Naturopaths and Ayurveda doctors say there are certain food combinations that should be avoided. For example mixing protein with starch can lead to stomach-related problems. Also milk should be a stand alone drink. MANJARI SINGH talks to specialists and brings you a report
Have you ever thought why in spite of having a healthy meal, you are not at your healthiest bestIJ It might be because you are eating everything right but combining them wrongly. As per naturopaths and Ayurveda doctors, the body can handle, secrete and digest one food at a time smoothly. It has no provision to digest different food groups at one particular time. Consequently, the best food can give you trouble without proper combination. For example, protein requires an absolute acid environment in the stomach for its digestion. Starchy foods require alkaline environment. That is the reason why Ayurveda doctors say that rice and curd should be avoided.
The rice-curd combination in the intestinal imbalances the system until it is passed out. Undigested food is the perfect breeding ground for bacterial worms and parasites. “Fermentation, putrefaction and decomposition leads to poisoning and many other diseases,” Dr NK Sharma naturopath and founder of Reiki Healing Foundation, New Delhi says.
And then there are certain foods that are meant to be consumed alone. Milk is one of them. “Milk does not digest in stomach but in the section of the small intestine. If one drinks it with other foods it will continue to remain in the stomach. This prevents the digestion of other foods as well,” Dr Sharma tells you adding that due to its fat and protein content, when it enters the stomach, milk coagulates and forms curd. This curd tends to stick together with other foods in the stomach insulating them against the gastric juices, preventing digestion.
“People have coffee or tea with milk after their meal. It is essential to allow the meal to get digested first before taking any beverage. If one drinks these immediately after the mean, it causes gas formation in stomach which creates problems in digestion,” Dr Sharma tells you. However, Delhi-based dietician Dr Shalini Singhal states a different reason to avoid beverages immediately after meal. “Ninety per cent of beverages are water-based. When one drinks water immediately after a meal, the enzymes get washed away,” Dr Singhal explains.
Therefore, liquids must be taken prior to a meal, not immediately after or along with meal but should be taken one hour after a meal. All toxic beverages like tea, coffee, alcohol, soft drinks are a hindrance to normal digestion. Gastric secretions are severely restricted if one drinks water.
Fats also suppress the action of the gastric glands and inhibits the production of proper gastric juices for any food that is eaten with it. It lowers the entire digestive process by more than 50 per cent. Fats that are eaten remain in the digestive tract for a long time demanding over activity. This puts a lot of strain on the stomach which eventually leads to the breakdown of digestive mechanism in the long run. Fried fats are the most dangerous. Eat natural fats combined proteins and foods like nuts, seeds and avocados.
Daal-chawal might be a popular combination but Dr Sharma doesn’t completely approve of it. “Eating protein and starch in the same meal is not good. Having daal-chawal is still alright but one should avoid rajma-chawal. Though it is a very popular food combination, it is a strick no-no. This is because it causes gas. People tend to ignore it but it’s not good for health,” Dr Sharma says.
But according to nutritionist Neelanjana Singh, Heinz Nutri life Clinic daal-chawal is a very good combination. “Since both lack in some form of amino acid, daal-chawal complement each other, making it a complete meal,” Singh says.
But naturopaths stick to their version. “If at all, circumstances force one to eat protein and starches together, never mix them together. Eat the protein first. Wait for around half-an hour and then eat starch. This way both the protein and starch will get time to get digested properly. However, since protein and starch is not an ideal combination, it does not ensure perfect and complete digestion. The body must be given an opportunity to digest and take care of a single concentrated food,” Dr Sharma opines.
He is also quick to point out that legume's and beans contain 25 per cent protein and approximately 50 per cent carbohydrate or starch compared to 10 to 12 per cent protein of cereals. This means that it is difficult to digest leading to their fermentation. Since each of the two constituents require entirely different processes for digestion, the starch of the bean lies in the stomach while its protein is being digested. This produces gas and toxins in the body.
“Even potatoes, though being predominantly starch foods, can’t be combined with predominantly proteinous legume's. Potatoes (extreme starch) ferments fast when eaten with legume's. Alu vada or alu bonda combined with chana daal therefore, is not a good combination. Perhaps the most common objection made to this rule is that Nature has produced protein-starch combinations. Indeed, it is often asserted that almost all natural foods are starch-protein combinations,” Dr Sharma says.
If wheat is eaten alone (a monotrophic meal), it will secrete a juice poor in hydrochloric acid but rich in pepsin. This juice will be produced in the stomach for a long time. Thus, starch digestion and protein digestion go concurrently. If meat and bread is eaten together, lot of hydrochloric acid is poured out, so that starch digestion is suspended. We must therefore eat one food group at a meal. This way that group will get digested properly. But if we eat several food groups at one time, digestion is difficult unless the food is properly combined.
“Therefore, for proper digestion and for vitamins and minerals to be absorbed by the body, it is important that one knows the correct food combinations,” Dr Sharma says.
