There has been a lot of research done on the significance of food combining when we eat. Many believe that our stomach is designed to only digest food correctly one food type at a time or eating foods together that are compatible with each other. This is because each food type requires a different enzyme to digest them. Eating the correct food combinations will help your body digest food optimally so that you are getting all the nutrients that are in the food.

What is it?

Food combining is eating foods together that require the same enzymes for digestion. From a scientific standpoint, we know that in order for meats to be broken down, an acidic environment in the stomach is needed. If you drink milk with your meal, which is alkaline, that neutralizes the stomach environment and can hinder proper digestion of the meat.

Think about all of the people that experience indigestion. It is now so common that it is seen as a normal fact of life. We spend in excess of 2 billion dollars a year on antacids (substances which counter stomach acidity). Wouldn’t it be better if instead of having to choke down an antacid all you needed to do was eat foods the right way? Eating the correct food combinations can help end indigestion and improve health and vitality because you will be getting the proper nutrients out of your food.

A Brief History of Food Combining

The idea of food combining for optimal nutrition was introduced in 1911 by William Howard Hay. Food combining was based on the current ideas of that time as far as the requirement of alkalinity to digest food the proper way in the stomach whilst taking into consideration the pH of the food you are eating.

This then lead to a need for a classification system of foods, and this was created by Herbert M Shelton. His classification system looked at food and grouped it together by the nutrients that each food produced. This broke foods up into three groups, those that are considered “neutral”, those that are carbohydrates and those that are proteins. Herbert M. Shelton went as far as to recommend that you eat proteins and carbohydrates at different meals.

How It Works

Each type of food is digested differently. They each require different enzymes and different environments to be digested properly. It is equally important that different foods digest at different rates. Combining food incorrectly can cancel out the specific needs of those foods for proper digestion.

For example, it has already been stated that meats/flesh foods or more appropriately proteins require an acidic environment. As stated enjoying a glass of milk with your steak dinner has just cancelled out the acidic environment due to the neutralizing effects of milk. The same goes for fruits as they produce an alkaline secretion when digested which will also neutralize the acidic environment needed for digestion of proteins.

Noting the rate of digestion of food is also important. Take the example of fruits, which digest quickly and combining them with foods that take longer to digest, such as the proteins can cause the fruits to ferment. So when you are eating fruits you will want to combine those with starches or carbohydrates, both of which digest quickly. Vegetables and fruits both require different enzymes for digestion and these enzymes also tend to cancel each other out.

Proper combination of like foods or compatible foods will aid in proper digestion and optimal health. Do not go over board though and focus on eating only one food or one type of food because that is just as bad for the digestive system. Variety and proper combination is key.

What Have Results Shown?

The results show that proper food combining does help decrease indigestion and improve overall health. Your body is getting the nutrients that it is meant to get from the food that you are consuming. You will notice that you feel “lighter” and have more energy. Food combining has also been shown to help those recovering from eating disorders. The proper combination of foods is easier on the stomach.

As with any theory, the food combination theory and practice has its share of critics. The complaints aren’t due to science, but due more to the fact that they consider food combining to be a boring way to eat after awhile.

How to Get Started with Food Combining

Pay attention to your food. Know what category each food that you eat falls into, protein, carbohydrate or neutral. Once you know what food falls in what category you can easily follow the following simple steps:

# Make sure that you eat all kinds of citrus fruits, leafy veggies, eggs, fish and meats so that you can safely avoid any nutrient deficiencies. Notice there is no mention of carbohydrates, they are an “eat only if you have to” food.

# You do not want to combine any pure fats with high starches in one meal. In other words, that baked potato with butter and sour cream is out the window.

# Avoid combining acids such as citrus, vinegar and buttermilk with any high starch at one meal.

# High starches should also not be combined with any high proteins.
Fats can be eaten with proteins and acids.

# Foods such as meat, fish, fowl and eggs should be eaten one serving of each per day or two servings of one per day with a fat.

# Eat buttermilk, cheese and other dairy: Having two glasses of organic milk or two and half ounces of cheese per day.

# Have two servings a day of raw, low starch fruits and raw green and yellow vegetables a day.

有许多关于我们所吃食物搭配的重要性进行的研究。许多人认为我们的胃天生只能一次完全地消化一种食物或者吃些互相兼容的食物。 这是因为每种食物需要不同种类的酶来消化。正确的食物搭配饮食能帮你最佳地消化食物，使你得到食物中各种营养。

食物搭配是什么？

食物搭配是所吃的食物需要相同的一种酶来分解消化。 从科学的观点来看，我们知道为了使肉得到消化，需要胃中的酸性条件。如果你在吃饭的时候喝了牛奶,牛奶是碱性的，这样就会中和胃中酸性条件，妨碍对肉完全消化。

想一想每个人消化不良的经历。现在这种情况在实际生活中很常见。我们每年要花费超过20个亿在制酸剂上（制酸剂是可以调节胃酸）。如果非得咽下一颗制酸剂，那么合理的膳食有什么不好吗？正确的食物搭配可以帮助解决消化不良，改善健康，提高生命力，因为从食物中你能获取了适当的营养。

食物搭配简史

食物搭配吸收最佳营养的观点是由威廉·霍华德·海伊在1911年提出的。食物搭配是以当时流行的观点为依据——就胃中碱性的要求以适当的方式消化食物，同时考虑到所吃食物的PH值。

这样就导致对食物分类的需要，并由赫伯特米谢尔顿创立。他的分类类系统是看看食物，并按照营养分组。这样把食物分成了三组，“中性”食物，碳水化合物食物以及蛋白质食物。赫伯米谢尔顿到了建议在不同餐中吃蛋白质食物和碳水化合物食物的地步。

如何运转

每种食物消化不同。他们需要不同的酶和不同的环境下进行完全消化。不同的食物以不同的速度消化也是同等重要。错误的食物搭配能消除消化食物的具体要求。

比如，已经说过肉/肉类食物或者更多的蛋白质食物需要一个酸性的条件。像描述的那样在牛排晚餐上喝一杯牛奶，就会由于牛奶的中性作用消除了酸性的条件。同样的道理适应于水果，当消化时他们会产生碱性分泌物同样会中和蛋白质食物消化需要的酸性条件。

注意食物消化的速度同样重要。以水果为例， 消化速度快，把他们与需要较长时间消化的食物进行搭配，比如蛋白质食物会引起水果的发酵。 所以当你吃水果时，你应该和含淀粉类食物，碳水化合物食物搭配，二者消化的速度都很快。 水果和蔬菜都需要不同的酶来消化，这些酶也会互相消除。相似食物和兼容食物的适当搭配将有助于完全消化，达到最佳的健康状态。不要把注意力只放到对一种，一类食物上，因为这样会对消化系统不利。 多样性和恰当的搭配是关键。

结果怎样？

结果显示合理的食物搭配的确能帮助减轻消化不良和改善整体的健康。身体正在获取营养意味着是从你正在消化的食物中获取。你会注意到你感觉“更轻”，而且更有力了。 食物搭配也显示能对饮食紊乱的人有帮助。合理的食物搭配也容易对胃。

像其他任何理论一样，食物搭配的理论和实践也引起些批评。抱怨不是来自科学，而是他们考虑不久将引起饮食繁琐的事实。

如何进行食物搭配

注意你的食物。知道你所吃的每种食物的分类，蛋白质食物，碳水化合物食物或中性食物。 一旦你知道食物属于哪一类，你将很容易按照如下步骤进行：

# 确定你吃各种柑橘类水果，叶类蔬菜，鸡蛋，鱼和肉，以至于你可以安全避免任何的营养不足。注意没有涉及碳水化合物的食物，他们是一种“如果不得不吃的”的食物。

# 你不能在一餐中将任何的纯脂肪类食物和高淀粉食物一起搭配。 换句话说，烤土豆配上黄油，酸奶油可以扔出窗外了。

# 避免把酸类食物，比如柑橘，食醋和白脱牛奶与高淀粉类食物搭配在一餐中。

# 高淀粉食物也不应该与任何高蛋白食物搭配。

# 脂肪类可以和蛋白质类和酸类食物搭配。

# 像肉，鱼，禽类和鸡蛋食物应该每天一餐或者和脂肪搭配一天两餐。

# 吃白脱牛奶，奶酪或者其他奶制品：

# 每天喝两杯有机牛奶和半盎司的奶露。

# 纯天然，低淀粉食物每天两餐 ，并且每天吃纯天然绿色和黄色蔬菜。