Vegetables

A word about vegetables. In general, vegetables can be safely com­bined among themselves, but they should not be combined with dairy, fruits, or other sources of sugar. Most vegetables can be com­bined either with protein or with starch (but not with both at the same time!) without offending the digestion. However, foods that have a relatively higher starch content, such as potatoes, rice, pasta, and bread, should not be combined with protein.

If you are strongly motivated to follow the most detailed and strict food combining principles, I suggest that you read The Complete Book of Food Combining: A New Appmach to the Hay Diet and Healthy Eating, by Jan and Inge Dries.¹ However, if you are

26 Optimal Nutrition for Optimal Health

more interested in simplifying the process, while still avoiding the significant disruption of digestion by violating the major princi­ples of food combining, consider the following practical approach to this complex topic. Assign the following foods and food types the following number:

1. Starches and complex carbohydrates (not simple sugars)

2. Vegetables and fats (except for high starch-containing
vegetables)

3. Protein (typically meat, seafood, and other non-vegetable
sources of protein)

4. Fruit

5. High dairy content (e.g., milk, yogurt)

Now that you have categorized most of the foods, combine these foods according to the following protocol:

• Eat 1 with 2.

• Eat 2 with 3.

• Eat 4 by itself, and never sooner than two to four hours
after a meal.

• Eat 5 by itself, and never sooner than two to four hours
after a meal.

• Never eat 1 with 3.

In general, keep your meal size small, and don't eat more than 3 to 5 ounces of animal protein at a sitting, although your total amount of animal protein intake for the day can exceed this amount. If you do indulge in poor combinations, minimize their impact by keeping the amounts of one of them relatively small (for example, half a small potato with meat rather than an entire large potato). Sample menus based on these food combining principles can be found in chapter 10.

Food Combining Principles 27

Always be aware of your own unique sensitivities. The longer you adhere to the basic principles of food combining, the more sen­sitive you will become to your own particular digestive weaknesses. Any combination that consistently causes any digestive upset or discomfort should be discontinued. Always remember that poor di­gestion is not normal. Proper food combining makes any indiges­tion the rare exception.