From: jeanthea@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Jeantheau)
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg
Subject: Re: theory of food combining
Date: 9 Jul 92 19:30:20 GMT
Reply-To: jeanthea@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mark Jeantheau)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD
Cc: jeanthea

Re:  Food Combining....

First, realize that some people say "food combining" and mean "combining
incomplete proteins to make complete ones" (which has been discussed
previously on the net; most agree that it's not a valid theory). In
terms of not eating certain foods together, I haven't read "Fit for
Life II", but I have read Herbert Shelton's "Food Combining Made Easy."
If you're interested in the subject, it's worth reading.  \

I have experimented with food combining (based on Shelton's book) for
the the last year or so).  Some comments:

    1) To combine foods in the ways Shelton suggests--and to rigorously
adhere to his methodology-- would be *very* hard.
    2) His meal suggestions are too focussed on fruits and vegatables
(not enough grains and beans/legumes).
    3) A  lot of what he says makes some sense physiologically, but, for
instance, many foods have both carbohydrate and protein components (as
Mr. Traub pointed out).  It's not clear that beans and rice would digest
better individually than they would together).  ALso, the food gets
another dose of amylase later on to break down any unprocessed starches.
Shelton argues that this doesn't guarantee complete digestion (and,
hence, utilization) of carbs.  Well, who knows...
    4) The thing about eating fruit alone makes sense and seems to work
in practice, too. I have gotten indigestion many times when I try to
put fruit (or any other high-sugar food) in with other, slower-digesting
things, which prevent the fruit from quickly passing into the small
intestine.  Or, if you eat too much fruit at a sitting, it can't all
get out fast enough and fermentation can occur then, too.  Shelton divides
fruits into three categories:  acid (citrus, strawberries, tomatos,
kiwi), sub-acid (apples, pears, peaches, cherries, berries, most grapes),
and sweet (bananas, mangos, papayas, dried fruits).  Fruits, he says, 
should only be combined within a category, or, at worst, one category 
away (ie. acid + sub-acid or sub-acid + sweet, but not acid + sweet).  
I don't know how much truth there is in this part of the fruit thing, 
but it's pretty much what I do anyway, so it's easy to stick to....


Bottom-line recommendation:  Read the books and take away the parts
that make sense to you and seem to work in practice.  It's interesting
to note that many of the practices recommended in macrobiotics (touted
for its salubrious effects on the body) are contrary to some food-combining
principles.  This is true in general when talking about systems of food
consumption--there are many conflicts.  You have to decide what's best
for you.


P.S.

>...................................... I've never had a problem eating
>a meal including apples.

I have.  Apples may digest more slowly than, say peaches, but not *that*
much more slowly.


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// jeanthea@oasys.dt.navy.mil // Mark Jeantheau // (202) 227-3562
// U.S. Navy // David Taylor Research Center // Code 1401 // Bethesda MD 20084
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Opinions expressed herein blah blah blah... [Standard disclaimer.]
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Circling down in a spiral array, a pattern so grand and complex...  --Rush
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----- End article 8538 in rec.food.veg -----






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// jeanthea@oasys.dt.navy.mil // Mark Jeantheau // (202) 227-3562
// U.S. Navy // David Taylor Research Center // Code 1401 // Bethesda MD 20084
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Opinions expressed herein blah blah blah... [Standard disclaimer.]
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