Food Layering and Combining

What is Food Combining?

Food combining is the art of giving your stomach the right foods at one meal so that it has the ideal combination of digestive juices needed to break down whatever is in the stomach.

Sugars, proteins and fats all need different digestive juices in order to be properly digested. If they are all mixed together, then each digestive concoction becomes diluted and unable to fully break down its specific food. This leads to improper assimilation, bloating and more.

 

What is Food Layering?

 Food layering is the art of giving your stomach the right foods in the right order so that it has the ideal combination of digestive juices needed to break down whatever is in the stomach.

As food layering expert Dr. Stanley Bass puts it;

Any quick digesting foods must wait till the slowest digesting foods leave the stomach before they can leave – a process which can take up to 6 or 8 hours. While waiting, the fruit, cooked and raw vegetables, and some of the starches undergo some decomposition and fermentation, producing gas, acid and even alcohol along with indigestion. …..2

 And.. 

….. If there are 5 different types of food in the stomach at one meal, each eaten separately and in sequence, there will be 5 different kinds of digestion going on at the same time, each layer having different enzymes digesting each food, according to the needs of the food contained in that layer.
But when say 5 different foods are eaten at a meal, where each mouthful or bite is taken of a different food, then the entire stomach is filled with the same mixture……
2

 stomach layering blog color
Image of ideal food layering; each food has its own digestive sack or layer and is able to fully break down its specific food without interference from antagonistic digestive juices. Layer 1 in this case was eaten first, followed by 2-6 sequentially.

So what’s the difference between food combining and layering? With layering, one can basically eat whatever foods they  want at a meal, as long as they are eaten in the proper order, i.e. the most watery foods first and proteins last. This tends to work very well, although not as well as when coupled with proper food combining guidelines.

 

Why Combine and Layer Food Properly?

Because most food cannot be assimilated in its natural state and needs to be converted into easily absorbable micro particles; our delivery mechanisms (how we eat, cook and store foods) are the secret to optimum health through nutrition.

Correctly combining and layering foods is essential for optimum digestion and assimilation. Improper food combining, layering and poor nutrient absorption contribute to and can even be the main reasons people have bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, gas, upset stomach, arthritis, asthma, allergies, chronic fatigue, aches and pains, poor memory, disorganized thoughts and more.

Without proper digestion, nutrients in even the most wholesome of foods cannot be fully extracted and used by the body.

The goal is not to be a perfect food combiner, at least not at first. There are many things to learn and practice with this topic, so looking at it as a self-experiment in eating and health will make sure a person gets the most out of it.

With a little practice and awareness one will save their gut a lot of discomfort, get the most out of their food, lose weight if needed, and most importantly stop flooding the blood with waste bi-products from all the food that is spoiling in their stomach from being combined or layered wrong.

 

Do not believe any of this info,

simple try it and judge for yourself.

 

Basic Guidelines for Food Combining and Layering

  1. Follow the food combining and layering rules whenever possible (see next pages and links). Layering is most important and should be done even when following proper food combining rules.
  2. When ideal food combining can’t be had, focus on layering the foods properly.
  3. When neither can be followed, make sure indigestion, bloating and gas are acceptable for the following hours to come =)

 

Basic Rule of Food Layering:

  1. Eat the most watery food first, followed by the second most watery, and so on.

 

Basic Rules of Proper Food Combining:

Here are 5 tools to start with. You can find more here  which includes extensive charts on food combining. Remember, these are tools to improve digestion, see which of them make the biggest impact on your health and use them as often as possible. ~

1. Do NOT eat protein foods and carbohydrate foods at the same meals. Protein foods require an acid medium for digestion while carbs/starches require the opposite. Food layering modification; eat the starches first, then the protein.

2. Eat fruits alone on an empty stomach and wait 20–30 min before eating again.Food layering modification; eat the fruit first, then the heavier foods.

3. Have desserts and sugars by themselves as a whole meal, not after a meal

4. No cold water or more than 4 ounces of liquids with meals. Try to use 4 ounces of  warm tea or water,  kombucha or apple cider vinegar  as liquids to aid digestion, otherwise no more liquid fifteen minutes before or until 60 minutes after a meal.

5. Eat high fat foods and proteins at separate meals, or keep the fats to a very small amount. Some foods, especially nuts, are over 50% fat and require hours for digestion, which slows all other digestion.

Like I always recommend, don’t believe science until you try it for yourself and notice the difference.

Check more out here: http://www.drbass.com/sequential.html