Not always the use of high-quality and natural products favorably affects the digestive system. Often this reaction of the body is due to the fact that we incorrectly combine certain types of food. The importance of separate nutrition was understood even by ancient scholars. Now this concept serves as the basis for most diets and has many followers. So which products are incompatible with each other?
Product Compatibility Concept History
Even people of antiquity knew what separate nutrition is. Incompatible products in his writings are mentioned by the ancient Roman physician Celsus: he strongly recommended that patients monitor nutritional combinations in their daily diet. And the Persian physician Avicenna at the beginning of the first millennium BC in his writings touches on the topic of the harm of the simultaneous consumption of various types of food products. The well-known academician Pavlov conducted studies of the enzymatic function of the stomach and concluded that when digesting different types of products, its chemical composition changes. Nowadays, separate nutrition is very popular among those who monitor their health or want to lose weight.
How does the body digest food?
Each product is digested by the body at a certain rate. For example, an empty stomach an eaten apple passes through the esophagus and stomach and enters the intestines within 20 minutes, and the meat is digested longer. If, after a hearty meal, grapefruit or any other fruit is eaten, its absorption will be hindered by previously taken food, as a result of which it begins to rot in the intestine.
The digestive process involves not only the participation of gastric juice in it. Gastric and intestinal bacteria, pancreas, gall bladder and saliva are also involved. Incorrect operation of at least one of the links in this chain affects the outcome of the process.
Why are some products incompatible?
The process of assimilating the nutrients of each type of food requires the presence of certain enzymes. For example, the digestion of protein foods is carried out in an acidic environment, and carbohydrate - in an alkaline one. When they interact, a neutralization reaction occurs , as a result of which the body requires several times more time and energy to digest incompatible products. The consequences of such malnutrition are a feeling of heaviness in the abdomen and a decrease in performance throughout the day.
Compliance with the principles of separate nutrition helps to cure and prevent many diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This is because incompatible food products give an additional load to the digestive system, due to which the amount of assimilated vitamins and minerals is reduced.
Why is it important to choose the right combination of products?
The task of the gastrointestinal tract is to digest food of various types of both plant and animal origin. The main element of the digestive system is the intestinal microflora. It is she who determines the outcome and quality of the whole process - how quickly the conversion of the substances received into nutrient compounds or rot products will occur.
Intestinal microflora is a large qualitative and quantitative composition. Moreover, some species are predominant, while others are oppressed. The species composition is determined by the nature of the food consumed and the metabolic rate. If the products included in the daily diet are natural and correctly combined, the microflora becomes stable.
If a person consumes incompatible food or overeats, the work of the stomach, and then the intestines, is disrupted. Putrefactive bacteria begin to consume food that stagnates in the intestines. They secrete poisons and toxins that first enter the liver, then the kidneys, and then spread throughout the body. This mechanism is the cause of many diseases.
Shelton's principle
Herbert Shelton is an American dietitian. His great merit lies in the fact that he collected and analyzed medical experience regarding the basics of separate nutrition. It is on its principles that most health diets are now based.
Shelton also developed the so-called principle of "simple food". Its meaning is that the maximum benefit from the consumed products can be obtained due to the uniformity of the diet in one meal.
According to Shelton, fasting is necessary for a greater healing effect. However, this aspect caused a storm of emotions and indignation among his colleagues. The application of these principles has made it possible to cure many patients of diseases such as neurosis, diabetes mellitus of both types, bronchial asthma. Nevertheless, not all Shelton's patients were cured, for which the doctor was imprisoned.
Compatible and incompatible human foods were summarized by scientists in a table that we are used to seeing now. In one meal, it is recommended to combine no more than three products. Ideally, there should be one product at a time.
Hay theory
Gorvard Hay also conducted research in the field of separate nutrition in nutrition. He took Shelton's principles as a basis, but in the end he developed his theory.
According to Hey, food products are divided into three classes:
- Protein.
- Carbohydrates.
- Neutral
The nutritionist urged to completely exclude certain types of food. He was also categorically against the presence of refined food in the diet.
What products are not compatible with this theory? Hay was of the opinion that a person consumes a large number of foods that “peroxidize” the body. From this, a variety of diseases arise - from skin rashes to migraines and ulcers. Accordingly, you should eat food that causes an alkaline reaction, namely natural vegetables and fruits, dairy products. "Alkaline" food should be four times more than "acidic". To the latter, he included meat, fish, eggs, all citrus fruits, coffee, sweets and alcohol.
A Modern Approach to Separate Nutrition
All products are conditionally divided into 10 types. The main difference from the well-known classification is the division into moderately compatible and incompatible products. The fact is that some types of vegetables contain a lot of starch, while others, in turn, are very small. In fact, they fall into the rank of "non-starchy" food.
Sweet fruit
These include dried fruits of all kinds, bananas, dates, raisins, dried melon.
Fruits are digested relatively quickly, with acidic ones quickly passing the stage of digestion in the stomach, and sweet ones slowly. Therefore, it is best to use them separately as an independent dish or an hour and a half before meals, and at least three hours from the last meal should pass. You can not use them as a component of desserts. This rule also applies to fruit juices. Products of this type are fully compatible with any fruit, cereals, sour-milk food.
Semisweet fruit
These are wild berries, mangoes, apples, pears, cherries, watermelons, grapes, peaches, plums, apricots, tomatoes.
Products of this type are perfectly combined with each other, as well as with all fruits, herbs, sour-milk products, high-protein foods (nuts, cheese, fatty cottage cheese). Wild berries can be combined with milk. Incompatible products - meat, fish, eggs, cereals and legumes. This is explained by the difference in the rate of assimilation. The use of semisweet fruits with starchy foods is not recommended.
It is important to note that gourds, namely melons and watermelons, cannot be combined with anything. After their use, other food “gets stuck” in the stomach, and then begins to rot, which inevitably leads to bloating.
Sour fruit
These include all citrus fruits, pineapple, pomegranate, sour apples and pears, grapes, sour berries (blackberries, cranberries, currants).
Perfectly combined inside its type, as well as with all fruits, dairy products, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream. It can not be combined with high-protein and starchy foods, cereals and legumes. It is undesirable to use with vegetables.
Vegetables compatible with other products
These include cucumbers, cabbage, radishes, radishes, sweet peppers, onions, garlic, beets, turnips, rutabaga, carrots, pumpkin, squash. Products of this type are perfectly combined both within their group and with proteins, fats, starchy foods and herbs, as they accelerate the digestive process. It is not recommended to eat vegetables with fruits, however, exceptions are possible. Cannot be combined with milk.
Vegetables less compatible with other foods
This is cauliflower and boiled white cabbage, green peas, late pumpkin and zucchini, and eggplant. They go well with starchy foods and other vegetables, fats and herbs. You can also combine them with cheeses. It is undesirable to eat with protein foods of animal origin. Incompatible products - fruits, milk.
Starchy Products
Cereals (wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, rice, millet), as well as products from them (bakery, pasta), potatoes, corn, chestnut, fall into this category. They are perfectly digested in combination with greens, fats, vegetables of all types and within their group. When consumed with fats, it is recommended to add greens. Incompatible foods - protein (especially animal origin) and dairy foods, sugar, fruits.
Protein Products
This includes meat, fish, poultry, eggs, cheeses, cottage cheese, dairy products, legumes, nuts, mushrooms. Protein food is best combined with herbs and all kinds of vegetables, as they accelerate the digestive process and help remove poisons from food. You can also use fats with protein foods, but since they slow down digestion, you should add greens to such dishes. Protein foods cannot be combined with starchy foods, as well as fruits and sugars. However, with fruits, as an exception, the use of cottage cheese, cheese, dairy products, nuts is permissible.
Separately, milk should be isolated from products of this type. Milk is food, not a drink. He needs to curl up under the action of stomach enzymes before entering the intestines. If milk enters the stomach along with other food, then it envelops the mucous membrane and prevents it from working in the usual way. Products incompatible with milk are almost all types of food. You can combine fruits with it, but this combination is not suitable for all people. Nutritionists advise drinking milk necessarily warm.
Greenery
This type of product includes lettuce, nettle, leek, sorrel, cilantro, parsley, dill, and other green plants used in food. Greens go well with any kind of product, with the exception of milk. Doctors recommend daily including in their diet one bunch of any kind of greenery. It brings special benefits in combination with starchy and protein foods, as it accelerates its digestion, neutralizes poisons, improves intestinal muscular motility, and contains vitamins.
Fats
This group of products includes butter, ghee, vegetable, lard, cream, sour cream and other animal fats. Often here include fatty meat (pork), fish and nuts.
The main distinguishing feature of fats is that they slow down the process of secretion of gastric juice, especially when consumed at the beginning of a meal. They also have a softening effect if products that are incompatible with each other enter the body. For example, pork with potatoes is better absorbed if sour cream is added to it. Fats are perfectly combined with greens, all types of vegetables, foods rich in starch. It is allowed to use fats along with fruits of any type, for example, wild berries with sour cream.
The most incompatible foods with fats are sugars. Such combinations should be avoided. It is in this case that the “inhibitory” effect of fats is most pronounced. It is also highly undesirable to mix vegetable and animal fats in food, and butter is best replaced with ghee.
Sahara
These include sugar (both white and cane), fructose, syrups, jams, honey.
When combined with protein or starchy foods, sugars provoke fermentation, which greatly reduces the benefits of consumed foods. Sugar should be consumed separately, but it is better to completely abandon them. And if you decide to drink tea with sugar and sweets, then it is better to do this before eating, but in no case after it.
However, there is an exception to these rules - honey. In small quantities, it goes well with all types of food, since it slows down rotting and fermentation. But you can not use it every day.
Incompatible Slimming Foods
If you strictly observe the basics of separate nutrition, you can not only improve the body, but also lose weight, because most modern diets rely on them. Although such a food system is unlikely to meet the definition of “diet,” since only the list of products that are most compatible with each other is mentioned here.
So, first you need to study incompatible products when losing weight. Combinations fall into this group:
- Protein food with flour products.
- The combination of plant and animal proteins in one go.
- Combinations of flour products in one meal.
- Protein products with sugars.
- Flour products with fruits.
- Flour products with milk.
- Protein food with milk.
The so-called “90” nutrition system has gained particular popularity among diets. It lies in the fact that within 90 days it is necessary to adhere to a four-day cyclical diet, that is:
- The first day is protein.
- The second day is starchy.
- The third day - carbohydrate (you can eat sweets).
- The fourth day - vitamin (vegetables, fruits).
This diet is very easy to follow, because the body will be saturated with all the necessary substances, so there will be no disruptions.
You should also adhere to the following recommendations to achieve greater results:
- Refined foods should be excluded (wheat flour, white sugar, margarines).
- An interval of 3-4 hours should be observed between main meals.
- Sour fruits and protein foods should not be consumed with carbohydrate in one go.
Alcohol Incompatible Products
It is not recommended to combine alcohol with high protein foods. The process of protein digestion begins in the stomach due to the action of the enzyme - pepsin. When drinking alcohol, pepsin precipitates, resulting in undigested food entering the intestines.
The principles of the separate power system are based not only on the tenets of which products are incompatible. It helps to choose the most successful combinations of them, and surely many of them will appeal to everyone. Separate nutrition not only helps to heal the body, but also to say goodbye to extra pounds and get rid of food allergies, because the latter is a natural reaction to rotting protein food. If you decide to adhere to a separate nutrition system, special food compatibility tables are useful for you. With their help, you can easily create a daily menu.