Food Combination
The observance of rules of food combining is a simple, scientifically-based system of selecting foods, from among different types, which are in harmonious or agreeable combination. It is a well known fact that food and drink are trusted upon to nurture life. But if we do not know that the nature of substances may be opposed to each other, and consumes them altogether indiscriminately, the vital organs will be thrown out of harmony and dire consequences will soon arise. For example: if wrong eating is persisted in, the acid fermentation first irritates the mucus membrane of the stomach the irritation becomes inflammation, then ulceration, then thickening and hardening, which ends in cancer at last. Right cognition and discrimination in having food compatibly facilitates easy and efficient digestion and ensures after-meal comfort. Therefore, to nurture our lives we must carefully observe the secrets of food combining and avoid causing such damage to them.
Digestion is the organic process by which food is converted into substances that can be absorbed into the body. It is not merely a chemical or physical process, but also a psychological one. When food enters the body, it undergoes several changes before it is broken down into its constituent molecules and assimilated. But no food can be assimilated by the system and used by various organs unless it has first been broken down and then absorbed in the digestive system known as alimentary canal, while the residue, is eliminated from the system. The chemical part of digestion is accomplished by a series of digestive juices and their enzymes. The digestive juices alternate between alkalis and acids at various stages, and their character is determined by the requirement of the enzymes they contain at that stage. These enzymes remain active in suitable well defined acid-alkaline media and are destroyed in unsuitable media. A remarkable characteristic of the digestive secretions is that the body suits its secretions, fluid and enzymes to the character of the food eaten. However, there are certain severe limitations in this psycho/physiological process. It is possible to suit the juices to a particular group of food, however, complex it may be, but not to a variety of foods taken together.
There is an awful marked tendency to gastro-intestinal fermentation with certain combinations of foods. It is the combining of many incompatible varieties of foods at a meal that causes majority of digestive disorders and allergic reactions. Most of the so called 'allergies' are the direct consequence of improper food combinations; the bloodstream picks up toxins from the putrefied, fermented mess as it passes tardily at low pace through the intestines, and these toxins in turn cause headaches, nausea, rashes, hives, and other sensation commonly labeled as allergies. The dreadful factor to note out of the matter is when you abuse your stomach and make digestive functions worse by consuming foods in indiscriminate combination the bacteria in your alimentary tract have a field day of unusual pleasure and success. They get all the nutrients and flourish, while you get all the worthless or unwanted wastes and suffer. The same foods that cause allergic reactions when improperly combines often would have no distressing side-effects whatsoever when consumed according to the rules.
The science of food combining - Three basic principles:
The first and foremost principle for combining foods is to avoid mixing protein and carbohydrate concentration foods. It is an established scientific fact that the salivary amylase (ptyalin) or starch-splitting enzyme of the mouth is active only in an alkaline media and is destroyed by a mild acid. But the gastric enzyme, pepsin, is active only in the acid medium and is destroyed by alkalis. A highly acidic medium must be maintained for two-and-a-half to six hours, depending upon the complexity of the protein in the food ingested to ensure complete digestion. It is equally a well established fact that digestion starts in the mouth when we chew a piece of chapatti or any carbohydrate/starch, ptyalin and other alkaline juices are immediately secreted into the food by saliva in the mouth. When swallowed, the alkalized starches require an alkaline medium in the stomach in order to finish their digestion. But when the masticated protein and starch mess reaches the stomach acid and alkaline juices are secreted simultaneously in response to the incoming protein and starch, promptly neutralizing one another and leaving a weak, watery solution in the stomach that digests neither protein nor starch properly. Instead proteins putrefy and starches ferment owing to the constant presence of bacteria in the digestive tract. This putrefaction and fermentation are the primary cause of all sorts of digestive stress, including gas, heartburn, cramps, bloating, constipation, foul stools, bleeding piles, colitis, and so forth.
The second important principle for food combining is to avoid mixing proteins and fats at the same meal. Fat in foods inhibits the secretion of gastric juice through the stomach wall. Thus when fat-concentrated foods are taken with protein foods, gastric catabolism with release of energy will decrease by the degree of liquid concentration in the stomach. Fat will remain undigested in the stomach until gastric juices complete their work on the complex protein molecule. Although all primary protein foods contain high concentration of fat, such lipids will be held in suspension, awaiting catabolism in the intestine, without impeding gastric action. Free fats like oil, butter, and milk tend to coat the gastric mucosa, thereby inhibiting its effort to secrete gastric juice. Fat surrounding fried foods is also regarded as free fat and it interferes with gastric Secrets of food combining catabolism.
The third important principle for food combining is to avoid mixing carbohydrates and acid fruits in the same meal. The starch-splitting enzyme ptyalin in the saliva plays an important role as the food is chewed. It converts the complex starch molecules into simpler sugars. Ptyalin requires a neutral or slightly alkaline medium for proper functioning and this is the normal condition of the saliva in the mouth. However, when acid foods are taken, the action of ptyalin is halted. It is, therefore, necessary to avoid acid fruits in the same meal as sweet fruits or starches. Refined sugar products are also acidic, both in the mouth and in the bloodstream. The acidifying of the saliva by sucrose is one of the main causes of tooth decay. It can also cause severe damage to the digestion.
Apart from this when we ingest improperly combined meals the colon to protect itself from the chronic toxic irritation secretes large quantities of mucus to entrap toxic particles before they damage its sensitive lining. When this occur constantly every meal, every day, every week, throughout the year- as is quite typical in modern Western diets- the colon ends up secreting a constant stream of mucus, which accumulates and gets impacted in the folds of the colon. This results in a narrowing of the passage through the colon and a constant seeping of toxins into the bloodstream by osmosis. When the impacting of toxic mucus in the colon reaches critical pressure, it causes a pocket to balloon outward through the colon lining, causing a condition called diverticulitis. Colitis, IBS, and colon cancer are the next stages of colon deterioration caused by these conditions.