Food Combining - Key to Digestion

What is Food Combining and why is it important?

Food combining refers to the combination of foods which improves digestion and reduces the risk of the production of toxins in digestive system due to improper digestion.

According to Ayurveda, each food has distinct combination of taste(sweet, sour, salt, bitter, astringent)  and energy(heat or cool). It's important to eat the right combination of foods in each meal for optimum digestion. As per science, protein needs acidic environment to digest, starches require slightly alkaline environment to digest and fats/oils require slightly alkaline environment to digest.

I follow Food Combining to some extent. I get good results in terms of digestion. It's really simple to follow. We predominantly consume the following food groups:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Dairy Products (Curd, Milk and Cheese)
• Meat (Egg, meat,fish)
• Grains
• Legumes

Let's see the combinations: 

1. Do not combine Meat and Grains at the same meal. It's good to eat met with vegetables.
2. Eat Fruits separately.
3. Eat dairy products separately.
4. Vegetables and fats are neutral foods that can be combined with Meat or Starches, but not with fruits or dairy products.


Sample meal plans:

Breakfast:
Vegetable Smoothie with nuts
Or
Eggs + Steamed Vegetables

Lunch:
Meat + Steamed Vegetables
Or
Brown Rice +Vegetables
Or
Lentil Soup( Legumes +Vegetables)

Dinner:
Ragi/Millet Pancake+Steamed Vegetables +Coconut Cilantro Chutney