Food combining

food combining

Anyone try to properly combine foods? I came across this website that promised a "cure" for crohn's urging me to buy a pamphlet and that I would be fine within a day. That sounded too good to be true, and I know better than falling for that, so I dug deeper on the site to see what the message was.

FOOD COMBINING!

I don't need to pay to learn about that, so I just did some research.

Basically fruits separately, and don't mix carbohydrates (starches & sugars) with protein. Wait 3-4 hours between carb and protein meals.

Anyone give this a try? It makes sense, since the body processes things differently. It will be annoying at first because I am so used to breaded chicken, etc but I am going to give it a try because I am desperate.

I agree and disagree with the concept, it's hinged upon your goals in life, if it's to combat a disease it's different than to lose weight or gain muscle. I'll add more later, editing into this post perhaps....

edit: okay, to refine this, are you looking solely to reduce Crohn's symtoms with food combinations? I'm not aware of all that much benefit to this, unless it's something like milk that has a tendency for a lot of us to be problematic combined with something very binding and whole, like Triscuit crackers and chicken breast, for example...in that sense you may be able to combine a food to limit its downfalls if it doesn't agree with you by combining it with a food(s) that always does/do...but that wouldn't "cure" Crohns, so really, I can't see how it'd be a drastic step forward, and bring about remission or anything like that. What's the premise of food combinations on the site (beyond supposedly "curing" the damn disease) ?

Well the "cure" part is obviously nonsense, certainly one can bring crohns into remission but saying the word cure is a stretch. The whole premise behind food combining is that the body uses different acids, and enzymes to digest different foods, it also takes a different amount of time for some things such as melons than it does for the other fruits.

It's hard to stick with this, but I have been trying to since yesterday and I guess all i can do is report back on how I feel as I try to adhere to this diet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_combining

It will be an interesting experiment, either way. I have no idea if there is any valid reason for this to work, but a lot can be learned by personal experimentation.

I encourage everyone to do it, if you want real life answers. Always assess the risks involved first. This experiment has little risk attached to it, so I would go for it.

Dan

My girlfriend does this when managing her Dogs Nutrition. She is definitely a bit extreme with the whole dog thing but I totally support the idea of watching out how different foods are utilized by the body. It does make logical sense when you consider how long it takes some food to be processed compared to others. When she prepares food she does not combine quickly processed foods with ones that require extended digestion in the same meal.

I guess if you are able to eat whole meals at a sitting still it would be something to keep in mind. When I get back to that place I hope I can remember to think about this.

So I was doing this whole food combining properly for 2 days and no pain!

Today, I got lazy and snacked and started improperly combining and lo and behold pain. So maybe there is something to this? I don't know yet, still playing around.

For nutrition I know that combining foods to yield a particular GI (Glycemic Index, not the other GI) will often help control insulin levels and mitigate fat gains, cravings, etc...and likewise, when you want to have an insulin spike (following a workout) you can apply the same scenario, so I guess I can see like trying to combine white rice with chicken breast, both often Crohn's friendly foods, so that the chicken slows the rice down so it doesn't shoot through you so fast. But this sounds like it goes against what you're saying the premise is, nogutsnoglory...so I guess you'll have to see how your own experience goes. I just know that when I had to switch to low residue, I hated how it was too high of an insulin spike (I'm used to high fiber, high protein, high unsaturated fat diets) and especially how it seemed it didn't help anything bind inside me over time. There's something to it I'm sure, I guess it depends also on what your IBD tends to do to you, D or constipation, etc..

It's really hard to tell, it feels like everyday when it comes to food and crohns I am playing a guessing game. Honestly, adhering to these restrictions suck royally, but I am about trying it all at this point.