Food Combining & Time Between Meals For Digestion

The digestive system works closely with other systems of the body to ensure the flow of energy and nutrients throughout the body. Digestion and the time between meals are directly impacted by the type of foods you eat. Foods that are chemically more complex like fats take longer to break down than foods with a simpler chemical structure like carbohydrates. Digestion time will, in turn, affect your appetite and the time between meals.

How Digestion Works

The digestive system includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. The primary function is to break down foods into chemicals that the body can use. The time for food to travel from the mouth to the stomach only takes about four to eight seconds. The main process of digestion occurs in the stomach where gastric juices go to work to metabolize foods. The type of food you eat will affect how long it stays in the stomach and thus, affect your appetite. Carbohydrates spend the least amount of time in the stomach, with fats remaining the longest.

System Control

Other systems of the body also play a role in digestion and can impact the time between meals. Hormones produced by the stomach and small intestine influence digestion through the release of enzymes. Two hormones will regulate your appetite and affect when you feel hungry again. The hormone, ghrelin, stimulates appetite, whereas peptide YY inhibits it. Stretch receptors on your stomach will trigger hormonal responses to stop eating. When your stomach is empty, which can occur soon after eating carbs, you will feel hunger quicker than after a meal high in proteins or fats.

Combining Food Choices

Combining food types is an effective way to keep you feeling sated longer. Carbohydrates combined with fats, for example, will leave you feeling fuller longer than had you eaten a meal containing only carbs. The reason goes back to stomach emptying and hormonal control over appetite. Carbs leave the stomach quicker, thus stimulating release of ghrelin to stimulate your appetite. Foods remain in the stomach between two and six hours, depending upon the type of foods you eat.

Special Considerations

If you are diabetic, you will need to eat frequent, smaller meals to help stabilize your blood sugar and avoid unsafe drops in glucose. The frequency is influenced by the foods you eat. If you eat foods high in carbs, your blood sugar will spike following the release of sugar. Insulin or other types of diabetes medication are needed to compensate for the effect of insulin to restore safe glucose levels. Diabetic individuals should plan on eating every three to four hours. If you are sensitive to the effects of glucose, you may also benefit from following a similar eating plan.