In some people, digestive problems can be traced to the foods they eat at the same time. According to Hale Sofia Schatz, author of "If the Buddha Came to Dinner: How to Nourish Your Body to Awaken Your Spirit," trouble in the stomach occurs when your body is tasked with digesting foods that require different processing times and enzymes all at once. One way of avoiding this situation is by combining compatible foods so they flow easily through your system and nourish you instead of making you sick.
Step 1
Eat fruits by themselves. They're the easiest foods for your body to digest and shouldn't be combined with vegetables, proteins or grains, which consume more of your digestive energy. After eating fruit, wait 20 to 60 minutes before taking something else in. Try eating after 30 minutes to see how your body does. If it complains, next time wait a little longer. Experiment with different waiting periods to learn how long a break your digestive system needs between groups of foods.
Step 2
Have vegetables in combination with one another and with proteins, such as legumes (soy, beans, lentils) and meats. After a meal of vegetables with or without proteins, your body is ready for something else in 30 minutes to two hours.
Step 3
Eat grains individually. Avoid wheat garlic bread with corn pasta, for example. Combine grains with nonstarchy vegetables. Potatoes and rice, for instance, aren't a good match. After a meal of grains, your body needs two to three hours to complete digestion.
Step 4
Ingest only one type of protein at a time in combination with any vegetable. Red curried chicken is better than coconut curried chicken, for example, as both chicken and coconut are protein foods. Your body takes two to four hours to digest a protein meal.
Things You'll Need
- Food-combining chart
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