Food Combining For Weight Loss: Rules We Swear By!

In this article, you will learn how to apply the 3 basic Body Ecology Food Combining Principles:

1. How and when to eat fruit
2. What to combine with proteins 
3. What to combine with grains and starchy vegetables

Want a flatter tummy this summer? One of the quickest and easiest ways to jump-start your metabolism is to follow proper food combining rules. 

If you feel bloated, gassy, dehydrated or tired after eating a SAD meal (i.e. Standard American Diet meals like steak and potatoes, tuna-noodle casserole, or scrambled eggs with toast), it’s no surprise! These ‘classic’ meals violate all the principles of food combining. 

These classic American meals are also classic examples of what doesn’t help weight loss and is making us larger and more prone to disease.

Let’s take a closer look at Body Ecology’s Food Combining Principle, and how you can start implementing 3 simple steps RIGHT NOW for summer weight loss!

<<Tune In! Facebook Live Event with Donna Gates>>

Want to learn even more about the secrets of food combining for weight loss? Tune in for a Facebook Live event with Donna Gates on this hot topic for summer. Submit your questions now and don’t miss this informative event!

The Problem With Traditional Weight Loss ‘Diets’

Many diet programs tell you in order to maximize weight loss, you need to eat less and exercise more, with little regard to what you actually combine together in your stomach. What they don’t know—so can’t tell you—is about a little known secret to quick and easy weight loss. 

Many years ago, our ancestors worked hard at physical jobs and returned home each day to eat big meals of meat, breads, cheeses, and even occasional sweets if they could afford them. Most probably had iron stomachs and digested everything. They just needed food! Our ancestors also had a hardier inner ecosystem with a diversity of beneficial microflora (good bacteria) that reside in our intestines and keep us healthy and strong. A healthy inner ecosystem also means more beneficial microflora helping you digest the foods you eat.

Over time, the introduction of antibiotics, pasteurization, and processed foods, along with a lifestyle of constant stress, has damaged our inner ecosystems. And weakened our ability to digest foods in the stomach and small intestine. This leads to fatigue, poor health, and a digestive tract that functions inefficiently.

Today, more than ever, we need to take extra special care of our digestive tracts because they have never been more over stressed. So why stress them even more by just eating all kinds of foods together in one meal?

The good news is that you can eat your way to better health — and achieve the weight loss you want, and a naturally slim body at the same time. The Body Ecology system of health and healing teaches that it’s more than just what you eat; it’s also how you eat. The “how” is indeed just as important, and Body Ecology provides a roadmap for how to eat your way to health through our 7 Healthy Eating Principles. In this article, we will cover our secret to weight loss, the Principle of Food Combining, in more detail.

Food Combining the Body Ecology Way

The process of digesting each meal takes a great deal of energy, so you want to increase your ability to digest—your “digestive fire” by eating certain fermented foods.  But food combining greatly enhances your ability to digest your meal. 

Undigested food stays in your digestive tract and ferments (not the good kind of ferment) undigested food creates ammonia—a brain toxin. This also makes your blood more acidic and allows yeast, viruses, cancer cells, and parasites to grow inside you. Your inner ecosystem becomes damaged, and you may be prone to illness.

Proper food combining is a system of eating foods that combine together efficiently to assist digestion so that your digestive tract does not have to work so hard to give you the nutrients you need for energy. You can learn the basics with three simple guidelines.

1. Eat Fruits Alone on an Empty Stomach

Fruits digest very quickly—in about  30 minutes so it’s best to never eat them in the same meal with animal proteins or carbs because these can take much longer to digest (usually 3 hours or longer). 

For anyone just starting on the Body Ecology program, we recommend avoiding most fruits — they have a high concentration of natural sugars that encourage the growth of yeast and other pathogens.

The exceptions are sour fruits like lemons and limes, and certain unsweetened juices extracts (from cranberries and pomegranates). These fruits are very concentrated so you use very little and they are low in sugar. They are safe to eat, even in the initial, more limited Stage One of the program.

Once your  symptoms are gone, your yeast infection and other infections are under control and your inner ecosystem is restored (usually within  3-6  months) of strictly adhering to the diet  and building your immune system. You can introduce other low-sugar fruits like grapefruit as well as blueberries and strawberries. These sour fruits combine best with kefir and yogurt. Kefir can be made from milk or coconut water using our Kefir Starter. Nuts, seeds, and dairy foods including cheese are called “protein fats” because they truly are a protein and a fat (combined together by nature) and they do combine well with acid fruits. 

In the kitchen: Start your morning with a glass of warm water and lemon juice to hydrate your body and cleanse and tone your digestive system. Lemon and lime juice can be eaten with animal protein for flavor and to enhance digestion.

What About Smoothies?

A protein shake in the morning is great brain food, as the brain needs protein and fats. Body Ecology protein shakes, like our Probiotic Protein Shake and Immune Power Shake offer an excellent base of plant-based proteins, probiotics, and ingredients that support your immune system. While they are delicious with just water or a little Ripple pea protein beverage, sometimes you want a little something extra! If you want to give your protein Shake a boost of extra alkaline nutrients without the gas or bloating, try adding it to a smoothie.

But…. step away from the fruit! Food combining matters!

Fruits like bananas and berries, commonly used in smoothies, do not combine with protein shakes made with pea or rice protein.

So what to blend instead?

Nuts and nut butters don’t combine well. either. These are protein-fats, but their oils can be added. Try a splash of flaxseed oil, pumpkinseed oil, or MCT oil.

Super Spirulina Plus and/or Vitality SuperGreen add even more nutrients and are alkalizing.

A splash of a Probiotic Liquid adds an amazing diversity of beneficial microflora.

While adding veggies to a protein shake may sound strange you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Think savory – not sweet.

Here’s a few veggie suggestions:

Green lettuces

Kale and bok choy (but not spinach – high in oxalates).

Fennel

Butternut squash – frozen is surprising good

Carrots

Cucumber

Zucchini

And don’t forget the extra boost of flavor from:

Ginger

Fresh herbs – basil and cilantro

Dried Herbs and spices – like pumpkin spice, chai and cinnamon

Pinch of sea salt

2. Eat Proteins with Non-Starchy Vegetables and/or Ocean Vegetables

When you eat proteins like poultry, fish, meat, and eggs, your stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin to break down the food in a highly acidic environment. When you eat starches like potatoes or bread, your stomach needs to secrete very different enzymes.  .

If you eat proteins and starches together,  it’s much harder for the protein enzymes to do their work. Eaten together protein and carbs (or starchy vegetables inhibit digestion. The poorly-digested food travels through the digestive tract, reaching the intestines, where it ferments and causes your blood to become acidic. It also provides a welcome environment for disease-causing pathogens!

To keep this from happening, avoid combining proteins and starches (including grains, like rice, and starchy vegetables, like potatoes) in the same meal. Instead, have non-starchy vegetables and ocean vegetables with your protein meals to achieve optimal digestion. Taking protein-digesting enzymes can also help your  body to better break down protein at each meal.

Non-starchy vegetables include: Leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, bok choy, cabbage, celery, lettuces, green beans, garlic, fennel, onions, chives, turnips, sprouts, red radish, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumber, beets.

Non-starchy vegetables and ocean vegetables are easy to digest and combine well with anything: proteins, oils and butter, grains, starchy vegetables, lemons and limes, and soaked and sprouted nuts and seeds.

In the kitchen: Pair poached fish with stir-fried vegetables, roasted chicken with a leafy green salad and/or a non-starchy vegetable soup. Or try a salad that has veggies that are steamed and chilled (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, plus also a variety of raw vegetables, like shredded carrots, cucumber, or yellow squash), with lightly grilled salmon and a lemon-garlic dressing.

What About Smoothies?

A protein shake in the morning is great brain food, as the brain needs protein and fats. Body Ecology protein shakes, like our Probiotic Protein Shake and Immune Power Shake offer an excellent base of plant-based proteins, probiotics, and ingredients that support your immune system. While they are delicious with just water or a little Ripple pea protein beverage, sometimes you want a little something extra! If you want to give your protein Shake a boost of extra alkaline nutrients without the gas or bloating, try adding it to a smoothie.

But…. step away from the fruit! Food combining matters!

Fruits like bananas and berries, commonly used in smoothies, do not combine with protein shakes made with pea or rice protein.

So what to blend instead?

Nuts and nut butters don’t combine well. either. These are protein-fats, but their oils can be added. Try a splash of flaxseed oil, pumpkinseed oil, or MCT oil.

Super Spirulina Plus and/or Vitality SuperGreen add even more nutrients and are alkalizing.

A splash of a Probiotic Liquid adds an amazing diversity of beneficial microflora.

While adding veggies to a protein shake may sound strange you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Think savory – not sweet.

Here’s a few veggie suggestions:

Green lettuces

Kale and bok choy (but not spinach – high in oxalates).

Fennel

Butternut squash – frozen is surprising good

Carrots

Cucumber

Zucchini

And don’t forget the extra boost of flavor from:

Ginger

Fresh herbs – basil and cilantro

Dried Herbs and spices – like pumpkin spice, chai and cinnamon

Pinch of sea salt

3. Eat Grains and Starchy Vegetables with Non-Starchy and/or Ocean Vegetables

There are four grain-like seeds on The Body Ecology Program: amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, and millet. These ancient grains are high in protein, gluten-free, and rich in B vitamins, and they provide fiber for the beneficial bacteria in your inner ecosystem. But they are seeds, not grains…and they are high in oxalates. They need to be boiled until soft and then the water poured off to reduce the oxalates. When you eat them with cultured vegetables or drink a few ounces of one of our probiotic liquids, the microflora eat the oxalates. 

Starchy vegetables include: Acorn and butternut squash, lima beans, peas, corn, water chestnuts, artichokes, and red-skinned potatoes (red-skinned potatoes are the only potatoes we recommend in Body Ecology because they are lower in oxalates and are less starchy than other kinds of potatoes).

In the kitchen: Make hearty millet casserole with a green leafy salad and yellow squash sautéed in butter. Or try acorn squash stuffed with curried quinoa with the ocean vegetable hijiki and onions. Warming grain soups are also good, especially in winter.

Food Combining Details

Fats and oils: Choose organic, unrefined, and extra virgin oils like flax seed, pumpkin seed, olive, or coconut oils.

Combine with: Vegetables, grains, and protein. Avoid large amounts of fat with protein (like the mayonnaise in tuna salad) because it slows digestion. Instead use a small amount of oil to cook and oil-free dressings.

Protein fats: Avocado, olives and certain low oxalate nuts and seeds (chestnuts are starchy).

Combine with: Non-starchy and ocean vegetables and sour fruits. Be sure to soak and sprout your seeds and nuts to ease digestion.

Dairy: Cheese and milk are also protein fats. Dairy products are not eaten in Stage One of the Body Ecology program because the lactose in milk feeds pathogenic yeast, and most people don’t have enough dairy-loving enzymes to digest the milk protein, casein. After you’ve established a healthy inner ecosystem, you may be able to benefit from small amounts of fermented dairy foods and drinks that help populate your digestive tract with plenty of microflora. Some people do well on dairy foods, and some simply do not.

Combine with: Fermented dairy products, like  milk kefir, combine with sour fruits, low oxalate seeds and nuts and non-starchy vegetables, especially raw (like in salads.)

In the kitchen: Make a Body Ecology kefir dressing with lemon juice and herbs and toss it onto your favorite lettuce with some soaked and sprouted sunflower seeds for a tasty salad.

 

Dried peas, beans, and soybeans: These foods are mainly starch combined with a small amount of protein and are difficult to digest. This helps explain why many people have problems with gas and bloating immediately after eating them. They are also a FODMAP (fermentable sugar) so are not recommended for SIBO and most beans are high in oxalates. For these reasons and because they are so difficult to digest, they are not part of the initial Stage One of the Body Ecology program. 

We do recommend one fermented soy food—miso. Miso is made from soybeans which are very high in oxalates, but the long-time fermentation of the soybeans makes turns them into a low oxalate food.  If you have a viral or bacterial infection, miso soup is almost magical. In Stage 2— when you are ready for beans—only lentils and black eyed peas are low in oxalates. And ideally cooking them in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker lowers the lectins that so people have trouble with. 

Combine with: Non-starchy vegetables and cultured vegetables.

Sugar: Sugar encourages the growth of yeast, suppresses your body’s natural immunity, and does not combine with anything! Instead of sugar, use Be Sweet in your tea or anywhere you need that sweet taste. In summer, lemonade is wonderful. But anytime you need to satisfy  a sugar craving just squeeze some lemon or lime juice into a glass of filtered or sparkling mineral water, add BeSweet to taste, sit back, relax for a moment and enjoy. We humans do need the sweet taste. 

Combine with: Nothing. (If you must eat sugar, it should be eaten alone as in a cup of tea with no other foods.)

Fermented foods and drinks: These are the “stars“ of our Body Ecology program because they are packed with vitamins, minerals, and healthy microflora that heal your inner ecosystem. Cultured vegetables and Young Coconut Kefir are just two examples of superfoods that help us stay healthy, slim, and youthful.

Combine with: Everything, even with fruit. (In fact, we usually put apples into the brine when we make cultured vegetables.The beneficial microbes love the sugar and multiply even more)

Can You Really Lose Weight by Food Combining?

Most people experience a loss of gas and bloating right away. And after a few more days of following these food combining rules you should begin to notice weight loss. But don’t stop when your ideal weight is achieved. Food combining is the secret to aging slowly. 

It takes about a week to learn these food combining principles so take one at a time and practice just that one rule until it becomes second nature to you. If you feel a little bit hungrier — just eat more frequently. This is because you are metabolizing the meal much more efficiently. 

As long as you are combining properly and eating healthy foods when you are hungry, you will start to lose the gas, bloating and weight! As your energy increases, you will find you now have more energy to exercise. This will then accelerate the weight loss you want, and give you a flatter tummy. With exercise—even daily walking —you’ll love watching your body grow more toned and slender..

With food combining and the Body Ecology Principles, you’ll find yourself eating simple meals that nourish your body. You’ll also digest your food better and supply your body with even more nutrients. As your digestion improves, you’ll have more energy and vitality, freeing up your body to come into balance, heal, and stay naturally slim.

By following the Principles of Body Ecology and the foods we recommend, you’re building that foundation for wellness that can turn around our current health crisis. Try the Principle of Food Combining today and read an overview of the 7 Body Ecology Principles to familiarize yourself with other components of the program. With Body Ecology, you can truly eat and drink to good health!