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Food Combining – What Foods Go Together?



New research supports food combining for enhanced nutrient absorption. Mixing right foods together works synergistically.

New research supports food combining for enhanced nutrient absorption. Mixing right foods together works synergistically.

Food Combining – Interesting Nutritional Benefits

Food Combining, Food Synergy or Complementing Foods basically describe mixing 2 or more foods together in one sitting to derive greater nutrition.

You might have heard that food combining is useful, or useless. What is the real story?

Tomatoes, Avocados, Olive Oil
Well, consider this. If you eat tomatoes with a bit of fat from sources such as avocadoes or salad dressing, the lycopene in the tomato and lutein in leafy green vegetables are absorbed more easily.

Tomatoes and Broccoli
Another fascinating combining duo – tomatoes are broccoli. When consumed together, they work even more efficaciously than alone. Researchers do not yet know why. Could it be that the acids in the tomato augment the absorbtion of valuable broccoli components?

Could nutrients work better when hand in hand with other specific nutrients?

Apples, Raspberries and Grapes
According to a recent Cornell study, the scientists found that a MIX of apples, oranges, blueberries, grapes had a greater antioxidant response than each alone.  The study author states “no single antioxidant can replace the combination of natural phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables.”

Evidently apples and raspberries contain the flavanoid catechin, while raspberries contain the flavanoid, quercertin. When consumed together, the flavanoids work together more effectively as antioxidants than when consumed alone.

Squeeze of Lemon Juice and Salad
How about this: a squeeze of citrus on your salad helps with the absorption of vegetable iron. It seems that the vitamin C is the happy instigator. So, a lemony salad dressing may be more than just delicious.

Soy and Vitamin D
Did you read or hear that soy had negative health effects? Well, perhaps if eaten as soy flour, soy cheese and soy milk.

However, when eaten in reasonable amounts as naturally fermented tofu or edamame, they are perfectly fine and even increase the bioavailability of Vitamin D in the colon and prostate.

So eating foods high in Vitamin D such as salmon with your tofu could be a very good thing!

Whole Grain Bread and Peanut Butter
Some have said that protein combining is useless. However, when complementary proteins are present in the gut, the body is much more likely to use the full proteins together. That means the classic peanut butter and whole grain bread together provide full protein building blocks in one serving.

That means less chance of excreting useless nutrients that require other nutrients to work properly.

Rosemary and Red Meat
Rosemary is a wonderful antioxidant. Evidently, rosemary “soaks up” the dangerous free radicals found in roasted, grilled and charred meats.

More Combinations
Other great get togethers include eggs and cantaloupe, almonds and yogurt, seafood and garlic.

For more detailed information, click HERE to visit MSNBC’s comprehensive article. (Link opens new window : )

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