The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends you consume a wide variety of healthful foods as part of a healthful diet. This includes quality food choices from the following food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and proteins. Certain types of foods from these five major food groups seem to provide a greater health benefit when eaten together. On the other hand, some foods become less healthy when combined, such as having coffee and eggs in the morning. According to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, the caffeine in coffee inhibits your body's absorption of iron found in egg yolks.
Vegetables/Fat
Adding a bit of healthy fat from sources such as vegetable oils or avocados can help release the fat-soluble nutrients in vegetables. For instance, a drizzle of olive oil over a spinach salad helps release lutein, which has been shown to promote eye health. Combining healthful fats with most types of vegetables will aid in the release of fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins are stored in the body until needed.
Nonstarchy Vegetables/Protein
Nonstarchy vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, lettuce, green beans and spinach. These foods combine well with protein-rich foods, such as cheese, milk, eggs, meat and seeds. This food combination allows for optimal digestion, so your body retains more of the vitamins and nutrients offered by each food group.
Carbohydrates/Nonstarchy Vegetables
Nonstarchy vegetables complement carbohydrate food sources, including breads, beans, grains, potatoes and split peas. This combination helps improve digestion of vitamins and minerals contained within both foods. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that vegetables and carbohydrates/grains make up about half of your daily calorie consumption.
Incomplete Proteins
Protein is one of the three macronutrients you need in your diet; the others are carbs and fats. Incomplete protein sources are those that do not contain one or more of the essential amino acids your body needs. However, combining two incomplete protein sources at mealtime creates a complementary protein source, meaning you're getting all of the essential amino acids. An example of how this works is when you combine rice and beans. This is especially useful if you're a vegetarian and get most of your protein from incomplete protein sources, which are primarily plant-based proteins.
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