Published: 10/01/2014 - Updated: 01/07/2018
Author: MSc. Miriam Reyes
If it is true that diet is the base of health, we must emphasize then that eating healthy foods and following strict diets isn’t enough. Food combinations play a very important role that very few people know, and which is of utmost important for achieving nutrition and complete health.
A lot of vegetarians think that in order to be healthy all you need to do is eliminate certain products from your diet and include the healthiest foods, or those that are most consistent with their personal philosophy. However, what happens when we combine foods inadequately?
Unconsciously making mixtures of different foods causes foods, in the first place, to not be properly digested. The digestion will also be heavy and long, will cause an overproduction of toxins and alcohol which will heat the stomach and the intestines, causing indigestion, upset stomachs, and a long list of other conditions.
What is trophology?
Trophology is the science responsible for studying and teaching how to cultivate or reestablish health by means of a proper diet appropriate for each person. This science is based primarily on making optimal food combinations to recover health.
The healthiest diet, digestion and blood
It is true that there is nothing like a natural diet for health, youth, and beauty. However, we should point out that our body’s organic functions depend on the quality of our blood which is the product of general nutrition, but most of all, of good digestion. If we have proper foods with correct absorption, this will produce pure blood with healthy tissues and organs; poor digestion with improper foods deteriorates the blood, changing organic functions.
Health and digestion
The body speaks of the quality of our diet. If our body is nourished by fresh foods like vegetables and fruits, for example, the blood will be fluid, nourishing, and alkaline, free of toxins and acidic materials. You should know that all fruits, as acidic as they may be, become alkaline the moment they enter our bodies. However, eating fruits and vegetables does not ensure good blood quality, because if we combine fruits improperly with other complex foods, or if you eat them cooked and mixed with other products, then everything we eat in one meal, fruits for example, as well as soups or stews, will impede each other from digestion, leading to long and complicated digestion and acids from the putrefied fermentation in the intestines.
These fermentations could stay in the body for hours and a lot of times the intestines can’t eliminate them. They then acidify the bloody, cause inflammation, congestion, and irritate from the tissues and organs to the body’s systems. If all of these irritations persist and linger on for prolonged periods of time, over time they will cause disorders that we know by various names, and that we sum up as illness.
The only illness
The best doctors agree that there is no patient with good digestion. Conscious dietitians know that only one illness exists: the illness of insufficient blood. Digestion is the key to optimal quality blood. If foods are properly combined digestion will be the machine that gives us strong and pure blood.
Correct digestion is characterized as being quick, by creating abundant and odorless excrement, cylindrical and bronze in color. Correct food assimilation also helps clear out the intestines at least in the morning and at night. Defecating only once a day is not enough, and this means that it is difficult for the intestines to get rid of toxic and biliary residue. If these residues are kept for more than 20 hours, the blood begins to absorb these harmful substances. The most evident way of knowing if we are absorbing correctly is by clearing out the intestines every eight hours.
How to combine foods
You should keep in mind that there are foods that produce certain types of acidity in gastric juices. If you were to combine more than three types of foods, the stomach will have problems. The most recommendable thing to do is to combine at least 2 types of compatible foods from different groups, and eat lesser amounts more times a day.
What you should keep in mind:
FRUITS: are full of antioxidants and are very nutritive and beneficial for health. In order to take advantage of them, you should eat them alone and on an empty stomach. Do not combine them with other foods unless they are grains, because their natural sugar ferments other foods and creates alcohol. It’s best to eat them fresh, 2 hours after having eaten and waiting half an hour for them to digest well until eating something else. Never combine more than 3 fruits and do not combine sweet fruits with acidic ones.
PROTEINS: do not combine them with carbohydrates nor with other proteins. A few examples of proteins are: seaweed, dairy, legumes (beans and green beans, lentils, fava beans, etc.) oily foods (sesame, almonds, walnuts, seeds, etc.) soy and its derivatives, and others like olives, brewer’s yeast, pollen, mushrooms, etc.
CARBOHYDRATES: should be eaten accompanied by fresh fruit and vegetables. A few examples of carbohydrates are: grains (whole grain rice, corn, barley, etc.), whole grain breads, whole grain pastas, tubers. Fruits are also carbohydrates but they should not be combined with vegetables.
It’s best to eat one food raw and another cooked in each meal.
SAMPLE CLEANSING DIET FOR THE BLOOD:
Before breakfast: a glass of warm water with juice from one lemon or some other citrus fruits (cleansing for the blood).
Breakfast: papaya with honey and walnuts or bread with fresh cheese and mint tea.
LUNCH: vegetable and miso soup or broth, herb infusion, fresh vegetable salad.
SNACK: almond milk with toast, spread with honey.
DINNER: fresh apple salad with one cup of oatmeal with honey.
Grains, wheat, corn, rice, oats, etc.: With vegetables, roots or sweet fruits, or oily foods.
Starchy foods or tubers pair well with vegetables.
Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 01/07/2018
About the author