Are you sure your stomach is working properly and digesting everything you offer it?

“Man fills no vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to have a few mouthfuls to give him the strength he needs. If he has to fill his stomach, then let him leave one-third for food, one-third for drink and one-third for air.” (Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah)

There are so many organs in our body that we are not sure if they are being utilized as they should be. Considering the core part of the human system, stomach is the root to a healthy energetic body that we all crave for. The food we eat can make it tight or light based on its ability to digest it. My concern in the stomach digesting everything you offer it is what exactly we offer our tummies everyday so that they remain kind to us.

I’m a craving food lover and simply love combining different kinds of food items together to give the yummiest taste. However, it soon dawned upon me that where there are etiquettes to eating food there are also etiquettes to combining them as well. It’s not that improper food combination will make us sick but a proper food combination is necessary so that our stomach remain at ease, digests properly and does not ask for more unnecessarily.

Food combination is important because of nutrition a particular type of food provides which can delineate the effect of the other type of food combined with it. Food is easily digested when combined properly. Otherwise the stomach can acquire the habit of indigestion which can create problems like constipation, PH level unbalancing, allergic reactions, vomiting, diarrhea and other digestive troubles.

Fruits and Food

Many of us do not realize but fruits are not effective when combined with meals. They should be eaten wholly and separately. Firstly they are appetizers and second they can delay the digestion process when taken with meals. Fruits are also known to be pre-digested i.e. they digest in the intestines. So its better to eat them before meals rather than after. Acidity usually occurs when such combinations of whole foods with other foods are made. Same is the case with sugar with proteins, starches and carbs.

Milk Wholly and Solely

Similarly milk is something that should be taken alone or at a time when you do not have to eat for several hours. It prolongs the digestion process when taken with food specially starchy food and because milk itself is a wholesome food it doesn’t combine well with other foods. So milk with rice, bread, fish, meat, egg and fruits is a very bad combination to eat.

[pullquote_right]Milk with rice, bread, fish, meat, egg and fruits is a very bad combination to eat.[/pullquote_right]

Proteins Without Carbs and Vice Versa

Research shows that proteins should not be eaten with carbohydrates or starchy food. I was recently having a study on high protein diets that body builders take. They are advised to eat protein rich food without carbs because the carbs loosen the muscles in the body creating unwanted fats, thus its difficult to digest both proteins and starchy food together. Give at least a half hour break if you want to eat them.

Some Prophetic Combinations

Our Prophet SAW also emphasized on certain combinations of food.

“The Prophet (SAW) forbade (mixing) unripe dates and dried dates, and (mixing) raisins and dried dates” (Bukhari)

Ummal Mu’minin Aisha RTA narrated, “The Apostle of Allah (SAW) used to eat melon with fresh dates, and he used to say, ‘The heat of the one is broken by the coolness of the other, and the coolness of the one by the heat of the other.’ (Bukhari)

[pullquote_left]The Prophet (SAW) forbade (mixing) unripe dates and dried dates, and (mixing) raisins and dried dates[/pullquote_left]

Some weak tradition also shows that Prophet SAW never combined fish and milk. He used to combine dates with bread sometimes. At other times He mixed ripe dates with cucumber, or dates combined with ghee. There are also some examples of Him drinking nothing during meals

“The Apostle of Allah (SAW) came out from the valley of a mountain, there were some dried dates on a shield before us. We called him and he ate with us. He did not touch water.” (Bukhari)

So you may be eating the best food but the wrong combination will can do more harm than its tempting taste. For more deep insight on how you should combine food, this chart may help.

 

Sadaf Siddique
Sadaf Siddique holds a degree in Computers and a Masters in Business Administration. She is the mother of a 2-year-old boy, a part-time writer and a full-time homemaker.