Foods are typically combined to improve the flavor, nutritional value, and balance of a meal.
In fact, it is quite normal everywhere to combine different foods. But combining certain foods together can cause you more harm than good.
Choosing the incorrect foods together might result in a number of health and skin problems. We can preserve good digestive health and stop the buildup of toxins in the body by avoiding these combinations which is vital for good skin health.
What Determines Whether a Food Combination is Good or Bad?
There are two main factors that determine whether a combination of food is good or bad. They are:
- Rate of digestion or Time taken for digestion
- Condition required for digestion or pH compatibility
Certain foods take lesser time for digestion while others may take a lot of time for proper digestion.
Fruits generally digest faster whereas foods with high protein take much larger time to digest. Mixing foods of those two kinds is never a good thing to do.
Another theory is that some meals can only be properly digested in a pH environment with specific enzymes. Therefore, mixing foods that require an acidic environment and an alkaline one could make digestion considerably more difficult.
Why compatible food combination is important?
Better Nutrient Absorption
Some food combinations are believed to enhance the absorption of specific nutrients. For example, combining foods rich in vitamin C with iron-rich foods can improve the body’s ability to absorb iron.
Balanced Nutrition
Eating compatible food combinations often encourages a balanced diet that includes a variety of nutrients.
This can help ensure that you get a wide range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) to support overall health.
Digestive Comfort
Some people find that certain food combinations help reduce digestive discomfort, such as bloating or indigestion.
For example, combining protein with fiber-rich vegetables and whole grains may lead to slower digestion and reduced spikes in blood sugar.
Stable Blood Sugar Level
Food combinations that include a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats can help stabilize blood sugar levels.
Gut Health
Some compatible food combinations include probiotic-rich foods, prebiotics, and fiber, which can support a healthy gut microbiome. This is extremely crucial since a balanced gut microbiome is linked to various aspects of overall health, including digestion and immunity.
6 Worst Food Combinations
Bad food combinations not only cause health issues but also hinder the absorption of nutrients from the food. Here are some of the worst food combinations that you may wish to avoid if you want good skin and better overall health:
Salt and Milk
It is undoubtedly the worst food combination in terms of your skin’s health.
Throughout the course of my skincare journey, it was one of my worst blunders. Later, after doing a ton of study, I discovered that salt and skin are among the worst food combinations for your skin and health.
The combination of these two things can cause a harmful increase in the body’s internal energy. Ayurveda considers the combination of these two as highly incompatible.
The composition of sodium in salt interferes with the cuddling effect that occurs when milk reacts with acid inside the stomach. This causes a reaction with calcium ions which is responsible for the harmful effects of this combination.
Acne, eczema, dry and itchy skin, psoriasis and various other skin issues can be caused due to this food combination.
It’s crucial to remember that this combination’s effects on certain people may not be felt in a noticeable way. But if you are suffering from skin problems, you should start avoiding this food combination immediately.
Avoid eating salty snacks with milk, milk just after having a meal and using milk to make any kind of curries.
Milk and Fish
Both milk and fish are rich sources of protein. Digesting them, however, requires different enzymes due to their dissimilar compositions.
The digestive system is overworked as a result, which makes the blood acidic. This blood’s acidity may cause a variety of skin conditions, including leucoderma, skin pigmentation, spots, and allergies.
Water and Nuts
As everyone knows, nuts consist a lot of oil on them. Since water and oil never go well together, same is the case for the combination of water and nuts as well.
This food combination really affects digestion, thus hampering the gut health which in turn affects the skin health of the body.
Two High Proteins
Proteins generally take much larger time to digest. So, mixing two proteins can be a bad food combination for your health as it makes the stomach heavy and causes difficulty in proper digestion.
It may not always be a bad thing to combine two proteins together but the digestion difficulty that it may cause for some people can be severe. Hence, it would be a wiser option to maintain at least one hour gap in having those two high proteins.
Fruits with Meal
This is a quite controversial food combination.
Fruit is swiftly absorbed, passing through the stomach before being absorbed in the intestines. These fruits may ferment if they spend too much time in the digestive tract when consumed alongside grains, meats, or dried goods.
Among other issues, this can harm the lining of your intestine, thus affecting gut health.
There should be a minimum of 30 minutes of gap between fruit and meal intake.
Also Read: 7 Best Fruits for Skin Health
White Bread with Jam
White bread with jam may be a go-to breakfast for many of you out there but it is certainly not the healthiest one especially if you have skin issues.
Since white bread is a refined carbohydrate, it has been depleted of essential nutrients and fiber. Its combination with jam can quickly elevate blood sugar.
This causes a spike in insulin which in turn causes inflammation and an increase in androgen hormone production, which causes skin glands to generate more oil and raises your risk of developing acne.
Conclusion
Your diet is crucial for the health of your skin, and one of the underlying causes of your skin problems could be the food combinations you consume regularly. Start avoiding the food combinations mentioned above and trust me, it will significantly enhance the appearance of your skin.
And never forget the key takeaway from this article: milk products should never be consumed alongside salty snacks.
