Food combining

shelly4720

Hi,
I've done a search and haven't come up with any discuusion here about this topic. I am trying to lose weight and just wondered what the general opinion is on Food combining - a complete waste of time, excellent for weight loss, only for people with digestive problems???

Am I better off having the right balance of Proteins, Carbs and Fats in every meal or separating carbs and proteins as recommended in Food combining diets?

Cheers

Shelly

olaola

I know two people who used to swear by food combining… I saw them lose weight too. But when you actually looked at what they ate… they just ate a better diet and less calories! A lot of things are immediately cut out of your diet - esp 'bad things' like burgers etc, and you'll end up eating more salads as
you cannot eat protein & carbs together.

I suppose you could take on the rules, you'll probably end up eating less calories and lose weight. But I don't think it will be a result of the food combining… just the lower calorie intake. But if it works for you to have rules, then go ahead - some people find it works for them.

Latchy

If it's any help shelly i know of someone who recently went on a slimmers world food combining diet and lost 2 stone in several months ,on average 2 lbs a week so it does work .She used the red and green star symbols on the slimmers world website to find out whitch foods she could eat ,so it does work for some . She is now heading for to loose another stone or more .She looks much healthier to

FunkZ

Google The Carb Cycling Codex.

Losing weight is simple, eat healthy and eat slightly under what you need to maintain your weight. Read the stickys.

Have vegetables with every meal! Chicken, turkey, fish, mince :pac:

Gurlzie1

Been looking on the net and there doesn't seem to be solid evidence that it's the food combining rules that help people to lose weight. The fact that people are eating less cals and speeding up their metabolisms by eating 5 - 6 times a day might be the reason for the weight loss instead.

I don't follow a food combining diet but have dropped my cal intake, stayed away from carbs/sugar, take a load of proteins from meat and vege sources, take fish oil and other essential fats and eat 5 - 6 times a day and the weight is dropping at a nice steady rate for me.

shelly4720

I'm starting to think that it is more about the consious effort you make when doing food combining than the actual combinations in one meal - you definately make better choices - I agree with the 4-6 small meals.
If anyone else has any opinions on food combining please advise, thanks for the replies so far!

Macha

Um, I thought food combining was more about separating carbs & fat, not carbs and protein? I thought that the problem was that when you eat carbs, your insultin levels spike & if you eat fat at the same time, your body stores that fat..??

Gurlzie1

taconnol wrote: »

Um, I thought food combining was more about separating carbs & fat, not carbs and protein? I thought that the problem was that when you eat carbs, your insultin levels spike & if you eat fat at the same time, your body stores that fat..??

Read the below article and see what you think.
I take carbs with my protein shakes after a gym session which helps absorb the protein, this goes completely against the below article - don't rate this diet at all.

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]Protein foods require a highly acidic environment for digestion while carbohydrates (starches, fruit and sugars) and fats require a more alkaline medium. Anytime 2 or more foods are eaten at the same time, and those foods require opposite conditions for digestion, the digestive process is compromised. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]When starches and proteins are combined their stimulation to the digestive juices generates a conflicting response and produces a medium which does not digest either food very well. This situation often leads to indigestion, bloating, gas, abdominal discomfort, and poor absorption of nutrients. Any quick digesting foods - such as fruit - must wait until the slowest digesting foods leave the stomach before they can leave - a process which can take up to 6 or 8 hours. While waiting, the fruit and some of the starches undergo some decomposition and fermentation, producing gas, acid and even alcohol along with indigestion.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]Proponents of food combining advocate the following principles:[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]The most important rule, is this: Don't mix starch foods with protein foods at the same meal. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]Here are the other principles which proponents of food combining adhere to:[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]1. Eat starches and acids at separate meals. Acids
neutralize the alkaline medium required for starch
digestion and the result is indigestion and fermentation. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]2. Eat carbohydrate foods and protein foods at
separate meals. Protein foods require an acid
medium for digestion. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]3. Eat only one kind of protein food at a meal. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]4. Eat proteins and acid foods at separate meals.
The acids of acid foods inhibit the secretion of the
digestive acids required for protein digestion.
Undigested proteins putrefy in bacterial
decomposition and produces some potent poisons. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]5. Eat proteins and fats at separate meals. Some
foods, especially nuts, are over 50% fat and
require hours for digestion. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]6. Eat proteins and sugars (fruits) at separate
meals. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]7. Eat starchy foods and sugars (fruits) at
separate meals. Fruits undergo no digestion in the
stomach and are held up if eaten with foods which
require digestion in the stomach. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]8. Eat melons alone. Melons combine with almost no
other food. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]9. Forget the desserts. Eaten on top of meals they
lie heavy on the stomach, requiring no digestion
there, and ferment. Bacteria turn them into
alcohols, acetic acids and vinegars. [/SIZE][/FONT]

Macha

Yeah, I think I've gotten to the stage where after worrying about my diet for well over 10 years, I just don't think things are supposed to be that complicated. I wonder how we ever survived thousands of years ago, not knowing that we weren't supposed to eat X with Y, etc.

I know calorie and carb restriction are important for weight loss but long term, I want a diet (as in eating habit) that I can follow realistically. According to that diet you can't combine protein with fats, sugars or carbs! I mean most veg have a certain amount of carbs in them - does that mean you can't have a piece of chicken & some steamed veg? Just a hunk of meat or bowl of beans by itself?? Its just getting a little too ridiculous & kooky in the search for the 'secret trick' to losing weight

EileenG

I don't think food combining as such is that useful. However, I would suggest that you do not combine a lot of high-gi carbs and fat in the same meal. Insulin tends to turn off fat burning and promote fat storage, so if you eat foods that cause an insulin spike at the same time as you eat a lot of fat, you are more likely to store the fat than burn it.

In other words, doughnuts are out.

liberation

When you combine carbs with protein than the gi of the carb goes down because you take into the account the overall gi load of the entire meal thats whey white potatoes which are highly nutritious are ok as long as you eat them with protein.The gi of carbs can be further be blunted by fibre and good fats

Transform

Exactly as above.

Total junk science and its for people who want to make nutition complicated so they can say they are 'doing' food combining.

Low GI, good fats and plenty of good protein anything outside of that and its for people who want more info so they can sit around and wonder about the secret diet.