Issue Five: this is what is Wrong with Your Wholefood Diet
Have you ever experienced being able to eat something one day, but not the next? Or do you eat wholefoods, yet they still don’t “sit well’, causing digestive upset like bloating, gas and constipation?
This was me and my conundrum for very long time - years in fact.
I can sum up this conundrum in one short, simple story.
At a friend's party they served us spaghetti bolognaise. I wasn’t overly keen to eat this meal, I knew there was a high chance that it wouldn’t land well in my belly. But then again, there was a chance it would be totally fine. I just didn’t know. (And plus, I didn’t want to be rude, so I ate it).
My concern was that sometimes I reacted to pasta - but sometimes I did not. And turns out, in this particular time, I did react, and badly!
In fact, after dinner I found myself curled up in bed in foetal position for hours. I never returned to the party. In the morning my stomach was still tight and sore, my complexion dull and pale, and my eyes dark and puffy. All the tell-tale signs of a very distressed digestive system.
I felt and looked SO terrible that I swore I would never eat pasta ever again.
And in my desperate state I did wonder – why did I get so bad this time? I have not had a reaction so bad before. Not ever.
It wasn’t until years later when I started exploring Ayurveda that I figured out the problem.
And the problem is not the pasta. (And for so long I thought I was gluten intolerant and removed wheat and all grains from my diet because so).
The problem was the food combination. That night, I ate tomato, wheat, dairy and red meat – all in one go. And I bet you have done this too, haven’t we all? Spaghetti bolognaise would have to be one of the most common meals in the SAD (Standard Aussie Diet), is it not?
So while we have been talking about how to eat over the past few weeks (you can head to the blog to se past articles), it is essential we talk about: food combinations.
The bottom line is that some foods are simply not meant to be friends and we shouldn’t try to force them to be. When we eat an unfavourable food combination our digestive system will struggle to process the food, which means the food gets stuck in the digestive tract and starts to stagnate and ferment, causing ama (the Ayurvedic term for undigested food / toxins).
If we break the food combo rules regularly, the toxins will start to build up, resulting in common ailments such as fatigue, grogginess, weight gain, headaches, inflammation, and just may be the answer to the forever common question “I do not understand, I eat so well” – said by many people on the “Healthy Western Diet”. Can you relate? I know I can!
So what are some common food combinations to avoid?
[And a quick sidenote: the operative word here is avoid which does not translate to “become really obsessive and depressed about all the foods you cannot eat”. It means, be mindful and just know that some food combinations are a “sometimes food”]
Below I have listed the food combinations to avoid and also some Rebel suggestions - for all my Rebels who still “wanna enjoy food”. I see you (I am you).
DAIRY
Dairy should not be combined with anything except for non-starchy vegetables and leafy greens.
Good to avoid: creamy pastas, pizza, dairy-based chowder, yogurt and fruit, milk-based smoothie, cheese with beans, nachos, tacos.
Tips for my Rebels:
Go for an easier-to-digest cheese like goat.
Add digestive spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to your yogurt.
Try an easier-to-digest pasta like buckwheat instead of wheat.
½ coconut milk and ½ cream in chowder.
Coconut water instead milk in the smoothie.
Side note on milk: milk, unless raw, is almost impossible for the body to understand, so will get “stuck” in the digestive system. It’s best to drink Raw (you can find that at farmers markets) and heat it up to increase the assimilation in the body.
FRUIT
Fruit should be eaten first in a meal and on its own. Fruit digests quickly, so if it is combined with anything else that is slower to digest, the fruit will get stuck and start to ferment (and cause bloating and gas).
Good to avoid: fruit smoothies, fruit with cereal, fruit and yogurt, fruit and meat dishes (eg. apricot chicken), fruit and nuts.
Tips for my Rebels:
Add digestive spices.
Use cooked fruits (eg. porridge and stewed apple).
Eat only one fruit (avoid fruit salad).
PROTEIN
Proteins are much easier to digest when eaten alone, so mixing proteins will slow the digestive process down, which means it can take up to 24-36hrs for food to pass through the body – that’s a lot of energy used up to digest one meal. Not to mention all the meals that follow and land on the slow, sluggish protein combo.
Good to avoid: beans and cheese, beans and meat, poultry mixed with red meat or seafood, eggs and milk, omelette with cheese.
Tips for my Rebels:
Again, add digestive spices.
Keep the rest of the meal light, no added starchy carbs or cold salads.
CARBS
As a general rule, eating starchy, heavy carbs and protein together can leave a person with slow or weak digestion feeling heavy and bloated, it is because it is a lot the digestive system to breakdown.
Good to avoid: lentils and rice, meat and 3 veg (unless leafy green or watery vegetables like zucchini), pasta with meat, Asian dishes with rice, side of bread with any meal.
Tips for my Rebels:
Liquify your lentils and rice to make a soupy texture.
Eat sequentially, which means eat the lighter foods first then the denser foods in a meal (eg. eat salad, then watery vegetables, then starchy vegetables, then meat) to give the stomach a chance to process the food in stages.
When eating rice and meat, choose just one protein and add digestive spices (which most Asian dishes already have).
AND SOME MORE TIPS
Keep meals simple, the less the better on the digestive system.
Drink a little bit of warm water or tea about 30 min before a meal to light the digestive fire.
Eat your heaviest meal at lunchtime when the digestive fire is cranking.
Give your digestive system a break with monomeals (one type of food at a time).
Do not stress about food, that is counterproductive and makes the food very upset.
Is that jam packed? Have I talked your ear off? Would love to hear your thoughts on this, so hit reply and let’s chat.