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Ever experienced indigestion, bloating, or gas after eating at a buffet? Blame it on the combination of tempting food that you indulged in. According to Ayurveda, each food has its own taste or rasa, a heating or cooling energy or virya, and post-digestive effect or vipak.
When you have a combination of two or more incompatible food or virudh aahar, it disturbs the digestive fire or agni in your body. As a defense mechanism, the body then generates extra water or kleda to help restore its natural state. Combining mismatched food also releases toxins or ama in the body. The after-effects of this process include various skin conditions, issues related to digestion, and so on.
Therefore, you should combine food properly. Doing so will lead to better insights, healing, and overall health. Compatible food combination is one of the powerful ways to improve your digestion and well-being.
Adopting a Balanced Approach
Now that you’ve got a better understanding of the concept of food combination, the first step is to start small. Your awareness of your needs and habits will help you to evolve to an approach that works best for you.
Maintain a journal for a week or two to track your meals. Write down the changes you observed in your energy levels, your digestion, and your elimination. Piece the vital information together. This will help you to identify the improper food combinations that you might be having. But, be slow and steady.
On some days, you will be able to change your diet successfully. But on other days, you will meet internal resistance. Be gentle and compassionate towards yourself.
A helpful guide
The following list highlights the food that we consume daily. It also shows the right and wrong pairing of food. However, take it as a reference point. The key is to become aware of the food combination that doesn’t suit your body, which would be different for each one of us.
The food items might repeat themselves, but the purpose is to give you an overall picture of food combination.
| Compatible with | Food | Incompatible with |
| Grains, vegetables, other beans, nuts, and seeds | Beans | Fruits, cheese, eggs, fish, milk, meat, and yogurt |
| Grains and vegetables | Cheese | Fruits, beans, eggs, milk, yogurt, and hot drinks |
| Grains and non-starchy vegetables
|
Eggs | Fruits especially melons, beans, cheese, fish, khichdi, milk, meat, and yogurt |
| Similar quality fruits (For instance, apples and pears) | Fruits | Any other food |
| Beans, vegetables, other grains, eggs, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, cheese, and yogurt | Grains | Fruits and tapioca |
| Most foods | Hot drinks | Mangoes, cheese, fish, meat, starch, and yogurt |
| Other leftovers from the same meal, preferably not more than 24 hours old | Leftovers | Freshly cooked food |
| Rice, oatmeal, dates, and almonds | Milk | Any other food |
| Grains, beans, other vegetables, cheese, yogurt, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, and eggs | Vegetables | Fruits and milk |
If you’ve read the list carefully, you’ll see that it is simple and intuitive to follow. For instance, it makes sense to have cheese with vegetables than with milk. Moreover, don’t have your last night’s leftovers with today’s freshly prepared lunch.
So, do you think you can change your approach towards your diet? Or, have you experienced any irritation in your tummy because of any of the incompatible combinations mentioned above? Do tell us in the comment section below.
