It is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change. Food combining is a method of eating that optimizes digestion. I discovered it from the health and wellness blogger Kenzie Burke. She explains it best.
“FOOD COMBINING is a method of achieving optimal digestion by eating foods that are best eaten together & avoiding certain food combinations. Eating different food combinations that are not “digestively” compatible can negatively impact our body’s ability to break down & properly digest foods. The average person will consume 25 to 50 tons of food in his or her lifetime. This is a lot of food that will pass through our system which ultimately uses A LOT of energy to breakdown and digest. This is energy your body is using just to aide digestion & if freed up could be used in other areas. Energy is a key factor in our ability to shed weight easily & permanently. Energy regenerates our liver & tissue cells, removes toxic waste from the body, maintains our ideal weight, keeps our skin healthy, hair vibrant, & the list goes on. The more energy we have, the better we look & feel & when you feel good on the inside it radiates on the outside.
Food combining is a way of eating where you are mindful of what foods you are pairing together. Different foods digest with different enzymes. Starches, proteins, vegetables, fruits all use different enzymes to breakdown and digest within our body. Certain food categories take longer to digest than others.
Food combining has truly changed my life, digestive system, reversed and maintained my disease (lymes), leaky gut, helped balance my hormones, gives me zest and energy, changed my skin, reversed aging on my skin, keeps me feeling light and energized. Honestly, the list goes on.”
RULE NO.1
FRUIT FIRST—
alone, on an empty stomach,
in the morning
I recommend that fruit be eaten alone or blended in a juice/smoothie with leafy greens such as spinach, kale, romaine, celery or cucumber, etc. (Green vegetables are alkaline and a non-concentrated food. They are simple for our body to digest and are considered neutral).
Fruits are a water-based food and they digest in as little as thirty minutes, faster than any other food group. Fruit passes through our system rapidly. It does not stay in the stomach for very long and actually digests as it is going through our system, releasing all of its goodness and energy as it flows through. This is one reason why it is best to eat fruit in the morning before consuming other foods.
I personally do not not eat fruit after a meal or after the noon hour as I know how quickly fruit wants to pass through the system as opposed to other foods that require a longer time to digest and that remain in the stomach for much longer.
If you were to have a fruit on top of a starch or protein (which require different enzymes to digest and digest in a few hours) it would likely cause a traffic jam in your digestive system. Your body would then use A LOT of energy to try to break this situation down. This is where you could lose energy, feel tired and bloated.
Personally, I eat fruit and fruit only until noon…more on that here.
RULE NO.2
CHOOSE A Protein OR Starch
FOR EACH MEAL—
but do not eat protein & starch together
Proteins and starches do not mix! They are both concentrated foods. Protein requires an acid to break down, starches require an alkaline. If you eat an acid and alkaline together they neutralize each other. The stomach then tries to make more acid and alkaline juices to get the digestive system going which ultimately is using a lot of energy to try to break down these foods. This slows down the digestive process, decreases our energy and what happens? The foods sit in our system longer creating a heavy feeling and possible bloat.
Remember, we don’t want to use or waste energy on our digestive systems if we don’t have to. We could use this energy in so many other areas of our body and in our life.
When structuring a meal I like to say: pick a starch OR protein and pair that with vegetables (which are neutral). I like to remind others to keep 1/2 (or more than 1/2) of your plate as vegetables to optimize digestion.
TIPS & TRICKS FOR FOOD COMBINING SUCCESS
DO NOT MIX STARCHES AND PROTEINS
EAT FRUIT FIRST AND ALONE ON AN EMPTY STOMACH…EAT IT ALONE OR LEAVE IT ALONE
KEEP 1/2 OR MORE OF YOUR PLATE VEGGIES. THE OTHER 1/2 COULD BE A PROTEIN OR A STARCH
LEAFY GREENS CAN COMBINE WITH ANYTHING. INCLUDING FRUIT (FOR SMOOTHIES)
IF YOU ARE GOING TO NOT PROPERLY COMBINE YOUR FOOD DO IT AT THE END OF THE DAY
EAT LIGHT TO HEAVY THROUGHOUT THE DAY
Food combining simplified:
STARCHES
Starches can pair with Veggies and other starches: all grains, squash, potatoes, yams, oats, avocado.
PROTEINS
Proteins can pair veggies and other proteins:
dairy, eggs, cheese, all animal meats, fish.
BOTH
Both… this is not super black and white and I consider them to be both.Pair these with veggies and or other starches OR proteins. (legumes, chickpeas, beans, lentils)
NUTS AND SEEDS
Nuts and seeds combine with each other or vegetables. All nuts; almonds, peanuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, nut and seed butters.
NEUTRAL
Neutral means these items can pair with anything. lemons, limes, all leafy greens, cucumber, celery, onion, zucchini, tomatoes, leeks, squash, cauliflower, fennell, beets, carrots, eggplant, peppers, artichokes, garlic, ginger, oils (olive, avocado, coconut, sesame), butter, nut milks, coconut water, coconut yogurt, coconut milk, coconut flakes, apple cider vinegar, mustard, olives, cacao nibs.
So that’s good combining! Remember, I learned this from Kenzie Burke and want to share it with you guys!
I encourage you to try Kenzies 21 Day Reset!
Each and every recipe in the reset follows food combining and it is an amazing way to try it out for 21 days and find a new way to live your life! You can buy her reset here https://www.kenzieburkehealth.com/programs/21daystoyourbestbody
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