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Are Food Combining Meals Beneficial?

Throughout history there have been many different eating plans that claim to help your body digest the food more efficiently, leading to greater nutrient absorption and weight loss. One of the most common eating plans is known as food combining. While this eating plan has been around for many years, its actual health benefits are still contested. Are food combing meals beneficial or is it just a long lived fad diet.

What Makes a Food Combining Meal?

To follow a food combining meal plan you need to eat all proteins and starches separately. Proteins can be eaten with vegetables. Similarly starches can be eaten with vegetables. Fruit must be eaten alone. This means no meals like tuna sandwiches, spaghetti and meatballs, apricot chicken, nor tofu and rice.

Theory Behind Combining Foods

The theory behind the food combining eating plan is that proteins and starches require different pH environments to digest. Starches digest most efficiently in an alkaline environment, while proteins digest most efficiently in an acidic environment.

According to the food combining plan, eating starches and proteins separately helps relieve indigestion, heartburn and allows you body to absorb more nutrients from the food you eat. This in turn helps prevent potential toxins from building up in your body by allowing faster digestion.

Controversy – Is it Really a Healthy Meal Plan?

Critics of the food combining meal method say that the most if not all people have no difficulty in digesting both starches and proteins at the same time. They point out that by eating proteins with starches it helps slow the body’s absorption of the sugars from the starch, which maintains more balanced blood sugar levels.

They also point out that without proper meal planning, it would be very easy for people to miss out on vital nutrients such as protein, calcium, zinc, vitamin D and vitamin B12. The reason for this is because starches are easier to cook and more filling than proteins, so people choose to over consume starches and under consume proteins.

Conclusion

The theory of food combining meals sounds logical, but there is no scientific evidence that people cannot efficiently digest protein and starches at the same time. While some people might experience mild relief from indigestion, the majority of people won’t experience any differences. If you were to carefully plan each meal, following a combining food diet could help you lose weight as you would have to fill up on vegetables to feel satisfied after each meal. In reality, the best eating plan is a balanced one.

Written by expert author ‘Emily Cordz’ for Outofstress.com