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Levels of Food Combination Digestibility Filed under: Nutrition Saturday, October 11 2008 - by HealthyMuslim Key topics: Food Combination • Combining Foods • Food Digestibility • Digestion

Further to a previous article on the combining foods for optimum nutrition, this article highlights the ease or difficulty of in the digestibility of certain combinations of foods.

The various nutrients in food tend to interact in very complex ways, sometimes they may inhibit and at other times enhance the digestive process. Therefore, it is important to pay careful attention to food combination. This will greatly enhance the digestibility of food, especially when it is chewed thoroughly as well.

You should use this to help you formulate your diet accordingly.

Easy to Digest

• Sprouted beans + vegetables
• Sprouted beans + sweet or sub-acid fruits
• Sprouted grains + vegetables
• Vegetables + low-starch foods
• High-starch foods + low-starch foods

Relatively Easy to Digest

• Protein + leafy greens
• Protein + vegetables
• Avocado + leafy greens or sub-acid or sweet fruits
• Soaked or sprouted seeds, nuts or grains + sweet or sub-acid fruits
• Vegetables + high-starch foods

Hard to Digest: Promotes Putrefaction and Fermentation

• Protein + starches
• Oil (Saturated Fat) + Protein
• Protein + sweet or sub-acid fruit
• Fruit (rapidly fermenting) + vegetables

Explanation of the Food Groups

Some of the terms used above are explained below:

• Protein Foods: meat, fish, dairy, beans, tofu, eggs, nuts, seeds
• vegetables: all vegetables except low-starch ones (see below)
• High-Starch Foods: all cereals: buckwheat, wheat, oats, rye, barley, millet, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams
• Low-Starch Foods: carrot, parsnip, squash, pumpkin, artichoke, corn
• Acid Fruit: grapefruit, lemon, lime, orange, pineapple, plum, prune, all berries, sour apples; tomatoes and cucumber should be considered acid fruits too
• Sub-Acid Fruit: (fresh or dried): applies, apricots, sweet cherry, mango, nectarine, peace, grape, raisin
• Sweet Fruit: (fresh or dried): papaya, banana, dates, figs

You should use this classification and the digestibility levels above to monitor and change how your food is combined. This will lead to much better digestion and absorption, leading to a healthier life.

Unfortunately, most people don't have the slightest clue about these very important dietary principles. Day and night they eat badly combined food that is doing untold damage to their colon and intestines.

A few important notes to finish off:

First, "acid fruit" refers to fruits that are acidic prior to digestion, such as lemons, oranges, limes etc. However a lot of these acid fruits actually produce a net alkaline effect in the body after they have been digested. You might find a lot of these fruits labelled as "alkaline forming" which is what they are after digestion.

Secondly, a lot of foods have a combination of different food types. They may include protein as well as carbohydrates, or fats as well as proteins. So you might ask what about food combinations in that situation? What we are speaking of are "concentrated proteins" and "concentrated carbohydrates" i.e. the combination of foods that have a high protein content with a high carbohydrate content.

For example you should not eat vegetables high in starch (potatoes, pasta) with concentrated proteins (meats, nuts).

We will cover this in more detail in future articles inshaa'Allaah.

• Levels of Food Combination Digestibility
• How To Combine Foods Properly For Optimum Nutrition
• Nutrition Basics: The Body's Digestive Cycle Explained

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