4. Food Combining Rules
4.1 Acid-Starch Combinations and Protein-Carbohydrate Combinations
The preceding discussion leads up to the presentation of the first two food combining rules, which I consider to be by far the most important of all these rules and the ones which should be thoroughly understood and implemented at all possible times.
Never eat carbohydrate foods and acid foods at the same meal.
Never eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated carbohydrate at the same meal.
The purpose of this lesson is to help you to understand the reasons for these rules; Lesson No. 23 will help you to learn to implement them.
4.2 Protein-Protein Combinations
Never consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal.
Two concentrated proteins of different character and composition (such as nuts and cheese) should not be combined. Gastric acidity, type, strength and timing of secretions for various proteins are not uniform. Since concentrated protein is more difficult to digest than other food elements, incompatible combinations of two different concentrated proteins should be avoided. Some people with impaired digestions find it necessary to limit themselves to only one variety of nuts/and or seeds at a sitting, but other people may find, upon experimentation, that two or three varieties of nuts or seeds may be used at the same meal, if desired.
4.3 Protein-Fat Combinations
Do not consume fats with proteins.
Our need for concentrated fat is small and moil protein foods already contain a good deal of fat. Most nuts contain about 10 percent to 20 percent protein, and about 45 percent to 70 percent fat. Avocados contain about 1.3 percent protein (Florida varieties) to about 2.2 percent or a little more (California varieties) and 11 percent to 17 percent fat. Most other protein foods are high in fat, including cheese, eggs and flesh foods. The only protein foods not high in lat are legumes, skim milk cheese and lean meat.
Fat has an inhibiting influence on digestive secretion and lessen the amount and activity of pepsin and hydrochloric acid, necessary for the digestion of protein. The fat may lower the entire digestive tone more than 50 percent. Since most proteins already contain a good deal of fat, it would certainly be contraindicated to add more to the meal.
4.4 Fats in Combination with Other Foods
Use fats sparingly.
Fats also delay the digestion of other foods and, if used with starch, it will delay the passage of the starch from the stomach into the intestine. Fat not only inhibits the secretion of gastric juice—it also inhibits the physical actions of the stomach. Too much fat taken with a meal results in acid eructations and a burning sensation in the throat. When fats (avocados or nuts) are eaten with green vegetables, preferably raw, the inhibiting effect of fats on gastric secretion is counteracted and digestion proceeds quite normally. The use of fat (avocados) with starch is considered acceptable, provided a green salad is included in the meal.
Avocados: Though not a high-protein food, avocados contain more protein than milk. They are high in fat and the small percentage of protein they do contain is of high biological value. They are best used with a salad meal. Since they are so high in fat that they tend to slow down the digestion of foods normally requiring a shorter digestion time, they are perhaps only a fair combination with subacid and acid fruit. They are usually considered a poor combination with sweet fruit, especially dried sweet fruit. However, let us consider some recent work on this subject.
In an article on this topic, Dr. Vetrano says that exceptions may sometimes be made in combining avocados with fresh sweet fruit, such as bananas, but that avocados should not be combined with dried sweet fruit, unless it has been soaked overnight. She also says, “Eating avocados with salad enhances their digestion. The next best combination for the avocado is taking it with subacid or acid fruit. The fat in the food does not seem to interfere with the emptying time of the stomach and we have excellent results with this combination. The protein, which is about 2.1 to 2.5 percent, is not sufficient to interfere with the digestion of fruit. It is even better when lettuce leaves and celery are eaten with the fruit and avocado. By diluting the fats and the sugars with the lettuce, the emptying time of the stomach is not depressed.
Those who have weak stomachs with poor muscle tone would probably do better by taking avocado only with vegetable salads. If lettuce is taken with a sweet fresh fruit and avocado, even these digest well. It is probably best to never combine avocado with sweet dried fruit unless it is just a small amount of both eaten with a great deal of vegetables.”
Since the avocado is low in protein, it may also be used with potatoes or other starch foods. Some people like to use avocado with the potato instead of using butter. However, I must reiterate, the best way to use avocado is with the salad.
Avocados should never be used with nuts, which are also high in fat, nor should they be used with melons.
The only fats we have considered here are nuts (a protein/fat food) and avocados (a low-protein/fat food). Other fats will be listed in the food classification chart in Lesson 23, but they are not recommended for regular use. Most of them should never be used.
4.5 Acid-Protein Combinations
Do not eat acid fruits with proteins.
Citrus, (tomatoes: see discussion), pineapple, strawberries and other acid fruits should not be eaten with nuts, cheese, eggs or meat. Acid fruits inhibit the flow of gastric juice. The digestion of protein requires an unhampered flow.
This is one rule that has given rise to some disagreement and controversy. Although Dr. Shelton includes in this rule the prohibition of citrus and tomatoes with nuts and cheese, he goes on to say that nuts and fresh cheese do not decompose when used with acids, but have their digestion delayed. He also says that acids do not inhibit the flow of gastric juice any more than does the oil of nuts or the cream of cheese.
Many Hygienists use tomatoes with nuts and believe they cause no problem. Citrus fruits present a different situation, due to the sugar in the fruit, which can ferment if its digestion is delayed by the nuts. Various experiments with the use of citrus fruits combined with nuts have produced differing results. Some Hygienists continue to use citrus with nuts.
If sweet oranges are used at the same meal with nuts, the precaution of waiting thirty to sixty minutes after eating the citrus is sometimes observed. Grapefruit might be better suited to combining with nuts, since it usually has a much lower sugar content.
Citrus fruit is best used alone but may be combined with other acid fruits; nuts are best used with salad.
Dr. Shelton modified this rule somewhat on Page 52 of Food Combining Made Easy: “Although green vegetables form the ideal combination with nuts, acid fruits form a fair combination with these foods and may be taken with them.”
Dr. Percy Howe, of Harvard, says: “Many people who cannot eat oranges at a meal derive great benefit from eating them fifteen to thirty minutes before the meal.”
Dr. Vetrano is convinced from her experience at the Health School that nuts should not be used with citrus fruit and she discontinued this practice some years ago.
A corollary of this same subject is the use of some subacid fruits with nuts or cheese-primarily tart or semi-sweet apples, although some other fruits which are usually considered subacid are sometimes used in this way. The same principles would apply as with the use of oranges with nuts, provided the sweeter subacid fruits, such as Delicious apples, are not used.
Such acid-protein combinations as sour salad dressings and acid fruit drinks used at conventional meals serve as a check to hydrochloric secretion.
4.6 Sugar with Starch, Protein and Acid Fruit
Do not combine sweet fruits with foods that require a long digestive time-foods such as proteins, starches and acid fruits.
The sugars in sweet fruit should be tree to leave the stomach quickly, in perhaps fifteen or twenty minutes, and are apt to ferment if digestion is delayed by mixture with other foods.
Sugar-starch combinations cause additional problems.
When sugar is taken, the mouth quickly fills with saliva, but no ptyalin is present. Ptyalin is essential for starch digestion. If starch is disguised by sugar, honey, molasses, syrup or sweet fruit, the signals are scrambled and digestion is impaired.
Monosaccharides and disaccharides ferment more quickly than polysaccharides. (See definitions) No digestion of sugars takes place in the mouth or stomach; fermentation is inevitable if sugars of any kind are delayed in the stomach awaiting the digestion of starch, protein or acid fruit.
Sugar also has a marked inhibiting effect on the flow of gastric juice and on gastric motility. No other food depresses the action of the stomach and the desire for food as does sugar.
4.7 Starch-Starch Combinations
Eat but one concentrated starch at a meal.
This rule is probably more important as a means of avoiding the overeating of starches than as a means of avoiding bad combinations. But it is true that starch foods may differ greatly. If two different starches are eaten together in small quantities, this is thought to not cause problems.
Slightly starchy vegetables may be combined with more starchy vegetables (e.g. carrots with potatoes), but not with combination foods (starch/protein foods) such as grains and legumes.
4.8 Acid Fruits, Subacid Fruits, Sweet Fruits
Acid fruits may be used with subacid fruits.
This is an acceptable combination, though some subacid fruits are rather high in sugar and the acid fruit may delay the sugar’s normally quick exit from the stomach. However, there is no sharp line of division between the acid and subacid fruits. If combining subacid fruit with acid fruit, it is better to use only the less subacid fruit.
The acid fruits are those with the tart flavors, for example, citrus, pineapple, strawberries, and certain varieties of apples and other fruits. Tomatoes are also considered acid fruit (without the sugar content of other acid fruit). Tomatoes should not be combined with subacid fruit, nor any other kinds of fruit.
They are best combined with the salad at a meal at which no starchy foods are served. Do not use acid fruits with sweet fruits, as previously indicated.
Acid fruits are best used alone (a single variety), but if used in combination with other acid fruits, this is considered an acceptable combination.
Subacid fruits may be used with sweet fruits.
There is no sharp line of division between subacid fruits and sweet fruits. When using subacid fruits with sweet fruits, it is best to use the sweeter varieties of subacid fruit. The subacid fruits are those that possess a slightly acid flavor (but not tart), such as pears, certain apples, grapes, etc. Grapes, for example, can be acid, subacid or sweet. The sweet fruits are those that are rich in sugar and taste sweet-bananas, persimmons, sweet grapes, and so forth, and all dried fruit.
Some people prefer to eat bananas alone, but most people have no difficulty in combining them with subacid and other sweet fruit at a fruit meal. Dr. Shelton says, “While I have found that bananas combine fairly well with dates, raisins, grapes and a few other sweet fruits and with green leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and celery, I have noted that they digest best if eaten alone. This calls, to mind the fact that Tilden, also, after much testing of the matter, reached the conclusion that bananas are best eaten alone.”
Dried sweet fruits should be used sparingly. Use but one kind at a meal, in small amounts, combined only with subacid fruit and/or fresh sweet fruit and/or with lettuce and/or celery. Overeating of dried fruits .will often bring on symptoms similar to a “cold”. The sugar concentration is naturally greater in fruits which have been dried. Some dried fruits, esp. dried apricots, should be soaked overnight to replenish the missing water. Dates are usually used without soaking, figs or raisins can be used either way. If they are rather hard, soaking will soften and improve them.
Dr. Vetrano recommends using as little soaking water as possible, soaking one side at a time, so all water will be absorbed, thus avoiding loosing flavor and nutrients. It is important that the water used for soaking be distilled water.
Sweet fruits combine fairly well with subacid fruits, provided the subacid fruits are on the “sweet side,” for example, use Delicious apples, not Macintosh or Jonathans, with sweet fruit.
It is best to have these fruits at a fruit meal combining only with lettuce and/or celery. Since fruits are usually high in acids or sugars, they do not combine well with other foods.
4.9 Fruits with Vegetables
Do not combine fruit with any vegetables except lettuce and celery.
It is best not to combine fruits with vegetables (especially cooked vegetables), proteins or starches because if such a combination of food is eaten, the digestion of the fruit will be delayed and subject to fermentation. Lettuce and celery, however, may be combined with any fruit except melon, and will cause no problem.
Dr. Vetrano says, “Taking green uncooked vegetables with a fruit meal is perfectly all right. Even though some charts state that subacid and sweet fruits combine fair to poorly with green uncooked vegetables, the feeding practices at the Health School indicate that these are good combinations, indeed, even enhancing digestion of the fruit in some conditions of impaired digestion.”
4.10 Salads
Salads combine very well with proteins or starches.
Any nonstarchy vegetables may be combined with proteins or starch, except tomatoes, which should especially not be used with starches. The green leafy vegetables combine very well with most other foods. They are excellent food and should be used in the diet.
Lettuce and other green and nonstarchy vegetables leave the stomach with little change—they pass through the stomach rapidly unless delayed by oily dressings or foods that require a more thorough gastric digestion. Lettuce and celery are good combination with fruit because all of these foods require little gastric digestion.
However, even if these vegetables are held up in the stomach with other foods, as when using salad with nuts, there is no fermentation.
Eating a large salad of fresh raw vegetables (three or four varieties) daily is an excellent practice. Dr. Shelton says, “A large bowl of salad each day is required by everyone.”
4.11 Take Melons Alone
Do not consume melons with any other foods.
This rule has been somewhat under question in recent years. I personally have found that eating melons alone is an excellent practice, and have even found it advisable not to mix two different varieties of melon at the same meal.
Many people who have complained that melons did not agree with them have no trouble handling them when eating only melon at a meal. Yet, certain Hygienic professionals are offering some post-fasting people more than one variety of melon at a meal (even melons in combination with grapes or other subacid fruit) and some Hygienists follow this practice. If you want to experiment with these combinations, do it sparingly and carefully. But if you have a history of digestive problems, don’t do it at all.
Melons are more than 90 percent liquid and leave the stomach quickly if not delayed and fermented by combining with other foods. Dr. Vetrano says, “Melons are best taken alone because the sugar and other nutriments are in a less stable form than the nutrients of other fruits. Orange juice may be kept in the refrigerator for an hour with little change in flavor, but if you refrigerate watermelon juice for only ten minutes, its flavor, color and composition markedly change. It decomposes much more quickly than other fruits. Consequently, if it is held in the stomach awaiting the digestion of other foods, it will decompose (ferment) and cause a great deal of gastric distress. Eating watermelon with nuts can really be troublesome.”
Dr. Shelton says, “Because of the ease with which melons decompose, they do not combine with any food, except, perhaps, with certain fruits. We always feed them alone, not between meals, but at meal time.”
He also says, “It is probably a great misfortune that we do not always feel the direct effects of imprudent eating immediately following a meal. For example, there are large numbers of people who have discomfort, even great discomfort following a meal in which melons are eaten with other foods, but there are many others who do not. This latter group can see no connection between their life of imprudent eating and the breakdown of their health in later years. Their apparent impunity prompts them to defy all the same rules of life.”
4.12 Sprouts
Alfalfa sprouts may be combined as a green vegetable.
Other sprouts should properly be classified in the same category as the original seed, even though the sprouting process has somewhat lowered the protein and carbohydrate content.
During the sprouting process, the carbohydrate and protein components of the sprouting seed tend to diminish, and the composition becomes more like a green vegetable instead of a legume, grain or seed. However, this is not uniformly the case. Sprouts which progress to the green leaf stage, such as alfalfa and mung beans, are high in chlorophyll, and alfalfa sprouts, particularly, may be freely combined as a green vegetable. Mung bean sprouts still retain enough of the property of legumes so that they are best eaten without other proteins or starches. These sprouts may be included in the low protein/starch category.
Lentils, soybeans, garbanzos and other miscellaneous beans and grains should be allowed to sprout only very briefly, until just a small sprout is showing—no longer than the seed, at most. The change in character is therefore much less than for those sprouts which are sprouted to the green leaf stage. Sprouts are high in protein in these early stages. They should therefore be classified, with some expectations, according to their original food categories, namely, as protein or combination protein/starch foods.
Sprouted sunflower seeds may, of course, continue to be classified as protein. In the case of lentil, soybean and garbanzo sprouts, they could be classified as low protein, since the starch tends to diminish and the protein remains in significant amounts in the early stages of sprouting.
I would classify sprouted grains as combination foods, their original category, to be combined as starch.
My experimentation with these sprouts, and my research on the subject, leads me to these conclusions as the best way to classify and combine them. More detailed information about sprouts and sprouting will be given in a future lesson.
4.13 Milk, Yogurt and Clabber
Milk is best taken alone.
This rule is included because it is one of Dr. Shelton’s food combining rules, and because this lesson on food combining may be helpful to those still on a mixed diet. Hygienists do not drink milk. Adults do not need any kind of milk. Infants need their mother’s milk; if this is not available, they need a substitute. (More about this in a future lesson.)
Dr. Shelton says that the use of acid fruits with milk does not cause any trouble and apparently does not conflict with its digestion. This would also apply to clabber (sour milk) or yogurt, which may be preferable to milk for adults.
Many adults (and some children) lack the enzymes lactase and rennin necessary for the digestion of milk. Lactase catalyzes the conversion of lactose (milk sugar) to the glucose and galactose which can be utilized by the body. Rennin is a milk-coagulating enzyme, which many adults no longer secrete.
This is also the reason that cheese is considered preferable to milk, although no dairy products are recommended for regular use.
The thymus gland, which also has a function involved in the digestion of dairy products, reaches its maximum development during early childhood, and usually degenerates and becomes vestigial in adults.
None of these products are recommended. If any milk products are used, they should be raw (unpasteurized) and should not be used on a regular basis. Yogurt cultures, particularly, can inhibit the body’s own natural production of beneficial intestinal flora.
Dr. Shelton says that either sweet milk or sour milk (clabber) is a fair combination with acid fruit or subacid fruit, and that clabber is even a fair combination with dried sweet fruit.
Dr. Vetrano says that occasionally there are sick people with gastrointestinal problems who must temporarily be placed on milk, if they cannot take a fast of sufficient length for complete healing.
More information about the inadvisability of using fermented foods like yogurt, clabber or cheese will be included in a future lesson.
4.14 Good, Fair, Poor and Bad Combinations
When we say that foods are fair combinations, this means that they are permissible for those with unimpaired digestions. Good combinations are good for the weakest digestion.
Poor combinations should never be employed, unless, perhaps, they are used occasionally by people with the best digestions. Some combinations are so bad that no one should ever use them
5. Application Of The Food Combining Rules
You will note that the discussion of a particular food combining rule will frequently overlap and dovetail with other food combining rules, since they are all closely interrelated.
Since starch digestion begins in the mouth with the action there of the enzyme ptyalin and requires an alkaline or neutral medium—while protein digestion begins in the stomach, where acid enzymes are secreted when protein is eaten—the first two and most important food combining rules seem obvious.
5.1 Carbohydrates with Acids or Proteins
Never eat carbohydrate foods and acid foods at the same meal.
Never eat a concentrated protein and a concentrated carbohydrate at the same meal.
Carbohydrates include starches, sugars and cellulose. Lesson 22 demonstrated in great detail how incompatible combinations such as protein with carbohydrates reduce and inhibit the efficiency of digestive enzymes and subject the foods to decomposition in the digestive tract.
Some illustrations of combinations at the same meal which can produce this abortive effect are:
Potatoes or other starchy vegetables with tomatoes or other fruit
Starchy vegetables with nuts or other concentrated proteins
Grains or legumes with tomatoes or other fruit
Grains or legumes with nuts or other concentrated proteins
This means that when people eat meat and potatoes together, or a meat sandwich, they are not only consuming foods that cause problems when eaten separately (meat, bread), they are also compounding the problem by ingesting them at the same meal with foods that require different conditions for digestion.
Tomatoes (acid fruit without the sugar content of other acid fruits) may be used with the vegetable salad or with any green or nonstarchy vegetable. They may also be eaten with protein/fat foods like nuts, cheese and avocados.
This seems to contradict Food Combining Rule No. 6, prohibiting the acid-protein combination. However, in actual practice, most Hygienists do use tomatoes with nuts and avocados rather freely. Both Dr. Shelton and Dr. Vetrano have come to consider these combinations acceptable and even desirable.
But Food Combining Rules Nos. 1 and 2 are extremely important, and there is general agreement among Hygienic professional and lay people that acids should not be used with starches nor with foods which combine concentrated starches with concentrated proteins (grains, legumes).
Since soy beans are higher in protein and fat, but lower in carbohydrates than other beans, there might be some possibility of combining them with tomatoes. I have experimented with this combination and have rejected it for my own use.
Any meal which includes cooked starches, or any cooked food, should begin with a large green salad. If you do use cooked foods, you should always use some raw food at the same meal, preferably as the first course.
Foods in the slightly starchy category, such as carrots, are best used with starchy vegetables like potatoes. When eating starch/protein foods, such as rice or beans, it is best to use green or nonstarchy vegetables only. Green and nonstarchy vegetables contain very small amounts of proteins and carbohydrates, and thus will not further complicate the digestion of the combination foods.
5.2 Some Examples of Percentages of Protein and Carbohydrate Content Of Various Categories of Foods
Protein Content Carbohydrate Content
Concentrated Protein Foods: Almonds 18.6% 19.5%
Sunflower Seeds 24% 19.9%
Cashews 17.2% 29.3%
Starch/Protein Foods Brown Rice 7.5% 77.4%
Wild Rice 14.1% 75.3%
Fresh Coconut Meat 3.5% 9.4%
Starchy Vegetables Yam 2.1% 23.2%
Potato 2.1% 17.1%
Mildly Starchy Vegetables Winter Squash 1.4%
12.4%
Carrot 1.1% 9.7%
Nonstarchy Vegetables Cauliflower 2.7% 5.2%
Summer Squash 1.1% 4.2%
Romaine Lettuce 1.3% 3.5%
Sweet Fruits Banana 1.1% 22.2%
Dried Date 2.2% 72.9%
Subacid Fruits Apple .2% 14.1%
Peach .6% 9.7%
Acid Fruits Orange 1.0% 12.2%
Pineapple .3% 13.7%
Composition and Facts About Foods, by Ford Heritage, lists the protein and carbohydrate content of most common foods. You need not become an expert on these fine points, unless that is your desire. The food classification and food combining charts in this lesson will be adequate to help you to become enough of an expert in the food combining system to enable you to plan properly combined meals, and to teach others to do the same.
5.3 Examples of Menus That Do Not Violate Food Combining Rules No. 1 and 2
No Carbohydrate with Acid
No Carbohydrate with Protein
Carbohydrate Menus (No Acid or Protein) Protein Menus (No Carbohydrates)
Bibb lettuce
Celery
Cucumber
Sweet potatoes (raw or cooked)
Water chestnuts Romaine lettuce
Celery
Tomatoes
Raw broccoli
Pecans
Romaine lettuce
Sweet pepper
Edible pod peas
Sweet corn (raw or steamed) Boston lettuce
Sweet red pepper
Tomatoes
Kale (raw or steamed)
Sprouted sunflower seeds
Boston lettuce
Raw carrots
Brussels sprouts (raw or steamed)
Potatoes (steamed or baked) Young, sweet cabbage
Cucumber
Alfalfa sprouts
Tomatoes
Cashews
Celery or cabbage
Raw turnips
Green beans (raw or steamed)
Raw yellow squash
Cooked rice Ruby leaf lettuce
Celery
Raw zucchini squash
Soy bean sprouts
5.4 Examples of Menus That Violate Food Combining Rules No. 1 and 2
No Carbohydrate with Acid
No Carbohydrate with Protein
Boston lettuce
Sweet pepper
*Tomatoes
*Sweet potatoes NO-NO! (Acid with starch)
Bibb lettuce
Celery
*Peaches
*Sweet corn
*Almonds NO-NO! (Starch with protein, fruit with starch, fruit with protein)
Romaine lettuce
Celery
Broccoli
*Oranges
*Jerusalem artichoke NO-NO! (Acid fruit with starch)
Cabbage
Cucumber
*Tomatoes
*Lentil sprouts
*Rice NO-NO! (Two combination starch/protein foods; acid with combination foods)
Leaf lettuce
Celery
*Dates
*Pecans NO-NO! (Sweet fruit with Protein)
Cabbage
Celery
Alfalfa sprouts
*Potatoes
*Sunflower seeds NO-NO! (Starch with protein)
Bibb lettuce
Cucumber
Sweet pepper
*Millet
*Cashews NO-NO! (Protein with combination starch/protein food)
Ruby leaf lettuce
Cabbage
Yellow squash
*Acorn squash
*Soy beans NO-NO! (Starch with combination protein/starch food)
5.5 Protein-Protein Combinations
Never consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal.
Gastric acidity, and type, timing and strength of secretions for various proteins are not uniform. Therefore, do not combine nuts with cheese, nor any of the following concentrated protein foods with each other: nuts, avocado, soy beans, cheese, eggs, flesh foods.
Alfalfa sprouts, which are considered a green vegetable, may be used with a concentrated protein.
For optimal digestive efficiency, only one variety of nuts or seeds should be used at a sitting, but, if digestive problems are not a factor, it may be possible to eat two or three varieties together without harm. Some personal experimentation in this area is indicated. You may desire to combine one variety of seeds with one variety of nuts, or not to use high-fat nuts like brazils or macadamias by themselves. I have had good results in combining such high-fat nuts with lower-fat nuts or seeds. It might also be useful to combine expensive nuts like macadamias or pignolias with lower-priced nuts or seeds, in order to be able to afford the indulgence and variety of including the higher-priced nuts in the diet.
Some high-fat nuts are:
Macadamias 71.6% Fat
Brazils 66.9% Fat
Pecans 71.2% Fat
Some lower-fat nuts and seeds are:
Almonds 54.2% Fat
Pignolias 47.4% Fat
Sunflower seeds 47.3% Fat
Pumpkin seeds 45.8% Fat
Sesame seeds 52.2% Fat
Do not combine cashews with other nuts; the cashew is a part of the cashew apple and is not a true nut. It has a higher carbohydrate content than true nuts, having 29.3% carbohydrate and 17.2% protein. By contrast, for example, the almond has 19.5% carbohydrate and 18.6% protein.
Actually, the cashew is the pistil of the cashew apple. The whole raw cashew has within its shell a thick caustic liquid. In preparing cashews for marketing, they are “parched” to dissipate the acid, and then shelled. While not exactly “raw”, they have not been subjected to the “roasting” (deep-frying) given “roasted nuts”, and are considered good Hygienic food. They are combined in the same manner as nuts and can be eaten with a salad.
Peanuts, of course, are not nuts. They are combination starch/protein foods, and are combined as starch.
If you experience any problems in learning to eat and digest nuts, it would be best to use only one variety at a sitting. Start out with small quantities, one to two ounces, and use only with salads. If you do have problems with nuts, experiment and find those you handle best and use mostly those. You will eventually build, up your nut-digesting ability and be able to use more varieties.
Most people have no problem with sunflower seeds. Those who do can begin by using them slightly sprouted. Just soak overnight, drain and let them progress until just a small sprout is showing. Complete sprouting instructions will be given in Lesson 26, Preparing and Serving Foods.
Although the pecan is a high-fat nut, it is easy to chew and seems to agree with most people. Cashews are also easy to chew and most people enjoy the sweet taste.
Almonds are valuable nuts, and have a somewhat alkaline reaction, whereas other nuts have the acid reaction commonly found in protein foods. However, they are hard and more difficult to masticate thoroughly. Problems may be avoided by thoroughly masticating and insalivating these nuts.
It does not seem necessary to give examples of menus which do or do not violate Food Combining Rule No. 3. It should suffice to repeat: eat but one protein food at a meal, and do not combine nuts, avocados, soy beans, cheese, eggs or flesh foods with each other.
5.6 Protein-Fat Combinations
Do not consume fats with proteins.
For the conventional eater, this means do not use cream, butter or oil with meat (any flesh foods), eggs, cheese or nuts. For the budding or experienced Hygienist, the fat foods are avocados and nuts. Of course, nuts are also a principal protein food. Avocados also contain small amounts of excellent protein. Since the Hygienic “fat” foods are really protein/fat foods, it would certainly be inadvisable to add more fat to the meal. You learned in Lesson 22 that fat has an inhibiting influence on digestion. We have also emphasized that we do not use two proteins at the same meal. So, it is obvious you would not use nuts and avocados at the same meal. This would also apply to cheese, if you use it—do not use cheese with avocados or nuts.
However, in implementing the “no protein-fat combination” rule, it must also be borne in mind that you should not use cream, butter or oils with protein foods, whether they are protein/fat foods (which most of them are) or whether they are among the few low-fat protein foods (legumes, skim milk cheese, lean meat).
5.7 Menus That Do Not Violate Food Combining Rule No. 4 No Fat with Protein
Boston lettuce
Celery cabbage
Cucumber
Pecans Sweet, young cabbage
Cucumber
Sweet pepper
Alfalfa sprouts
Cheese
Romaine lettuce
Cucumber
Celery
Tomato
Avocado Kale
Cucumber
Celery
Soy pecan sprouts
5.8 Menus That Violate Food Combining Rule No. 4
Cabbage
Tomato
Celery
*Avocado
*Pecans NO-NO! (A fat/protein with a protein/fat)
Boston lettuce
Celery cabbage
Tomato
*Cheese
*Walnuts NO-NO! (Two protein/fat foods)
Leaf lettuce
Kale
Cucumber
Celery
*Cooked soy beans with butter added NO-NO! (Fat added to high protein combination food)
Romaine lettuce
Sweet pepper
Broccoli
*Cheese
*Avocado NO-NO!(A protein/fat food with a fat/protein)
5.9 Fats in Combination with Other Foods
Use fats sparingly.
Too much fat taken with a meal results in discomfort and digestive problems. The best way to use fats, in moderation, is with raw green vegetables. If fats are used with other foods, adding raw green leafy vegetables to the meal will help to counteract the inhibiting effect of fats on gastric secretion.
In Lesson 22, it was pointed out that the use of avocados (low protein/fat) with starch is considered fair, provided a green salad is included with the meal. Nuts (high protein/fat) are not used with starch. The best way to use avocados or nuts is with the salad meal.
We also concluded that, while the use of avocados with subacid or acid fruit is ordinarily considered only a fair combination, it has been found that including salad vegetables, especially lettuce and celery, in the avocado/fruit meal enhances its digestion, and it becomes a quite acceptable combination.
5.10 Menus, That Do Not Violate Food Combining Rule No. 5 Fats with Other Foods
Bibb lettuce
Celery cabbage
Cucumber
Tomato
Avocado Leaf lettuce
Celery
Cucumber
Potato (steamed or baked)
Avocado
Romaine lettuce
Celery
Sweet pepper
Alfalfa sprouts
Avocado Peaches
Apples
Lettuce
Celery
Avocado
In the above menus we are using avocado only as an example of the correct combining of fat. We are not using nuts (high protein/fat) as examples of fat with other foods, because when we combine nuts with other foods, their protein content is our primary concern. As for other fats (butter, oil, etc.), they do not really belong in a list of Hygienically correct menus.
5.11 Menus That Violate Food Combining Rule No. 5 Fats with Other Foods
Cucumber
Green beans
*Steamed potato with butter
*Avocado NO-NO! (Two foods high in fat)
Bananas
*Dates
*Avocado NO-NO! (A fat/protein with dried sweet fruit—this would be somewhat better if lettuce and/or celery were included.)
Carrots
Buttered cooked sweet corn
Avocado NO-NO! (Two foods high in fat)
Salad with oil dressing
Rice
Avocado NO-NO! (Two foods high in fat)
5.12 Acid-Protein Combinations
Do not eat acid fruits with proteins.
There is some variation in practice as to the use of citrus or other acid fruit with nuts. Dr. Vetrano has discontinued this practice, but it is still used by other Hygienic professionals and lay people. Those with digestive problems should certainly avoid this combination. The student should carefully re-read the text of Food Combining Rule No. 6 (in Lesson 22) for an understanding of this subject.
Those with unimpaired digestions can probably decide on an individual basis whether they should experiment with this combination. The choices would be (a) no citrus with nuts, (b) eat citrus, wait one-half hour to one hour before eating the nuts, and (c) eat the citrus and nuts together. The best practice is (a), because it is not good Hygienic practice to eat a meal in “relays.”
If you do use citrus and nuts at the same meal, it would be a good idea to include some lettuce and/or celery.
The same reasoning would also apply to other acid fruits, such as pineapple, strawberries, tart apples, etc. The less sugar they contain, the less objection there is to combining them with nuts.
The same reasoning would apply to the use of citrus or other acid fruits with other protein foods, such as avocado or cheese.
People who use eggs or flesh foods should avoid the use of any fruit at the same meal. The use of these foods causes enough problems without also adding the extra problems of combining the fruit acids and sugars with the flesh foods.
Sour salad dressings and acid fruit drinks are bad with any meal, but are particularly bad with protein meals because they check hydrochloric acid secretion.
5.13 Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 6 Acid Fruits with Proteins
Good Combinations
Lettuce
Celery
Tomato
Brazil nuts (or other nuts, or avocado, or cheese, if you use it)
Fair Combinations
Lettuce
Kiwi fruit
Almonds
Lettuce
Grapefruit
Avocado
Somewhat tart oranges, pineapple, strawberries or apples, combined with nuts, avocado or cheese would also be fair combinations.
Bad Combinations
Very sweet oranges, pineapple, strawberries or other fruit, combined with nuts, avocado or cheese would be bad combinations (too much sugar with protein).
5.14 Sugar with Starch, Protein, Acid Fruit
Do not combine sweet fruits with foods that require a long digestion time—such as proteins, starches and acid fruit.
Sugar with protein, starch or acid leads to fermentation, a sour stomach and discomfort. When protein or starch foods are combined with sugars, they may remain in the stomach almost twice as long as is normal. Use sweet fruits only as indicated in Food Combining Rule No. 10.
The same principle applies to the use of any sugar, honey, molasses or syrup, which are especially prone to ferment if used with mixed meals. Of course, these types of sugars should not be used at all—with anything. Refined sugar robs the body of B-vitamins and throws a “monkey-wrench” into the digestive machinery. The other “sweeteners” are almost as bad. A future lesson will discuss in detail the harmfulness of sweeteners.
5.15 Menus That Do Not Violate Food Combining Rule No. 7
Sweet Fruits with Foods Requiring a Long Digestion Time
Lettuce
Grapes
Bananas Lettuce
Sweet mangos
Persimmons
Celery
Cherries
Delicious apples
Dates Celery
Lettuce
Pears
Peaches
Raisins
5.16 Menus That Violate Food Combining Rule No. 7
Sweet Fruits with Foods Requiring a Long Digestion Time
Jonathan apples
Strawberries
Bananas
NO-NO! (Acid fruit with sweet fruit)
Plums
Oranges
Dates NO-NO! (Acid fruit with sweet dried fruit)
Sweet corn
Persimmons
Figs NO-NO! (Starch with sweet fruit)
Apples
Raisins
Pecans NO-NO! (Protein with sweet fruit) (Many people have said they like to eat this combination,
but it should be avoided, as it is quite incompatible.)
5.17 Starch-Starch Combinations
Eat but one concentrated starch at a meal.
This rule may be important principally as a means of avoiding overeating of starches, but it is a good rule to follow. Never combine a concentrated starch with a combination food (starch/protein food) such as grains or legumes. Never combine two combination foods at the same meal (such as rice with beans).
Slightly starchy foods may be combined with concentrated starches but not with combination foods. Potatoes with carrots, green beans and a large green salad is a good combination (if you are using cooked food). Brown rice would be better combined with broccoli, yellow squash and a salad.
Two mildly starchy vegetables may be combined if no concentrated starch is used, e.g., globe artichokes and carrots, or beets and edible pod peas.
5.18 Menus That Do Not Violate Food Combining Rule No. 8 One Concentrated Starch at a Meal
Ruby lettuce
Carrots
Celery
Raw Broccoli
Globe artichoke Celery cabbage
Cucumber
Edible pod peas
Sweet corn (raw or cooked)
Cabbage
Sweet pepper
Cucumber
Green beans (raw or cooked)
Potatoes Bibb lettuce
Celery
Cauliflower (raw or cooked)
Yams (raw or cooked)
Romaine lettuce
Celery
Sweet pepper
Cauliflower (raw or cooked)
Butternut squash Boston lettuce
Cucumber
Water chestnuts
Parsnips
5.19 Menus That Violate Food Combining Rule Nr. 8 One Concentrated Starch at a Meal
Bibb lettuce
Sweet pepper
Kale
*Sweet corn
*Potatoes NO-NO! (Too much starch—unless corn is young, green and freshly picked)
Celery cabbage
Cucumber
*Cauliflower
*Acorn squash
* Jerusalem artichokes NO-NO! (Too much starch)
Leaf lettuce
Celery
Broccoli
*Sweet potatoes
*Rice NO-NO! (Starch with combination starch/protein food)
Cabbage
Celery
Cucumber
Zucchini squash1
*Potatoes
*Chestnuts NO-NO! (Starch with combination starch/protein food)
5.20 Acid Fruits, Subacid Fruits, Sweet Fruits
Acid fruits may be used with the less sweet subacid fruits.
Tomatoes should not be used with subacid fruits. The acid fruits are those with the tart flavors (see Food Classification Chart in this lesson). The less sweet subacid fruits are some grapes (those which are neither sweet nor sour), some varieties of apples, most mangos, and any fruit on the subacid list which is not really sweet.
5.21 Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 9
Good Combinations
Lettuce
Oranges
Apples
Celery
Pineapple
Peaches (if not sweet)
Lettuce
Strawberries
Plums (if not sweet)
Bad Combinations
Tomatoes
Bananas NO-NO! Acid with sweet fruit
Grapefruit
Sweet cherries NO-NO! Acid with sweet fruit
Oranges
Delicious apples NO-NO! Acid with sweet fruit
5.21 Acid Fruits, Subacid Fruits, Sweet Fruits
The sweeter subacid fruits may be used with sweet fruits.
The sweeter subacid fruits are any fruits on the subacid list that have a marked sweet taste. See Food Classification Chart for a list of the sweet fruits. Dried sweet fruits should be used sparingly—one kind at a meal—and in small quantities.
5.22 Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 10
Good Combinations
Lettuce
Delicious apples
Bananas Lettuce
Pears
Persimmons
Celery
Sweet grapes
Dates Celery
Papayas
Figs
Bad Combinations
Tart apples
Bananas NO-NO! (Acid with sweet fruit)
Tart mangos
Dates NO-NO! (Acid with sweet fruit)
Tart grapes
Persimmons NO-NO! (Acid with sweet fruit)
Tart peaches
Figs NO-NO! (Acid with sweet fruit)
5.23 Fruits with Vegetables
Do not combine fruit with any vegetables other than lettuce and/or celery.
Lettuce and celery combine well with all types of fruit except melon. It is best to use two to four varieties of fruit at a fruit meal, plus lettuce and/or celery. These green leafy vegetables may even enhance digestion of the fruit.
Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 11
Good Combinations
Lettuce
Celery
Sweet grapes
Pears
Bananas
Lettuce
Sweet apples
Sweet cherries
Fresh figs
Celery
Papayas
Sweet peaches
Persimmons
Bad Combinations
Broccoli
Yellow squash
Apples
Dates NO-NO! (Fruits with vegetables other than lettuce and celery)
Lettuce
Pears
Sweet corn
Bananas NO-NO! (Fruits with vegetables other than lettuce and celery)
Lettuce
Blueberries
Green beans
Potatoes NO-NO! (Fruits with vegetables other than lettuce and celery)
5.24 Fruits with Vegetables
Salads combine very well with either proteins or starches.
Green leafy vegetables combine well with most other foods. They are excellent food and should be used in abundance. Do not combine any vegetables with melon.
A large daily salad is an excellent part of your food program. The dark green leafy vegetables are the best for salad—Romaine, Boston, leaf or Bibb lettuce, green celery—to which may be added cucumbers, sweet peppers, raw broccoli, raw turnips or raw cauliflower. Raw carrots may be added if u is a starch meal; tomatoes may be added if no starch or combination foods are included in the meal.
5.25 Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 12
Good Combinations
Lettuce
Celery cabbage
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Nuts
Lettuce
Celery
Sweet pepper
Raw broccoli
Avocado
Lettuce and/or celery with any fruit
Bad Combinations
Lettuce
Celery
Watermelon NO-NO! (Do not combine salad vegetables with melon)
Tomatoes
Celery cabbage
Honeydew melon NO-NO! (Do not combine salad vegetables with melon)
5.26 Melons
Do not consume melons with other foods.
They do not combine well with any food, except, perhaps, with certain fruits. Those with unimpaired digestions may wish to experiment with the use of grapes or other subacid fruits with melon. It is really best to take melon alone, especially watermelon. Melon decomposes much more quickly than other fruits and, if held up in the stomach awaiting the digestion of other foods, will decompose and cause gastric distress.
Never eat watermelon with nuts. There are a number of different kinds of melon, and it is better to eat your fill of one kind as one meal.
I am not giving any examples of melon with subacid fruits. 1 do not really recommend using melon with any other foods, since 1 believe this is a good rule for most people. Those who wish to experiment with the use of melons with subacid fruits should do so very carefully, testing one subacid fruit (in small amounts) at a time. (See Dr. Vetrano’s comments on this subject.)
5.27 Sprouts
Alfalfa sprouts may be combined as a green vegetable.
Other sprouts should be classified somewhat in the same category as the original seed, even though the protein and carbohydrates are less concentrated. (Review the discussion of sprouts in Lesson 22.)
Classification of Sprouts for Purpose of Food Combining
Alfalfa seeds, sprouted Green vegetable
Mung beans, sprouted Green vegetable protein/starch (combine as starch)
Grains, sprouted, sprouted Mildly starchy combination foods
Sunflower seeds Protein
Soy beans, sprouted Protein
Lentils, sprouted Protein
5.28 Menus Illustrating Food Combining Rule No. 14
Good Combinations
Tomato
Lettuce
Alfalfa sprouts
Nuts Celery
Cucumber
Avocado
Mung bean sprouts
Cabbage
Sweet pepper
Broccoli
Sprouted soy beans Lettuce
Celery
Cauliflower
Green beans
Sprouted wheat
Bad Combinations
Lettuce
Cucumber
Sprouted mung beans*
Nuts* NO-NO! (Protein with combination food)
Celery
Sweet Pepper
Sprouted rye*
Nuts* NO-NO! (Protein with combination food)
Cabbage
Celery
Sprouted sunflower seeds*
Potatoes* NO-NO! (Protein with starch)
Lettuce
Tomatoes*
Lentils, sprouted*
Rice* NO-NO! (Acid and protein with combination food)
5.29 Milk, Clabber and Yogurt (Not Recommended)
Milk is best taken alone.
This rule is included because it is one of Dr. Shelton’s food combining rules, and because this lesson may be helpful to those still on a mixed diet. Please review the text in Lesson 22 on Food Combining Rule No. 15. I hope you will decide not to use milk, clabber or yogurt.
I am not including menus for the best ways to combine these foods, but will simply say they are best used alone, but are a fair combination with acid or subacid fruit.
5.30 Good, Fair, Poor and Bad Combinations
Good combinations are good for the weakest digestion.
Fair combinations are permissible for those with unimpaired digestions.
Poor combinations should only be used by people with the best digestions, and then rarely (or they may lose their distinction of possessing the “best” digestions).
Bad combinations are so bad that no one should ever use them.
5.31 Examples
Good combinations
Golden Delicious apples
Thompson seedless grapes
Lettuce and celery
Bananas Lettuce
Cucumber
Sweet peppers
Alfalfa sprouts
Nuts
Fair Combinations
Jonathan apples
Pears
Lettuce
Avocado
(Avocado with fruit) Lettuce
Cabbage
Green beans
Potatoes
Avocado
(Avocado with starch)
Poor Combinations
Cherries
Lettuce
Avocado
Soaked dried apricots
(Avocado with dried sweet fruit—the fact that it has been soaked and that lettuce is included with the meal improves it somewhat.) Celery cabbage
Cucumber
Mung bean sprouts
Nuts
(It would be better to use alfalfa sprouts with nuts.)
Bad Combinations
Grapes
Avocado
Bananas
Dates
(Concentrated fat with too much concentrated sugar.) Lettuce
Celery
Cabbage
Rice
Potatoes
(Starch with combination starch/protein food)
5.32 Discrepancies
You may detect discrepancies if you compare the different food charts and classifications of foods as interpreted by various authors and professionals. For instance, you may see butternut or acorn squash listed by one author as starchy, and mildly starchy by another author.
If you are really concerned about it, you can refer to Composition and Facts About Foods, by Ford Heritage, or Composition of Foods, Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 8. You can then make your own decision.
Sweet potatoes with 26.3% carbohydrates, yams with 23.2% carbohydrates and potatoes with 17.1% carbohydrates are all considered starchy foods. Carrots with 9.7% carbohydrates and beets with 9.9% carbohydrates are considered mildly starchy. Winter squash (butternut, acorn, etc.) has 12.5% carbohydrates. Would you classify it with the 17.1% potatoes or the 9.9% beets? It’s not too important, since starches may be used together, if desired, provided the total quantity of starch at the meal does not exceed, say, 15% of the meal.
Cauliflower, with only 5.2% carbohydrates, is listed by some as mildly starchy, yet its carbohydrate content is less than that of broccoli or brussels sprouts.
Another case in point is the coconut. Dr. Esser classified it as protein, but Dr. Shelton combines it as starch. It is actually a combination food, and is usually combined as a starch. But when we look it up in the food charts, we find that fresh coconut contains 9.4% carbohydrate and 3.5% protein; dried coconut contains 23% carbohydrate and 7.2% protein.
By comparison, almonds contain 19.5% carbohydrate and 18.6% protein; pecans 14.6% carbohydrate and 9.2% protein; these, of course, are classified as protein foods.
Brown rice contains 77.4% carbohydrate, 9.6% protein; fresh lima beans contain 22.1% carbohydrate and 8.4% protein; these are combination foods, and are combined as starch.
It seems to me that the coconut, with three times as much starch as protein, should be combined as starch. But, since fresh coconut only has 9.4% carbohydrate, perhaps the idea that its starch content is unimportant is a valid one. What do you think? My own method is to think of it as a combination food, and I don’t use tomatoes or other acid fruits with coconut—it seems the safest interpretation.
If you see other such discrepancies, you may either disregard them and use the food either way, or, if you are uncomfortable about it, get a reference book and look it up. It can be a great satisfaction to resolve such discrepancies in your own mind by tracking down the correct information.
You may also occasionally come across an error in food combining charts; for example, on page 321 of The Hygienic System, Volume II, in one place starch is said to be a bad combination with subacid fruit and in another place on the chart, it is said to be a fair combination. I would say that the use of any fruit with starch would be contraindicated.
The food combining charts in this lesson are as accurate as I could make them, and I hope they will be helpful to you and your students.
