Good food combinations relieve symptoms
by Sue Kira, Naturopath & Clinical Nutritionist
Client name and identifying information changed
Melissa came to me suffering from all sorts of complaints including gas, bloating, constipation, headaches, menstrual pains and brain fog. Initially we checked to see if she had any parasites or SIBO and any imbalance in her good and bad bacteria.
We found a few things that were treated with the SIBO diet and a treatment plan which eradicated her bad bacteria and parasites, and we re-established good bacteria with probiotics into her digestive system. During the treatment, she felt much better and her symptoms almost vanished, but as soon as she reintroduced some of her ‘normal healthy foods’ into her diet, many of her symptoms returned.
Rather than just get a list of foods Melissa ate, I asked her to compile a food and symptoms diary so I could get a better idea of what was going on. When I saw the diary, her issues became obvious.
Melissa was combining fruit with proteins and carbs by adding fruit (mango or grapes) to chicken or salmon salads. Sometimes she had fruit for dessert after a meal; other times she had rice with protein meals such as in curries and stir-fries.
Now while many people eat this way and don’t seem to have any issues, for Melissa this was disastrous and no doubt triggered her gut bacteria imbalance in the first place. The unhealthy gut also affected her hormones and the fermentation gave her the headaches and brain fog.
The first trial was to keep the same foods in her diet, but to eat those foods at separate times, according to the food combining principles. Within only three days (which would have been after the previous foods had cleared from her system) Melissa found that she had no symptoms at all.
She could continue to eat all her favourite foods, provided they were in the right order and combinations.
No more food trials were needed…Melissa ‘nailed it’ first time, once she knew what to do.