By Dietitian Sheela Seharawat,
Founder Diet Clinic Health Care Pvt Ltd
In order to have a healthy and fit body, we need to have fresh and healthy foods. In short terms it’s all about eating healthy food combinations.
So what actually is healthy eating and a healthy food combination?
Most of us have the pre notion that health eating is about eating foods that are boring and bland. Perhaps it is not true!! It never means that we will have to sacrifice our favorite foods. It is all about balancing the nutrient intake all through the day. Eating healthy can be briefly describes as a mathematical formula: subtracting fat, counting calories, dividing portions and adding valuable foods to our diet.
It has been rightly said by experts that just by adding one food with another can make a huge difference in our nutrient intakes and thereby impact our overall health. Proper food combinations are based on the idea that there are many foods that combine well with each other and gets digested easily when combined and others do not.
Understanding Food Combination
It is of paramount importance to understand what food combines well with others. Poor food combinations can create havoc on our digestive system and our overall health. Say for e.g. Starchy foods and protein enriched foods should be eaten separately because they digest differently. Starch like carbohydrates are broken down in the mouth, whereas protein gets broken down in the gastrointestinal tract.
Let’s take a look at different food combination categories –
- Fruits: apples, apricots, berries, bananas, cherries, cantaloupe, dates, dried fruits, figs, grapefruit, grapes, honeydew, limes, lemons, mangoes, oranges, pineapples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon.
- Non-starchy and green vegetables: leafy greens, celery, broccoli, asparagus, sprouts, cucumber, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, onion, garlic, mushrooms, radish, green beans, fresh corn.
- Starchy proteins and starches: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, beans, lentils, tofu, peas, grains like breads and pastas.
- Lean proteins: poultry, lean meat, lean fish, low-fat dairy.
- Fats: olives, avocados, nuts, seeds, butter, cheese, eggs, poultry, meat and fatty fish.
A few guidelines for proper food combinations
Digestion is not merely a chemical or physical process, but also physiological. When we eat food and it enter our body, it goes through several changes before it is broken down and assimilated. But it is also true that no food can be assimilated and used by the body unless it is digested and then absorbed by the digestive system in the alimentary canal, while the waste residue, unfit for absorption is eliminated from the system.
A notable feature of the digestive secretions is that the body suits its fluid and enzymes to the type and character of food eaten. There are, however, many severe limitations in this process. It is possible to suit the juices to a particular food, however, complex it may be, but not to a variety of foods taken together. It is the combining of the many varieties and incompatible foods that causes 90 per cent of digestive disorders. It is thereby important to have the right and proper food combinations in our meals. Follow these basic food combination patterns:
- Fruits combine best with greens and is to be taken first as they exit the body faster.
- Starchy proteins also best combines with green vegetables, fats and non-starchy vegetables.
- Lean proteins also combines with greens and non-starchy vegetables.
- Greens vegetables and non-starchy vegetables combine well very much with any type of food.
While some combinations work to better for our health, others can cause a lot of problems. Consuming food the right way and making smarter choices helps increase the nutrient absorption by our body and aids overall development.
To get the most of what we choose to eat, here are a few food nutrient combinations that we should include in your diet.
- Fats and Vegetables: the vitamins in vegetables helps in better absorption of fats in the body. Eating fresh vegetables with little fat helps our body absorb valuable nutrients.
- Vitamin C and Green Tea: vitamin C combined with green tea helps increase the absorption of catechism an anti-oxidant. Studies have revealed that the combination can increase the rate of absorption of antioxidant by almost three times.
- Broccoli and Tomatoes: tomatoes contain antioxidants and broccoli has phyto-chemicals; and a combination of the two becomes a high cancer fighting weapon.
- Iron and vitamin C: vitamin C helps convert the iron to a ferrous state, which makes it easier for the body to absorb. For e.g. a handful of oranges with some lime juice enhances the nutritional values.
Some Amazing Balanced Food Combinations
It is very important to maintain a good balance between good and bad cholesterols. A balanced diet containing healthy fat, and good, healthy food, is found in fresh and natural products like fish, chicken, vegetables, eggs and fruits.
- Pasta with celery: just topping any pasta dish with some parsley offers a fresh boost of flavor and delivers a full day’s supply of vitamin K. Vitamin k is vital for bone health as it can prevent chances of fractures and defends against bone loss.
- Lemon and green tea: green tea in enriched with anti-oxidants but just by adding a few dose of citrus lemon into it increases the disease-fighting catechins multi folds.
- Non-fat yoghurt with strawberries: Greek yoghurt in particular is packed with almost double the quantity of proteins than normal yoghurt. Protein is essential for the building, repairing, and maintenance of muscles, and helps burn more fat. Fresh strawberries adds the goodness of natural sweetener and vital nutrients.
- Any sandwich with spinach: just adding a few small leaves of spinach in your sandwich can almost fulfil about 25% of daily vitamin A requirements. Vitamin A helps protecting our eyes from age-related macular degeneration, which can further lead to vision loss.
- Scrambled eggs with red peppers: adding a few chopped red peppers delivers more than 100% of your daily vitamin C, which is very good for our skin. It helps against wrinkles and skin dryness.
When we start to eat good healthy food combinations, we may suffer a little in the first few days. This is normal and natural. After the cleansing and detoxing process gets over, you will find you have more energy, feel clearer and brighter and continue to improve. The desire for unhealthy food diminishes and finally fades away.