Who has never been embarrassed by flatulence?  Well this phenomena used to afflict me years ago especially in my childhood and teenage. So when I got the opportunity to investigate it, I jumped straight on and for a couple of years now it has never been an issue for me. I never have to worry about it. Truth be told, it is excusable for a child or teen to release gas in any environment. Not so for an adult.

Many people have gone into writing about this. Our friend, Benjamin Franklin, once wrote an essay on the subject, Fart Proudly, and send it to the Royal Academy of Brussels, in 1781.So you can rest assured it is a subject worth scrutinizing.

Well the answer lies in understanding food and food combinations.

Enough research has been done on this. Here are the basic rules of food combination.

1. Protein and Carbohydrate Concentrated Foods

Breakdown of protein requires an acid medium, and digestion of protein dense animal products requires high levels of hydrochloric acid. Since digestion of carbohydrate dense foods requires an alkaline medium in order to be broken down, high carbohydrate foods that have been mixed with high protein foods will  not  digest  but  will  sit  there  fermenting,  producing  indigestion,  bloating  and  gas.  And  since  this  fermentation  of  carbohydrates  will  inhibit  the  digestion  of  the protein, more gas, bloating and discomfort will be produced. A recipe for digestive disaster.

Most protein foods are best digested when accompanied by a fresh green salad. Other concentrated protein foods like nuts and seeds combine well with acid fruits such as oranges, pineapples blackberries, or strawberries.  They  also  work fairly  well with sub-acid  fruits  such  as  apples,  cherries,  OR mangoes. The  vitamin  C  in  these  fruits  aids  digestion  of  the  mixture.

2. Eating Two Concentrated Proteins Together

Each type of protein requires a specific character, strength and timing of digestive juice secretions. This means that no two types of concentrated protein should be consumed together at a meal. Nuts, meat, eggs, cheese, or other protein foods should not be eaten together.  And no two types of animal protein should be eaten together

3. Protein and Fats

Fats  inhibit  the  secretion  of  gastric  juices  needed  to  digest  meat, fish,  dairy  products,  nuts,  and  eggs  by  as  much as  fifty  percent.  When fat concentrated foods are  eaten  with  protein  concentrated  foods,  the  digestive  breakdown  of  the  fats  is  delayed  until  gastric  juices  complete  their  work  on  the  complex  proteins.  This means  fats  will  remain  undigested  in  the  stomach  for  a  long  period  of  time.  Although  some  high  protein  foods  also  contain  high  amounts  of  fat,  these  fats  will  be held in  suspension  awaiting breakdown without impeding  gastric action. However, free fats such as oil, butter and milk fat will coat the gastric mucosa, inhibiting gastric juice, and the reason why fried chicken hard to digest.

4. Acid Fruits with Carbohydrates

The enzyme in  saliva that  begins the  breakdown of starch  concentrated foods  in  the  mouth does the  important  job  of converting complex starch  molecules into  more simple  sugars.  In  order  to  work, the  enzyme  requires  a  neutral  or  slightly  alkaline  medium, the  natural  condition  found  in  the  mouth. When acid foods are eaten, the action of the enzyme needed to break down starch is halted because the medium needed has been altered. Thus acid fruits should not be eaten at the same meal as sweet fruits or other starches.  This combination is what makes spaghetti and other dishes combining tomatoes with starch so bloating.

5. Acid Fruits with Protein

Oranges, tomatoes, lemons, pineapples and other acid fruits can be easily digested and produce no distress when eaten away from starchy and protein foods. However, when included in a meal that contains a protein concentrated food, the acid fruits seriously hamper protein digestion. This is in part what makes a typical middle class family breakfast of orange juice, eggs and toast such a digestive nightmare.

6. Starch and Sugar

Eating  starches  that  have  been  disguised  as  sweets  is  not  a  good  way to  eat  starch.  Although  the  “treat”  produces  an  abundance  of  saliva,  the  saliva  contains none  of the  enzyme needed  to  digest the  starch  because the  sugar  has turned  the  environment acidic. The carbohydrates are ferment in the body, producing noxious gases.

7. Consuming Melons

Melons should not be consumed with any other foods.  Watermelon, etc. should always be eaten away from mealtime and alone.  Melons  are  meant  to  decompose  quickly  in  the  digestive  system,  which  is  what  they  will  do  if  there  is  no  interfering  with  the  process.

8. Consuming Milk

Milk is  best  left  to  babies  who  traditionally  consume  it  alone,  away  from  other  foods.  Milk does  not  digest  in  the  stomach,  but  in  the  duodenum,  so  the  presence of  milk  in  the  stomach  does  not  promote  secretion  of  gastric  juice.  The  use  of  acid  fruits  with  milk  does  not  cause  any  digestive  difficulty,  although  the  benefits  of the  antioxidant  potential  of  the  fruits  may  be  lost  due  to  the  affinity  they  have  for  the  protein  in  milk.

In Summary,

Foods in CAPITALS are the most difficult combinations.