o Improperly combined food
o Lack of digestive enzymes
o Slow digestion (unfriendly bacteria have more time to ferment
I’m sure that there are also other reasons for indigestion, but those that the ones I’m aware. They also are the ones you have the most control over.
Food combining seems to be another controversial topic. There are so many people with convincing arguments on both sides of the fence that one is bound to be confused. Over time I have been on both camps. Sometimes believing in food combining and at other times not giving a damn about it.
After doing quite a bit of research on how digestion works I think that I have come to a conclusion that makes sense. I can also confirm these things with personal experience.
First let's take a brief look what the food combining advocates say. Their basic principle is that certain foods (mainly proteins) require acidic medium to digest while others (mainly carbohydrates) require an alkaline medium. Acids and alkaline neutralise each others thus impairing the digestion of both.
Logically thinking this thing makes sense, but then one has to understand that stomach is always an acidic medium - regardless of what you put in there. Small intestine should always be slightly alkaline for optimal digestion.
Any food that's leaving from stomach will be acidic and pancreas secretes enzymes that neutralise those acids before they enter small intestine.
I do think that there is some truth in what food combining advocates say, but it's probably not quite simple what tell you.Let's examine what happens in your stomach during digestion.
Stomach doesn't have such a large role to play in digestion that many people think. Acids in your stomach begin the digestion of proteins and they also kill bacteria in present food. Stomach also regulates the amount of food that's being passed to your small intestine. Stomach has very little to do with digestion of carbohydrates, but a lot to do with digestion or proteins.
Pretty much the only role the stomach plays in digestion of carbohydrates is a temporary storage. What I mean with this is that carbohydrates sit in your stomach for about an hour during which digestive enzymes digest them up to 75%.
After this carbohydrates pass to small intestine for further digestion and absorption. Proteins sit in stomach for hours before they are ready to be passed to small intestine for further digestion.
For protein digestion to work optimally, your stomach pH-value must drop to 2 (extremely acidic). Higher pH-values can slow down or halt the digestion of proteins. However the digestive enzymes that should ‘predigest’ carbohydrates at the stomach are deactivated at such low pH-levels. Thus, very little ‘predigestion’ of carbohydrates takes place.
Let's see what happens in your stomach when both carbohydrates and proteins enter at the same time.Once you eat protein your stomach secretes hydrochloric acid to bring down the pH-value so that protein digestion can begin. Presence of carbohydrates and sugars (carbohydrates that have been converted to sugars by enzymes in your mouth) both inhibit the secretion of hydrochloric acid and combine with the hydrochloric acid.
There are two possibilities here (neither of which are good for you). Your stomach has to secrete more acid to bring down the pH-value. More acids mean more work for your pancreas to neutralise these acids. This places extra stress on your pancreas to produce these enzymes. In case you have deficiency of minerals required to produce these enzymes food entering your small intestine may be too acidic for optimal digestion.
Alternatively the pH-value in your stomach remains higher than optimal. This means that protein digestion is slower and may not be complete. The higher the pH-value in your stomach the longer it takes for proteins to digest.
Meanwhile enzymes that should ‘predigest’ carbohydrates are deactivated by low pH-levels and thus carbohydrates are not being ‘predigested’ at all.
The role of bacteria in your stomachDespite being highly acidic terrain your stomach does have bacteria. These bacteria ferment sugars and starches and putrefy proteins that are sitting in your stomach.
I haven't ready any studies on this one, but if you put partially fermented or putrefied food into your small intestine common sense says that it can't be good for digestion. Enzymes in your small intestine are not meant to work on partly fermented carbohydrates or putrefied proteins.
If you read some books on food combining you'll notice that it can get very complicated and that there are many rules. I haven't done any research on digestive implications of other rules besides the above mentioned carbs and proteins.
From personal experience I can say the following:o Don't eat carbohydrates and proteins together
o Fats don't agree with carbohydrates
o Fruits should be eaten alone
o Simples combinations always result in faster and smoother
o Raw vegetables can be eaten with anything
Please note that those are not hard rules based on scientific studies. I have come to those conclusions by observing my own body after eating various food combinations.
Fruits are very high in sugars and are digested very quickly. If you eat fruits together with foods that take longer to digest the longer fruits will have to wait and the more time bacteria have to ferment them.
Using this same analogy any foods that digest quickly should not be eaten together with foods that take long time to digest.Try it out for yourself
As there are so many opinions and arguments on food combining it's best to try it out yourself. Different people are likely to react differently to different combinations so I would really encourage your to test and see which combinations are good for you.
It's best to do these tests after detoxing. I have noticed that my body is far more sensitive to these things after fasting or detoxing. After detox you are usually full of energy and it's easier to notice things that drain your energy or cause nausea and gas. If you are interested here are couple of links to good articles about food combining. Take a look at them and see what makes sense to you:
o
http://www.drkaslow.com/html/food_combining.html
o
http://www.drbass.com/sequential.html
o
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=112
97§ionid=46
o
http://www.medanth.org/case_studies/rush01.htm
o
http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/pdf/foodcombining.pdf
Lack of digestive enzymes and other micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc) is probably another (along with improper food combinations) major cause of indigestion. Enzymes are required to start the chemical reactions that break food into smaller and smaller 'pieces'. Enzymes also require vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients to function properly.
Some of these can be manufactured in your body, but some has to come from your diet.Lack of these enzymes and other micronutrients slows down or halts the digestion process. This gives harmful bacteria time to putrefy the food.
These enzymes and micronutrients are very perishable and are easily destroyed by processing. Cooking above 118 Fahrenheit destroys practically all the enzymes in food.
Much of our soil is so depleted that farm crops depend entirely on the chemical fertilizers they are fed to grow. That means that the food we eat is totally devoid of virtually all trace minerals and micronutrients that we require for proper digestion and survival.
I'm sure that you know that digestion begins in your mouth. Digestive enzymes are secreted while the food is in your mouth. To get enough digestive enzymes to the food you should chew it properly (anywhere between 30 to 40 times).
If you don't chew your food properly it means that it leaves your mouth without sufficient amount of digestive enzymes. This slows down the digestion process in your stomach and possibly also in the small intestine.
Food takes too long to digestTo put it simply, the longer food stays in your digestive track the more time the ever-present harmful bacteria have to ferment it.
Insufficient amount if digestive enzymes and other micronutrients is one reason digestion takes longer, but there can also be other reasons for it.
Eating too much food at one time naturally places more stress on your digestion and ensures that you have food in your digestive track longer.
Diet low in fibre is another main reason for long 'transit times'. Fibre is very bulk forming and pushes food faster through the digestive track.
Stress can be another factor slowing down the digestion. One reason for this is that stress reduces the secretion of stomach acids required for digestion of proteins. It is very much possible that stress has an effect of secretion of digestive enzymes from pancreas. Stress also affects hormone production, and these extra hormones are deactivated in your liver and potentially reduce your liver's capacity to neutralise toxins and other chemicals.
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