A Quick Guide to Food Combining

SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES ON HEALTHY EATING PRACTICES AND FOOD COMBINING

(from an Ayurvedic perspective)

1. Eat a plant-based diet, made up primarily of fruits and grains (not refined) and a mixture of the other foods.
2. Eat slowly and chew your food. Feel the texture and taste the food.
3. Eat about ¾ of the meal and then pause and sense the fullness. If you are sensing fullness stop eating. Any more beyond this will become toxic.
4. The digestive fire follows the phases of the sun. It is not too hot in the morning and evening but hottest in the middle of the day. This is when the biggest meal should be taken.
5. The evening meal should be less substantial and should have ample time to digest before going to bed, ideally two to three hours.
6. Eat only when you are calm. Do not eat when you are agitated or tense.
7. Eat only when you feel good. Do not eat heavily when you are sick or very tired.
8. Combine foods properly as follows:

   
   

   1. Vegetables and grains with small amounts of: beans, nuts, seeds, oils, eggs, fish, or poultry.
   2. Eat fruits by themselves or with liquids.
   3. Fruits ideally should be eaten ½ hour before the meal or in between meals at least a couple hours after the last meal.
   4. Bananas should be up to ¾ of an hour before the meal.
   5. Fruits, especially citrus fruits, should not be combined with grains.
   6. Liquids should be only sipped with the meal and should never be cold. Cold beverages cool the digestive fire and impair digestion.
   7. Take warm water or at least room temperature with and between meals.
   8. Eat melons alone or leave them alone.
   9. Digestion times are somewhat variable with constitutional types.
   10. There are actually six stages of digestion and if the next food is taken in too early the phases get mixed up and digestion becomes very complicated and will commonly cause improper digestion and toxic residues.
   11. Different foods have different qualities such as light, heavy, and neutral.

       These qualities not only speak to the digestibility but their overall influence on the mind-body experience.

       This means that the food effects more than just your physical body, foods effect your mental and emotional well-being as well.

We will be discussing various aspects of healthy food combining in greater depth and detail on our site in the future, so check back with us again for more on this important topic.