food combining

[Bex]

ive looked into food combining and it makes perfect sence and id love to be able to plan my meals better.

The only problem is...exept for the obvious ones (toms, lemon, oil) how do you know if a food is acidic or alkaline?

also, whats the difference between a saltana and a raisen??

[rebeccaj]

oh you brits and your complicated language! : ) i have no idea what a saltana is, unless it's a specific type of dried grape. over here, we pretty much call all dried grapes raisins.

when i think of food combining, i don't really think in terms of alkaline or acid. i follow these basic rules:

1. no protein-dominant foods with starch (aka no meat with bread, easy since we're not doing either of those here)
2. no fats with fruit (with the exception of fats with citrus)
3. greens and non-sweet fruits mix with everything, depending on your tastes and constitution
4. watermelon only likes cucumbers and other curcubits (melons), but prefers to be selfish and have you all to itself

in other words, i'll make a green smoothie with greens and fruit, but not with greens, fruit and nuts. i'll have greens with nuts or with a seed dressing, and the seed dressing may be made with some citrus (like lemon-tahini or orange-pistachio or grapefruit-avocado). i'll have fruit by itself, especially watermelon, but i have to have pineapple in the presence of bananas in order to avoid the mouth burn. wait at least 20 minutes after eating sweet fruit before eating nuts, seeds or avocados. don't have sweet fruit for dessert after having a heavy nut/oil/fat meal - life's short, eat dessert first!

[Angie]

A sultana is a certain variety of raisin, I think?

Lemons seem obvious, but they're alkalizing to the body even though they are acidic in composition, so it depends which you're going for.

Regarding how they affect the body's pH, I've read that: Greens are alkalizing, most sweet fruits are fairly neutral, and acid-forming foods are mainly nuts, seeds & grains. The exception is almonds - they are a nut that is slightly alkalizing.

[Bex]

thanks folks!

[Robin]

I have been curious about this subject too! I saw a chart on someone's site and it didn't make any sense to me, Rebecca, your simplicity is easier to think in terms of. Thanks!

[Melissa]

Ashley gave me this web address awhile back and it's full of information. Enjoy!
www.raw-food-living.com/food-combining.html