The Secret to Eating and Health That Too Few People Know About
After reading this short article, your eating habits will change. But the nice thing about it is they may not change all that much, and you won’t be hungry. The biggest reason why they’ll change is even if you don’t WANT to modify how you eat, you’ll now think just a little bit more about the foods you’re putting into your body and what happens to these foods once they enter your stomach.
First a bit of nutritional science…
It is an established scientific fact that in order to digest any concentrated animal protein, the stomach must secrete pepsin. But it is also a well-known fact that pepsin can function only in a highly acidic medium, which must be maintained for several hours for complete digestion of proteins.
It is equally a well-established fact that when we chew a carbohydrate or starch (bread or potato, for example), saliva in the mouth immediately secretes ptyalin and other alkaline juices into the food. When swallowed, the alkalized starches require an alkaline medium in the stomach in order to complete their digestion.
Given those, what happens when you ingest protein and starch together? Acid and alkaline juices promptly neutralize one another leaving a weak, watery solution in the stomach that digests neither protein nor starch properly. Instead, the proteins putrefy and the starches ferment owning to the constant presence of bacteria in the digestive tract. (Paraphrased from Daniel Reed.)
So, just to review:
– Proteins are digested only in a highly acidic medium
– Carbohydrates/starches require an alkaline medium
One more quote from Mr. Reed:
“What this means is that most everything we Americans eat isn’t fully digested. Meat and potatoes, hamburgers (protein and breads/starch), and pizza, just to painfully name three.
“Many so-called ‘allergies’ are also the direct result of improper food combinations: the bloodstream picks up the toxins from the putrefied, fermented mess as it passes slowly through the intestines, and these toxins in turn cause rashes, hives, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms commonly branded as ‘allergies’.
“The same foods that cause allergic reactions when improperly combined often have no ill-side effects whatsoever when consumed according to the rules of Trophology.”
* * *
That is the foundation of Trophology, or Food Combining. And so, here is all you have to do:
- Eat foods that are primarily proteins with proteins, green vegetables and sprouts, and salads
- Eat starches with starches, vegetables, and salads
- Vegetables can be eaten with most foods
- Melons best eaten alone
- Sweet fruits with sub-acid fruits
- Acid fruits with sub-acid fruits
- Eat fruit at least 1/2 hour before other foods (never WITH or after other food)
And this is what you should NOT do:
- Do not combine proteins with sugars and starches
- Do not combine starches with proteins and fruit
- Drink plenty of water from a pure source, but never with food as your goal is to aid digestion not slow it down
I suggest that you google food charts for acid and alkaline values for detailed and lengthy lists so you can more effectively combine the proper foods.
Here is an excellent page with a summary and chart you can print and hang on the frig:
http://www.abcompany.com/abco/aw/nutrition/food_combining.htm