Food Combining Basics

Eat mainly sprouts, everything else is a side dish. Drink green juice at least twice a day.  No cashews, peanuts or if ill, fruit.  Don't drink water a half hour before or 1-2 hours after eating, drink it room temperature.  Don't use vinegar except apple cider vinegar and then, only first thing in the morning before any food.  WOW! There are so many rules to retain in this living and raw food lifestyle.  Well, today I learned more ... FOOD COMBINING. Poor food combing leads to poor digestion, which equals poor health and disease, not to mention indigestion, gas and bloating.  Yes, it makes you fart, April!

Here are the basics:

• NEVER combine protein (nuts and seeds) and carbs/starches (sprouted grains, beans, etc).  Each CAN, however, be combined with veggies. 
• Always eat fruit alone and do not mix fruits from sub-groups of acids, sub-acids and sweet fruit.  on a special occasion, you can mix a sub-acid fruit with either acid or sweet but never mix sweet fruit and acid fruits.
• NO FRUIT or SUGAR EVER while sick or battling illness. (Disease feeds on sugar, including agave, raw honey, etc)
• Tomatoes are fruit ... they do not belong on salad.  They should be eaten alone.
• Avocados can combine with fruit or veggies but NOT carbs or protein.
• Melons should always be eaten alone "eat them alone or leave them alone". 

So this is getting tricky ... here is a little chart to help.

Example:  Do not serve raw hummus (sprouted garbanzo beans) with raw flax seed crackers or nut crackers.  Instead, serve the hummus with celery sticks, cucumber slices or on the side of a salad. 

Poor Combinations: 

Fruit and Starch/Carb

Fruit and Veggie

Fruit and Protein

Starch/Carb and Protein

Starch/Carb and Avocado

Good Combinations:

Avocado and Greens

Avocado and Sub Acid Fruit

Protein and Sprouts and Leafy Greens

Starch/Carb and Sprouts and Veggies

Acid Fruits: Tomatos, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, strawberries, kiwis

Sub-Acid Fruits: Apples, pears, peaches, sweet cherries, apricots, most berries, mangos

Sweet Fruits: Bananas, dried fruits (figs, dates, raisins, etc.)

The list goes on ... the information is readily available online.

More interesting fruit facts ... bananas are the only fruit that will continue to ripen after being picked from the tree, all other fruits are picked prematurely and ripen en route to the stores, etc.  Eating unripened fruit actually steals nutrients from your body to help it ripen.  The best bet is try to get all fruit from a farmer's market that was "just picked today" whenever possible.  

Again, if you are struggling with health challenges, including colds, flu, etc.  Stay away from fruit, it's the devil, in all forms.  If you are a healthy person adopting a raw and living food lifestyle, make fruit only 15% of your daily intake.  

On the Hippocrates living food regime it is pretty much 100%, green drinks, sprouts and sprouted beans and the rest is just raw-vegan gravy.  

Here's to great health!

If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health. 

- Hippocrates