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.
   有許多關于我們所吃食物搭配的重要性進行的研究。許多人認為我們的胃天生只能一次完全地消化一種食物或者吃些互相兼容的食物。 這是因為每種食物需要不同種類的酶來消化。正確的食物搭配飲食能幫你最佳地消化食物，使你得到食物中各種營養。

食物搭配是什么？

食物搭配是所吃的食物需要相同的一種酶來分解消化。 從科學的觀點來看，我們知道為了使肉得到消化，需要胃中的酸性條件。如果你在吃飯的時候喝了牛奶,牛奶是堿性的，這樣就會中和胃中酸性條件，妨礙對肉完全消化。

想一想每個人消化不良的經歷。現在這種情況在實際生活中很常見。我們每年要花費超過20個億在制酸劑上（制酸劑是可以調節胃酸）。如果非得咽下一顆制酸劑，那么合理的膳食有什么不好嗎？正確的食物搭配可以幫助解決消化不良，改善健康，提高生命力，因為從食物中你能獲取了適當的營養。

食物搭配簡史

食物搭配吸收最佳營養的觀點是由威廉·霍華德·海伊在1911年提出的。食物搭配是以當時流行的觀點為依據——就胃中堿性的要求以適當的方式消化食物，同時考慮到所吃食物的PH值。

這樣就導致對食物分類的需要，并由赫伯特米謝爾頓創立。他的分類類系統是看看食物，并按照營養分組。這樣把食物分成了三組，“中性”食物，碳水化合物食物以及蛋白質食物。赫伯米謝爾頓到了建議在不同餐中吃蛋白質食物和碳水化合物食物的地步。

如何運轉

每種食物消化不同。他們需要不同的酶和不同的環境下進行完全消化。不同的食物以不同的速度消化也是同等重要。錯誤的食物搭配能消除消化食物的具體要求。

比如，已經說過肉/肉類食物或者更多的蛋白質食物需要一個酸性的條件。像描述的那樣在牛排晚餐上喝一杯牛奶，就會由于牛奶的中性作用消除了酸性的條件。同樣的道理適應于水果，當消化時他們會產生堿性分泌物同樣會中和蛋白質食物消化需要的酸性條件。

注意食物消化的速度同樣重要。以水果為例， 消化速度快，把他們與需要較長時間消化的食物進行搭配，比如蛋白質食物會引起水果的發酵。 所以當你吃水果時，你應該和含淀粉類食物，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來消化，這些酶也會互相消除。相似食物和兼容食物的適當搭配將有助于完全消化，達到最佳的健康狀態。不要把注意力只放到對一種，一類食物上，因為這樣會對消化系統不利。 多樣性和恰當的搭配是關鍵。

結果怎樣？

結果顯示合理的食物搭配的確能幫助減輕消化不良和改善整體的健康。身體正在獲取營養意味著是從你正在消化的食物中獲取。你會注意到你感覺“更輕”，而且更有力了。 食物搭配也顯示能對飲食紊亂的人有幫助。合理的食物搭配也容易對胃。

像其他任何理論一樣，食物搭配的理論和實踐也引起些批評。抱怨不是來自科學，而是他們考慮不久將引起飲食繁瑣的事實。

如何進行食物搭配

注意你的食物。知道你所吃的每種食物的分類，蛋白質食物，碳水化合物食物或中性食物。 一旦你知道食物屬于哪一類，你將很容易按照如下步驟進行：

# 確定你吃各種柑橘類水果，葉類蔬菜，雞蛋，魚和肉，以至于你可以安全避免任何的營養不足。注意沒有涉及碳水化合物的食物，他們是一種“如果不得不吃的”的食物。

# 你不能在一餐中將任何的純脂肪類食物和高淀粉食物一起搭配。 換句話說，烤土豆配上黃油，酸奶油可以扔出窗外了。

# 避免把酸類食物，比如柑橘，食醋和白脫牛奶與高淀粉類食物搭配在一餐中。

# 高淀粉食物也不應該與任何高蛋白食物搭配。

# 脂肪類可以和蛋白質類和酸類食物搭配。

# 像肉，魚，禽類和雞蛋食物應該每天一餐或者和脂肪搭配一天兩餐。

# 吃白脫牛奶，奶酪或者其他奶制品：

# 每天喝兩杯有機牛奶和半盎司的奶露。

# 純天然，低淀粉食物每天兩餐 ，并且每天吃純天然綠色和黃色蔬菜。