The most effective food combining for weight loss is far from what we all used to know from our childhood. Classic American meals such as steak and potatoes or scrambled eggs on toast are proven to make us fatter and less healthy.
Here are a few basic principles of food combining for weight loss that are easy to follow:
1. Mix Proteins with Vegetables that Don’t Contain Starch
Meat, poultry, fish and eggs are all protein foods. In order to digest them, the stomach secretes enzymes and hydrochloric acid, thus creating an acid environment. By eating starch, that can be found in potatoes or bread, you force the stomach to create an alkaline environment, because that’s what it takes to digest such foods. When you eat the two types of foods together, the stomach environment will become neutral, as acid and alkaline substances will neutralize each other. The food doesn’t get digested properly and it already gets into putrefaction by the time it reaches the intestines.
For optimal digestion conditions, eat protein together with vegetables like broccoli, leafy greens, asparagus, zucchini, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage or bok choy. Such starch-free vegetables are digested in any type of environment, be it alkaline or acid, therefore they make a great side dish for everything else.
2. Don’t Mix Proteins
Did you know that eggs and milk take longer to digest than meat? Avoid eating them together. Ideally, your meals should include only foods that have similar digestion time, so they can all be completely processed by the time they leave the stomach.
3. Fruits Are Better Eaten Alone and Preferably on an Empty Stomach.
Fruits have the fastest digestion rate, therefore they shouldn’t be eaten at the end of a heavy meal. If they arrive into the stomach first, they will get digested and evacuated fast, which is great for the health of your intestines.
4. Wait A Few Hours To Get Your Dessert
Desserts burden the stomach and stop the digestion process, therefore they shouldn’t be eaten right after a heavy meal. It’s best to wait a few hours if you don’t want to get all bloated and gassy.
5. Never Mix Starch with Acidic Foods
If you eat starch, then add acidic foods such as oranges or lemons, your stomach won’t be able to digest it, as its environment will be neutral. This means that mixing cereal with orange juice for breakfast is a mistake and you shouldn’t do it.
As you can see, food combining for weight loss isn’t rocket science. The basic principles are to mix only foods that have similar digestion time and to avoid eating together starch with protein or acidic foods. Another good rule to follow is to wait until the previous meal was digested before eating something else. The digestion time for proteins is about 4 hours. Starches are digested in about three hours, while fruits take two hours to be processed by your stomach.
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Similar content: Protein Foods, Weight Loss, Weight Loss, Hydrochloric Acid, Acidic Foods, Environment, Protein, Protein, Digestion, Food, Food combining, Starch, Protein, Eating, Stomach, Vegetable,
Image credits:
Examples of high-protein foods are tofu, dairy products, fish, and meat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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