Wrong Combination Of Food Is Very Bad. We may be eating best foods but due to wrong combination, these become harmful to us rather than beneficial.
Hence it is desirable that one should understand the laws of food combination and their scientific basis. When one eats an incompatible combination of foods, nature flashes a distress signal in the form of a belch (this also happens when one overeats). We should learn to heed this little warning of nature. In case one doesn't heed this warning and continues overeating and taking wrong combination of foods, then following disorders may immediately follow.
1. Vomiting.
2. Loose motion or diarrhea .
3. Indigestion of some foods which may be found in stools.
Acid and other waste products of protein indigestion and putrefaction are easily identified in the urine. Scientifically they belong to the group of phenyls, skatoles indoxyl-sulphuric acid and toxic amines. Often they are eliminated vicariously through the mucous membranes or by diffusion into the spinal fluid. Below are some laws for right and wrong food combinations.
1. Milk shouldn't be combined with any other food. It should be taken alone.
Milk never combines well with any other food. Milk is a complete and concentrated food itself. It requires full digestive process of its own kind. No other concentrated foods like meat, eggs, cereals, pulses, nuts, roots or fruits should be eaten with it. Milk is a totally different protein than other concentrated proteins like meat, eggs, nuts, etc. Milk prevents in-salivation also, creating problems for digestion of starchy food. This prevent the digestion of other foods taken along with milk. One should eat solid food and take milk separately. Due to its fat and protein contents, on reaching the stomach, milk coagulates to form curd. This curd tends to gather around the particles of the other foods in the stomach thus insulating them against the gastric juices. This prevents their digestion until until the milk curd is digested. Combination of milk with other foods is one of the major causes of indigestion. However, combination of milk with light snacks, eg biscuits etc, is tolerable or acceptable.
2. Starches and proteins shouldn't be taken together.
All starches are digested in an alkaline media. But proteins are digested in acid media. When starches after mixing with salivary enzymes in the mouth, pause on to stomach with the proteins, heavy hydrochloric acid is poured out from the stomach to digest protein and starch digestion comes to an abrupt halt. Starches are forced to remain in the stomach until protein digestion is completed. By the time it reaches small intestine without full digestion, it is already fermented due to long retainment in stomach. This great amount of undigested starches are found in stool. It is not only starch that remains undigested but protein also remains undigested. The acid and alkali both contrast and neutralize each other inhibiting the digestive process of starch and protein. If at all, you have to eat starches and proteins together, eat protein first and after like 20 - 30 minutes, follows the starch so that digestion doesn't come to complete halt in the stomach. But nevertheless, it is not an ideal combination. From this angle roti-dal, rice with milk (kheer), rice with fish, egg with bread, roti or rice and meat etc, are not ideal combinations. But it has been observed for centuries that have been taking such combinations, our digestive system can well tolerate these combinations without any untoward effect. However, carbohydrates and proteins, both can be eaten separately with vegetables literally. From this angle, chapati eaten with cooked vegetables, sprouts (proteins) taken with vegetable salad. Boiled potato (starch) taken with vegetable salad are good combinations.
3. Fruits and sugars shouldn't be combined with other solid foods, they should be taken alone.
All sugars eg, white sugar, syrup, jaggery, sweet fruit, honey etc, taken with protein, starches and fats hinder their digestion. Sugars undergo practically no digestion in mouth and stomach. They are primarily digested in the intestines. If taken alone, they are not held in the stomach for long but are quickly sent into the intestine. When eaten with other foods, either proteins, starches or fats, they are held up in the stomach for a prolonged period awaiting the digestion of other foods and undergo fermentation. Fruits and sugar as a law, ferment with all solid foods and milk. Sugar is an acidic food. The fermentation of the sugar leads to further multiplication of problems like acidity and indigestion. If at all it is required to eat sweet things with other foods, it is preferable to eat the sweet things sometimes before the solid food is taken. From this angle, all those items in which sugar is mixed, e.g, sweet curd, sweet lassi, sweet milk, ice cream, kheer, sweet milk are not desirable.
4. Proteins shouldn't be taken with acid or sour foods.
Fruit acids ( or any other other acid like drug acids) interfere in gastric digestion of proteins, either by destroying the pepsin or by inhibiting hydrochloric acid secretion. Gastric juices are not poured out in the presence of acidic or sour foods in the stomach. This seriously hinders protein digestion and this results in putrefaction.
Acid fruits are : Lemons, Grapes, Oranges, Plums, Prunes, Sweet Lemon ( Mosambi ) Blacberry, Malta, Pinapples, Pomegranates, Tomato, Tamarind Etc.
Since curd is also acidic in nature, so it should also be avoided taken with 'Dal' etc. From this angle, sprinkling lemon or putting tomatoes in cooked pulse ( or Dal ) is also not a good practice.
5. Don't take different kinds of proteins at the same time.
Two proteins of different characters and different compositions call for different modifications of the digestive secretions and different timings of secretion in order to digest them efficiently. For example, the strongest juices are poured out upon milk in the last hour of digestion while in case of flesh, it is in the first hour of digestion. Similarly, eggs receive the strongest secretion at a different time compared to that received by either flesh or milk. It is impossible to meet the requirements of two different proteins at the same time. Two kinds of flesh or nuts pulses may be taken together but not with totally different protein group. For example, nuts can be eaten with different nuts and flesh with different flesh. From the angle 'Kadhi', Dahi vada', cheese omelette, paneer pakora, milk and nut-kheer are not ideal combinations. To conclude, take one concentrated protein at a meal otherwise indigestion of proteins may result.
6. Combination of curd with foods.
Curds shouldn't be taken with :
i. Starches ( cereals like wheat, rice potatoes sago etc )
ii. Proteins ( nuts, legumes, beans, meat, fish, egg etc )
iii. Sugar ( white sugar, fruits, syrup, and honey )
However, curd can be taken with raw and cooked vegetables. From this angle, curd can be mixed in salad. Curd taken alone and without anything mixed in it is the best.
7. Salt shouldn't be mixed in salad.
This is because salt leaches water from salad which comes out along with nutrients. Thus salad loses its full benefits.
8. Carbohydrates shouldn't be taken with acid or sour fruits.
This is because the sour or acid fruits deactivate the action of saliva which is necessary for digestion of carbohydrates. List of sour or acid fruits is already given in points no.4. Since curd is also acidic n nature so it should also be avoided taken with carbohydrates.
9. Avoid eating acid fruits with sweet fruits.
Acid fruits slow down the quick digestion of sugars of sweet fruits leading to fermentation. Example of sweet fruits are banana, papaya ( pawpaw) , dates, figs, sugarcane, chikoos, raisin, sweet berry, etc. However, acid fruits can be taken or mixed with vegetable/salad. According to this, Neembu ( lemon) over salad and taking tomato in salad is preferably okay.
10. Avoid eating fats with proteins.
Fat depresses the action of the gastric glands and inhibits the release of proper gastric juices which are required for the protein digestion. It lowers the entire digestive tone by more than 50%. Fat insulated foods remain for long time in the digestive process demanding over activity and strain. Heated and fried fats are more dangerous. This is the reason why diary products don't digest as quickly as other protein foods because these foods contain enough fat to inhibit gastric secretions for a longer time and so they have delayed digestion. From this consideration, putting too much ghee in 'Dal' or frying 'Dal' in ghee is not a very good practice. Unlike proteins, combination of carbohydrates with fats is tolerable. Hence a little 'ghee' applied on 'roti' during eating and taking bread butter as breakfast snack is acceptable.
11. Don't combine tea, coffee, alcohol and soft drinks with solid foods.
These beverages severely restrict the proper gastric secretion and therefore the normal digestion is hindered.
12. Some miscellaneous recommendations.
i. Don't take pulpy and juicy fruits together e.g, banana and orange, apple and mosambi.
ii. Don't take sugar or sweets with sweet fruits.
iii. Don't take fruits and vegetables together.
iv. Do not drink water after eating cucumber, watermelon and papaya.
v. Milk and curd shouldn't be taken together.
vi. Milk shouldn't be taken after eating radish.
vii. Water shouldn't be drunk immediately after taking rice. It may lead to coughing.
Foods to be consumed alone.
1. Milk is already explained earlier.
2. Melons ( 'Kharboja', 'Tarbooj' ) digest quickly than other foods and may ferment even with fruits sometimes. Being sweet fruits, they can be occasionally tolerated with sweet fruits but not with acid and sour fruits.
3. Liquids, as a law , no liquid should be taken with solids. Liquids tend to pass away immediately into the intestines taking away all the digestive enzymes thus inhibiting the digestion. Liquids should be taken at least 20 minutes prior to meal and not immediately after or along with meal but can be taken one hour after meal.
4. Fruits should be taken alone and at least half an hour before meal but never with or immediately after meals. Reason is already explained at relevant place.
5. Sugary products like sweets, sugar drinks and beverages should be taken alone preferably 30 minutes before the meals but should be taken with or immediately after meals.
6. Fruits juices are passed faster than fruits into the intestine. Its stagnation with solids leads to their fermentation. Hence they should be taken alone.
7. Acid fruits as already explained, acid fruits retard protein and starch digestion and will also ferment when taken with solid foods because of delayed absorption. Hence they should be taken alone on empty stomach. However, they can be taken before meal with salad and vegetables
but should be avoided with sweet fruits.
8. Milk products e.g. Yoghout/curd, ice cream, Rabri, Kulfi, Lassi, Buttermilk should also be consumed alone.
Tolerable combination of foods.
Please note that what is given in this chapter are ideal combination of foods. But it has been observed over years of experience that there are some combinations which although not ideal, can be tolerated by our digestive system without any untoward effect on our health provided our digestive system is not weak or diseased. Some of such combination are listed as follows.
1. Cereals + pulses e.g. Roti+Dal, Rice+Dal.
2. Cereals + Buttermilk or curd.
3. Kheer (Rice+Milk)
4. Rice with fish, egg, cury, meat.
5. Bread + Egg omelette.
6. Kadhi, Dahi vada
7. Ghee with Dal.
8. Lemon + Sprout, Tomato+Sprouts.
9. Sweet fruits+Acid fruits.
10. Melons+Sweet fruits.
11. Egg + Milk.
12. Nuts + Milk.
13. Milk + Bread sandwich.
14. Banana + Milk.
15. Mango + Milk.
16. Jalebi +Milk.
17. Curd + Rice.
18. Curd + Banana.
You can also make any number of such tolerable combination depending on your own experience with them. I may also inform the readers that all these theories of food combinations are under continuous research and no final words with a rigid stand can be said about them. Intellectuals may further probe in these areas taking the matter of this chapter as some sort of reference or rough guidance.
Four most important points to improve your digestion.
1. Eat only when you are hungry. Body can tolerate even wrong combination of foods in strong hunger.
2. Strengthen your digestive system by various exercises, etc. Strong digestive system can easily tolerate occasional wrong combination of foods taken.
3. Take only one type of food or lesser varieties of food at a time. More variety of food puts great strain on digestive system since the body can handle one food at a time more smoothly. It has no provision to secrete many variety of foods taken at a time result in delayed, imperfect digestion and fermentation and putrefaction.
4. Consume natural live raw foods to the maximum ( e.g., fruits, vegetables, sprouts, nuts, etc )
