the processing and assimilation of various foods in the gastrointestinal tract. Specific digestive enzymes are required for the breakdown and digestion of various foods. When we eat only one type of food at a time, the enzymes work effectively, because nothing interferes with their work. Accordingly, the process of digestion and assimilation of food proceeds easily, without unnecessary expenditure of energy and pollution of the body. Food is digested fully and brings maximum benefits.

In the event that we eat mixed food, the work of enzymes is no longer as effective. Their activity is inhibited by other food and the enzymes released to process it. So, for example, fats and proteins interfere with the normal assimilation of each other. Fats inhibit the secretion of gastric juice necessary for the digestion of proteins. There is a violation of many biochemical processes, which leads to fermentation or even rotting of undigested food, excessive gas formation, indigestion and other unpleasant phenomena occur, indicating that the body is being poisoned by its own toxins.

To avoid all this, you should eat only compatible foods, the simultaneous digestion of which does not lead to disruption of the digestive tract. This does not mean that each product will have to be consumed separately from all the others. Shelton divided all products into groups. It is possible and even beneficial for digestion to combine some groups with each other, while others are categorically incompatible. The meaning of separate nutrition is to eat only well-combined substances.

Consider the classification of products proposed by Shelton.

1. Proteins.

This is a high protein food. This group includes:

- meat products (excluding fat), fish;

- low-fat dairy products (for example, kefir, yogurt or sour cream and cottage cheese with a low percentage of fat), cheese, low-fat cheese, eggs;

- dry beans and beans (including soybeans), peas, mushrooms, nuts, lentils.

It is easy to see that proteins are not at all exclusively food of animal origin (animal and vegetable proteins differ).

2. Carbohydrates.

These are products of predominantly vegetable origin.

They may be dominated by starch or sugar. The former include potatoes, cereals, pasta, flour, bread. The second - honey, sugar, syrups, etc.

3. Fats.

This group includes ghee and butter, fatty sour cream, cream, cheese, as well as all vegetable oils (sunflower, olive, corn, soybean, cottonseed, nut, etc.). In addition, the fat group includes lard, fatty meat and fish, and sometimes nuts with a high fat content.

4. Moderately starchy vegetables - rutabaga, cauliflower, goatbeard, carrots, beets, etc.

5. Non-starchy and green vegetables - asparagus, eggplant, bamboo shoots, mustard, green peas, white cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, fodder cabbage, garden cabbage, kohlrabi, watercress, lettuce, green turnip leaves, green beet leaves, onion, leek, cucumber, dandelion, sweet pepper, parsley, rhubarb, radish, turnip, lettuce, celery, asparagus, rape, summer pumpkin, chicory, garlic, spinach, sorrel, etc.

6. Sour fruits, vegetables and berries - pineapple, oranges, sour grapes, pomegranate, sour grapefruit, lemons, tangerines, peaches sour, tomatoes, sour plums, sour apples, etc.

7. Semi-acidic fruits and berries - apricots, sweet cherries, pears, fresh figs, mangoes, sweet peaches, sweet plums, blueberries, sweet apples, etc.

8. Sweet fruits and berries - bananas, muscat grapes, pears dried in the sun, raisins, figs, dates, persimmons, prunes.

In addition to these groups, Shelton singled out melons, watermelons and milk as completely incompatible with any other food groups. They should be used separately.

As a result of many years of work, Shelton identified the most unfavorable combinations that should be avoided.

Protein is protein. Two protein-rich products interfere with the normal digestion of each other and are not completely absorbed. The reason is that these products, although they belong to the same group, have different chemical composition, require different enzymes and their concentration.

Each product is digested at its own speed. Therefore, according to the principles of separate nutrition, you should not eat at one time, for example, meat and fish, meat and eggs, eggs and cheese, cheese and nuts, meat and nuts. You should not eat meat and dairy products together (for example, sausage with mayonnaise or beef with cheese), as dairy products also contain a lot of protein.

Proteins are carbohydrates. This ban means that it is harmful to eat meat, fish, cheese, mushrooms, nuts, eggs and other protein products at the same time with potatoes, bread, cereals, as well as sweets, including sweet fruits. This is because the processing in the gastrointestinal tract of proteins and carbohydrates is so different that in a mixed diet, they simply inhibit the digestion of each other. So, for the breakdown of proteins, a high concentration of hydrochloric acid contained in the gastric juice is necessary, and the absorption of carbohydrates requires an alkaline environment, produced mainly by the salivary glands. You already know from school chemistry lessons that alkali and acid neutralize each other. The food that enters the stomach ceases to be digested, and instead of assimilation of nutrients, fermentation of the undigested lump begins.

According to the principles of separate nutrition, foods rich in proteins and saturated with carbohydrates can only be consumed with an interval of 2-3 hours.

If, for example, you have to eat a cheese sandwich, then the best way out of this situation would be to eat cheese first, and after a while - bread. Then the cheese will enter the stomach earlier, and the gastric juice will not be neutralized by alkali. And then, when the cheese is digested, the hydrochloric acid will no longer be so concentrated, and the processing of bread, begun with salivary fluid, will continue successfully in the stomach. The assimilation of both products will be more complete. By the way, many children instinctively do this, eating cheese first, and then bread, while causing complaints from their parents: “Eat with bread!”.

Proteins are starches. Neutralization also occurs when protein foods are combined with starchy foods, which also require an alkaline environment. Therefore, meat is not recommended to be combined with dough products - pasta, noodles, and also used as a filling for pies.

Proteins are fats. Vegetable oils are not recommended to be combined with meat, butter and cream, eggs, nuts, cheese, etc. The fact is that fats inhibit the production of gastric juice. This significantly impairs overall digestive activity, and especially the processing of proteins, which are excreted almost undigested.

Carbohydrates are fats. Unfavorable is the combination of bread, and also confectionery with vegetable oils and heavy cream. Shelton excluded only bread and butter from this rule.

Sugar is starch. Sugar, jam, jam should not be eaten with potatoes, bread, various cereals. Shelton found that favorite jam pies, bread with fruit jam or chocolate paste, porridge with jam, sweet casseroles of cereals, pasta or potatoes lead to fermentation in the stomach. The reason is the poor compatibility of sugar and starch, which makes it difficult to process starchy foods.

Acid is protein. Sour fruits should not be consumed with meat, eggs and other protein products. But at first glance it should be the other way around: the additional acid will make the digestion of proteins easier. However, our body has provided enough of its own enzymes for the digestion of proteins, and outside interference will only interfere with it (of course, if the acidity of the stomach is normal). In addition, fruit takes about 20 minutes to digest, while meat takes much longer to process.

fruity acids will inhibit the natural production of gastric juice, which will inevitably disrupt the normal processing of protein. As a result, food, especially protein, is not completely digested. It will settle in the intestines in the form of toxins and fat and can cause fermentation and putrefaction, poisoning the body with toxic substances. By combining meat with fruits, you risk not only causing indigestion, constipation, and even intestinal pain, but over time, acquiring a lot of very serious diseases. Therefore, Shelton does not recommend eating, for example, tomatoes with eggs or cheese, and combining meat with tomato juice or fruit.

Therefore, no matter how exotic you are in such unusual dishes as chicken with lemon or meat with pineapple, try not to succumb to the temptation to feast on them. It is also not recommended to stuff vegetables with minced meat, especially with a lot of salt, spices, and spices.

Starch is starch. According to the principles of separate nutrition, it is allowed to consume only one type of food at a time, the main component of which is carbohydrates. So, for example, the joint use of potatoes, bread and sweet cake is unacceptable, since the stomach will “choose” only one product for processing and assimilation, and all the others will wait for their turn, interfering with other food and being fermented.

Acids are carbohydrates. Carbohydrates should not be combined with acidic fruits and vegetables. This means that potatoes, bread, sugar, honey, jam, and beans and peas should not be consumed at the same time as apples, plums, citrus fruits, sour grapes, sorrel, and tomatoes. The acid of these fruits and vegetables neutralizes the enzyme ptyalin, which exists in an alkaline environment and is necessary for the absorption of carbohydrates.

Melon and watermelon. As already mentioned, they should be consumed separately from other foods. Melon is not processed in the stomach, but only starting from the intestines. But often we combine melon with other products. In this case, the melon undergoes decomposition processes, promotes increased gas formation and provokes intestinal upset. Therefore, people mistakenly claim that melon is very "weak". This is not true. It can serve as a good "cleaner" of the gastrointestinal tract, without accompanying its work with unpleasant side effects, but only if eaten. separately. At least 2 hours should pass between the use of melon and other products. Then you can not be afraid of unpleasant consequences. To a lesser extent, the same applies to watermelons. Try eating