The Beauty Detox Solution by Kimberly Snyder Page A

natural healing center. Ivan Pavlov (well-known for his research about dogs and conditioned response) outlined the fundamental concepts of proper food combining in his book The Work of the Digestive Glands, first published in 1902. And Dr. Philip Norman, a prominent gastroenterologist and professor in his time, wrote about the principles of food combining and its key benefits, namely, making digestion more effective. 14 The popular 1980s book Fit for Life, by natural hygienists Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, also advocates food combining, as do many of Dr. Norman Walker’s writings. 15
    So how does Beauty Food Pairing work? Let’s get right into it!
    BEAUTY RULE #1: OUR BODIES CAN PROPERLY DIGEST ONLY ONE CONCENTRATED, NON-WATER-CONTAINING FOOD AT A TIME.
    To understand this rule, it helps to think back to the gorilla in Chapter 1. That gorilla eats a fairly simple diet, with alkaline, water-based foods at the heart of it: fresh fruits and vegetables. The more simple our meals are, the better digestion will be.
    One way to think about eating simpler foods is to classify foods as concentrated and non-concentrated. Concentrated foods are foods that do not contain any water. They include all proteins and starches. Non-concentrated foods are water-containing foods. The only truly non-concentrated foods are ripe fruits and non-starch vegetables.
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Non-Concentrated Foods
Concentrated Foods
Ripe fruit
All starches (grains, starchy vegetables, breads, etc.)
Non-starch vegetables
All proteins (fish, chicken, meat, seeds, nuts, etc.)
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    To sum up, anything that is not a fruit or a non-starch vegetable is a concentrated food. Anything come to mind? Yes, I thought so! A few random examples are nuts, bagels, yogurt, toast, scrambled eggs, ice cream, flax crackers, peanut butter, lobster, etc.
    The stomach secretes different kinds of juices when we eat different kinds of foods. Non-concentrated foods are much simpler for the body to digest than concentrated foods. We can handle most concentrated foods pretty well, but we can eat only one type at a time in order to maximize digestion. It is a huge Beauty Energy drain to ask our bodies to eat two different types of concentrated foods at one time. The two main types of concentrated foods that we will discuss first are starches and proteins, which leads us to the next Beauty Rule….
    BEAUTY RULE #2: PROTEINS AND STARCHES DON’T MIX.
    As you read these words, perhaps some favorite or long-accepted food combinations pop into your head: bagels and cream cheese, turkey sandwiches, eggs with toast, sushi rolls, grilled fish and wild rice, filet mignon and potatoes au gratin, chicken pad thai…. Yep, these are all improper food combinations.
    I hate to be the bearer of bad news, except that I know that it is in your best interest to be aware of this now. Forget the past, and forget all the years of improperly combining foods. When we have new information, we change! And, remember Melanie’s story—we don’t have to say goodbye to our favorite comfort foods. We can eat them in moderation, but just not all of them at the same time.
    To understand why protein and starches don’t pair well together, you have to understand how these concentrated foods digest.
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    PROTEIN: In the stomach a concentrated protein requires an acidic environment to be broken down, an environment that includes hydrochloric acid and an enzyme called pepsin.
    Examples of Protein:

    STARCH: The breakdown of starch starts with an enzyme called ptyalin (salivary amylase), which can efficiently act only in an alkaline medium.
    Examples of Starch:

    Now think back to high school chemistry class. What happens when an acid and an alkaline are put together? They neutralize each other. To use the words of Dr. Norman Walker, eating carbohydrates with protein at the same time results in a “serious chemical situation to contend with.” 16
    Since the food is not breaking down naturally, what