American surgeon Dr. William Howard Hay believed that segregating proteins and carbohydrates at different meals prevented too many digestive processes from operating at once. According to Diet.com, proteins are broken down by acids, and carbohydrates are digested with alkali, or bases. The Hay Diet classifies foods into multiple categories, with rules about which groupings can and cannot be combined.
History
At the turn of the 20th century, Hay was diagnosed with high blood pressure, a dilated heart and the kidney ailment known as Bright's disease. Diet.com reports that these medical conditions led him to develop an eating plan contrary to the typical American diet. Hay believed that a meal with foods from lists that should not be combined caused weight gain, conditions like diabetes and Bright's disease and sap the body of energy.
Fruits
Hay taught that fruits and vegetables should be at the center of the diet. According to the Diet.com food combining lists, fruits break down into four groups: acid, sub-acid, sweet and melons. Acidic fruits, like citrus fruits, pineapples and tomatoes, can be combined with sub-acid fruits---apples, berries, grapes and peaches---but not sweet fruits such as bananas, coconuts and prunes. Sweet fruits can be combined with sub-acid fruits. Thus, apples and oranges or apples and bananas can be eaten together, but not oranges and bananas. Melons fall into a segregated category. They are to be eaten alone and never combined with other fruits.
Acidic and sweet fruits also cannot be combined with other food groups. The exception to the rule is the tomato, which can be combined with low-starch vegetables.
Neutral Foods
Neutral foods incorporate seeds, nuts, herbs, cream, butter and olive oil, according to Fitness Venues. Most vegetables are considered neutral. Diet.com is more specific with the vegetable list, incorporating green, leafy vegetables such as lettuce, plus artichokes, beats, broccoli, eggplant, onions, carrots, peppers and turnips. Potatoes, corn, squash and pumpkin contain high levels of starch and are considered carbohydrates. Neutral foods can be mixed with proteins and carbohydrates, but not fruits.
Starches
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Nutrition for Everyone section defines carbohydrates as food that is digested into glucose, or sugar, to fuel the body. Starches include refined sugars, flour- or grain-based products---breads, cakes, crackers and pasta---and rice. Fitness Venues, a health and fitness website that has information on the Hay Diet, suggests eating whole-grain products because processed foods such as white bread and white rice are more difficult to digest.
Proteins
The digestion of proteins requires acid to breakdown the elements, according to Diet.com. Fitness Venues lists lean meat, poultry, cheese, eggs, fish and beans as the primary sources of protein. Proteins can be mixed with neutrals, like vegetables and oils, but not with starches or fruits. Milk, which qualifies as a protein, should be consumed on its own and not with any other foods.
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