diet myth #1: food combining

Top 10 Secrets...

It wouldn't surprise anyone to hear that my classes spend time talking about current dieting techniques or "fad diets."  There are plenty of diets with outrageous requirements, like the watermelon diet or the grapefruit diet, but there are some that seem to work.  For example, Kate Middleton has famously lost weight on the high protein Dukan diet.  Food combining seems to be in this group of diets that appears to work, but like any diet, there are flaws.


The premise of the food combining diet is that foods are optimally digested in specific combinations.  The theory is that the stomach releases enzymes, either acidic or basic, depending on the food ingested.  However, if you eat food that requires both acidic and basic enzymes (ie. chicken with rice), the released enzymes will neutralize one another, thus making food hard to digest (slowing your metabolism and causing stomach pain).  By eating food in the "right" combinations, proponents of this diet say that you will increase your metabolism, lose weight, and ultimately feel better.  Here is a chart of the combinations and rules, but basically- there are 3 groups of foods: proteins, starches, and "neutral foods" like seeds and nuts. You can only eat a protein with neutral food or a carb with neutral food, but neither can be eaten together.  Further, fruit must be eaten in isolation.  (There are many rules, and I am dramatically generalizing it- please feel free to read about this diet on your own!!) 

Food Combining

There are some great things about this diet.  In my opinion, the best part appears to be that you can eat whatever you want (although some foods are "forbidden"), in whatever quantity that you want as long as you follow the rules.  So what's the problem??


A worry I have with this diet is that because you cannot combine food, like grains with protein or fruit with grains, there is a chance that you may not get all the nutrients needed to maintain a healthy diet.   


The science: It is an enormous underestimation of our digestive tract's abilities to say that certain combinations of food are hard for it to deal with.  The truth is that our digestive system responds to whatever is ingested- and food, regardless of identity or combination, is broken down into enzymes and molecules the same way.  Different organs within the digestive tract are responsible for delivering juices and enzymes appropriate for the ingested food as it moves down through the system.  Eating particular food combinations doesn't do much to our ability to digest food (most people have no problem digesting food in any combination).  Here is a cool video on how we digest...

You may know someone who has had success with this diet...  Is it a fluke??... or does it work??


This diet requires you to  restrict your ability to eat certain foods.  By doing this, you inevitably limit the amount that you eat.  You also, and perhaps more importantly, become more aware of what you are eating.  Awareness is a huge factor in weight loss.  And- to get back to the "forbidden" or food "no nos" on this diet, you cannot have processed foods, fried foods, high-fat foods, take-out dinners, soda, sugary foods, liquor, etc.  Aren't these the foods that make us fat??!??  I wonder what is the effective part of this diet- the food combinations or limiting all the junk food!


Anyway- diets are what you make them.  If you want to do this diet (or are on it), just make sure that you are getting a variety of food, and that you are eating all the nutrients that you need. 

My tip: There is no magic pill or magic diet or magic food.  Eating with portion control and eating a variety of nutrients that meet your personal daily needs is the best way to lose weight and maintain the weight loss.


(you can check out your daily needs on the USDA's website! I will talk more about them at another time!)