Avoid This? Simply by following proper food combining rules and by supplementing your digestion with a product that will help you break down your foods easily. Food Combining is a process that we suggest for eating each meal in which you only combine foods that can be broken down together. This allows a much quicker transit time. I've encluded a Food Combining Chart for you to follow. Let me know if you have any questions about it. Why Use Digestive Aids? Even if you follow the food combining chart that I've suggested above, you still might be low in your store of food enzymes and hydrochloric acid. These enzymes are created and stored by the liver and pancreas. If you constantly eat junk food and other foods that are devitalized of their nutrients your body will have to use its store of digestive aids. Once they're depleted you have to depend on the foods you're eating to stimulate the production of these enzymes and HCL. Most people by the time they reach 35 have approximately 1/2 the enzymes and HCL production they used to have. This is because the body begins to slow down. The metabolism decreases and the body doesn't need as much fuel (food) to keep it going. At the same time the body slows down the production of these digestive aids. But, you keep eating at the same pace and the same types of foods not paying attention to the signals your body is giving you. These signals include belching, intestinal gas, bloating, nausea, overfull stomach, pain in the stomach, and other symptoms related to the intestinal system such as diarrhea after a meal and formation of mucous after a meal relating to food allergies. Take Responsibility for Your Health If you have these symptoms and are tired of them, then food combining will be useful to you. You will be amazed at how good you will feel in just a few days of following this program. It's not easy at first. The first week is difficult because we are so accustomed to sitting down and eating a salad, a protein, a starch, a fruit and maybe even a dessert at the same meal within the same hour. If you follow this program you will be limited to eating only a vegetable and a protein or only a starch and a protein at the meal and using the fruits and desserts as your desserts. If you need to lose weight this is the easiest way to do it. This is definately NOT a diet BUT a lot of people have lost weight because they have begun to take responsibility for what goes into their mouth and how they feel afterwards. This is the beginning of "listening" to your body and learning what IT LIKES rather than what YOU LIKE. What your brain likes is not necessarily what's good for you. Everyone would love to eat whatever they want but there are consequences to doing this. Why don't you start today and feel better by following food combining rules and using digestive aids to help you along the way. Please send E-mail to: joyful@best.com if you have any questions.