Food Combining Diet for Weight Loss
The food combining diet, also known as the food combination diet, is based on the principle of separating specific foods and eating them at certain meals for good metabolism and proper digestion. This diet has stirred up a lot of disputes among dietitians. Is it really beneficial to health? Food combining for weight loss, does it work?
Food combining rules
Different foods require different digestive conditions. Digestion of food depends on the nutrients in it. Products rich in protein require acidic enzymes for their digestion, while those rich in carbohydrates require alkaline enzymes. When acids and alkalies mix in the stomach, they neutralize each other, therefore, worsen and retard digestion. So, when you eat protein and carbohydrate foods together, some of these nutrients will not be fully assimilated and partly digested food gets into the intestine. As a result, undigested remains deposit as fat and can cause indigestion and some diseases. The food combining diet is supposed to resolve the problem.
Food combining books
- Food Combining and Digestion: Easy to Follow Techniques to Increase Stomach Power and Maximize Digestion
- The Complete Book of Food Combining: A New, Easy-to-Use Guide to the Most Successful Diet Ever
- The Hay Diet Made Easy: A Practical Guide to Food Combining
- Food Combining for Health: Get Fit with Foods that Don’t Fight
- Get Well With the Hay Diet: Food Combining and Good Health With More Help for Medically Unrecognised Illness
Food combining chart
Continue reading: Food Combining Made Easy
You are welcome to post a comment to ask or reply a question on the food combining diet, share your food combining recipes and menus, or tell us your success story.
15 years ago I heard about food combining from my Naturopathic Dr. He gave me a few pages of a print-out and i read it that night.I thought “this is easy I can do that!”. I started the next day. Food combining is the practice of separating your starches and your proteins at mealtimes. Fruit is best eaten alone upon rising( as much as desired ) until noon. There are some rules but I didn’t follow them exactly. I went out and bought the book “Fit for Life” by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond to gain a better understanding on how this diet works. I felt very motivated and excited after reading all the testimonials in the book. Well here’s my account on what food combining did for me….I lost a pound a day for about the first 3 weeks. I felt fantastic! My skin which was always good became radiant! My hair that was already healthy became even glossier and shinny. Lower back aches that I had for years disappeared. I lost a total of 32 pounds in 3 months. My energy levels were through the roof. Tiny little red bumps that were on the back of my upper arms and thighs disappeared entirely. The skin on my arms and legs were silky smooth. I followed for combining for about 5 years, my weight was stable at 132 pounds. I ate as much raw veggies as I could. Salads at lunch and dinner along with my hot meal. Raw veggie snacks daily, I did not measure anything I just ate until I was full. 3 healthy bowel movements a day, everyday. I was 40 years old at the time. Unfortunately life gets in the way, I stopped being so diligent, I started eating junk again,feeling stressed out, slowing returning to my old bad habits. I’m now 55 years old and have gained all the weight back. Now I’m ready to give it a try again. All I can say is food combining works, I know I followed the lifestyle( not perfectly) for 5 years and did not feel the least deprived. I still ate desserts (but not everyday). Still had the occasional chocolate bar or sweets. If you’re thinking of trying this lifestyle way of eating you will not regret it. I only wish I had stayed on it. I’m a female now going through my menopausal years so I don’t know if it will still work for me. I may have to make some changes. Oh, Also I looked 10 years younger….
I did the food combining diet about 3 years ago and without any exaggeration I felt like a completely different person. I did not do the diet for weight loss but rather to improve my energy and health and boy did it deliver. All my life I have felt tired, unmotivated and as if life was an uphill climb but once I did the diet for about 2 weeks everything started to change. I suddenly had mental clarity, I only had to sleep 5 hours a night and I would wake up every morning feeling happy and ready for the day. Even at the end of a busy work day I still had lots of energy and could have a social life. This was so new to me that it shocked me. I became a new person. Other people noticed, too, how happy I had become and that changed things in my life as well. I, like so many people am addicted to sugar/carbohydrates and it’s ruining me. I feel so tired all the time and moody that it makes life so difficult. I am going to start the diet again this week as I miss feeling connected to life the way I once did. I might have to revise it a bit as I cannot stick to this diet completely for the rest of my life. I do caution anyone who does this diet that drinking alcohol does not work well while eating cleaner….you will get violently sick if you try to drink too much. It happened to me twice while on the diet.
You need to take care of you, to keep you in shape. A healthy life means balance in everything: work, food and recreation. Now if you gain some pounds you don’t need to despair. Many women make mistakes and become obsessed with losing weight. A combining food diet is best for losing weight. But do not overdo it.
I’ve heard about this diet, but i’m not sure how to put the diet to work. Please let me know how i combine or not combine foods. Guess i’m not understanding just how it works. I tried reading more on the internet, but i just dont get it…Can someone help me…
Firstly, your body may not need to lose weight, however, I recommend you look at a book called Eat Right for Your Type as it has information about the foods that are highly beneficial and the foods you should avoid for you blood type. Find out your blood type. There are foods which if they do not suit your blood will keep weight on or increase your weight and prevent you from being in optimum health. Whether you need to lose weight or not, this book has so much beneficial information. All the best.
You are the one who can help you!! All the info is out there. Just go for it, but don’t be too extreme, and monitor how changes make you feel. Clear not fear! But if you begin with the basics of eating healthier and staying active your body should naturally find its optimum weight at which you will feel the best. ‘Eat Right for Your Type’ is a very important book to look at. Find out your blood type, and this will help you find out what foods truly nourish you from the inside out, and those to avoid. All the best, enjoy life and don’t hesitate to make those changes your being needs for wellbeing. Good researching!!!
wow 552 pds !!!!that is amazing!!!!good for you keep it up!!ive been food combining for two weeks and lost 8pds already and im sticking to it cause its so easy for me!!!im not even that strict! i love it and it makes sense!
I can only agree with some of you seeing positive results from food combining. I am trying to stick to this diet most of the time since approx. 9 months. I have lost weight and I am far more active right now.
The only difficult thing is to stick to it. I really had to learn cooking. It is not that easy to find recipes that are easy to cook and taste well. I can really encourage everyone to try food combining. It also just helps to eat more healthy food, so probably there is not only a ‘combining effect’ but also a calory reduction effect …