The Properly Combined Sandwich

I adore fresh salads and generally rely upon them as my midday meal of choice. But sometimes I get tired of eating salad every afternoon, simply because I want to take a break from using utensils! In such cases, I want my salad to be somehow contained in a neat tidy package, so I can pick it up and just bite in with freedom and abandon. What I really want is... a sandwich!

Of course, sandwiches are usually made with bread, a food item that rarely appears in my dietary repertoire. This is why I love the Veggie Wrap concept. Any salad combo can be rolled into a nori sheet or large green leaf (think cabbage, collard or romaine) to create a satisfying sandwich sub.

Typically when I don't want the salad in a bowl, I wrap it up this way. But there are days when I crave something more substantial to accompany my fresh raw greens, something chewy and grainy...hmmm. What could that be? Bread, perhaps?

We all know that a standard sandwich involves bread plus a protein filling, say peanut butter, cheese or meat. The problem here is that, as explained in an earlier post, eating bread with protein is a no-no. Starches don't combine well with proteins due to the conflicting types of digestive enzyme environments they require (alkaline for starches, acid for proteins). Eating them together overburdens the digestive system, saps your energy for hours to follow and can lead to gas, bloating and weight gain. The best thing to combine with starches (or proteins, for that matter) is vegetables alone. So what's a lunchtime sandwich craver to do?

Enter the Properly Combined Sandwich (PCS). Basically, this is simply a raw vegetable sandwich on whole grain bread with condiments and avocado, if desired. (The veggies are usually raw but you can use cooked veggies as well from time to time.) To my knowledge, the official PCS title was coined by Harvey Diamond, a natural hygiene proponent, in his bestselling 1985 book Fit for Life. You'll see it used by many others as well, because, well, the concept is here to stay!

So. To create a Properly Combined Sandwich, start with the highest quality 100% sprouted grain bread or 100% whole spelt bread (or wraps) available. Perhaps your local natural bakery can be of service here. If not, both the Alvarado Street Bakery and Food for Life companies make tasty sprouted grain breads, bagels and tortillas that may be found in the freezer section of many grocery stores across the country.

Next, consider fillings. While raw veggies like tomato, lettuce, sprouts are famous typical sandwich supporting players, in the Properly Combined Sandwich they earn starring roles. And top billing goes to that most creamy and delectable of starch-friendly vegetable-fruits, the avocado. (I eat avocados every day I can get my hands on them - they are one of my favorite foods...)

Condiments like stone ground or dijon mustard, organic salsa and miso can also be important features in the Properly Combined Sandwich. Spread a little mustard on your sprouted grain bread, add a layer of sliced avocado and pile high with veggies of your choice: spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, tomato, sprouts, grated carrot, chopped garlic, parsley, red onion, cilantro - the sky's the limit.

I recommend eating one or two open faced sandwiches rather than a single two-slice number to maximize your raw veggie intake. Place a flat leaf of lettuce on top if you need something to hold onto. Alternatively, toss a raw salad with your favorite dressing, add avocado and spoon into a sprouted grain tortilla lightly spread with mellow white miso. Roll, wrap and eat - incredible! Or fill a corn tortilla with chopped lettuce, avocado, green onion and salsa to create a soft taco style sandwich.

A Properly Combined Sandwich is fresh, colorful and delicious. Best of all, it digests beautifully, so it won't cause you to bloat up or gain excess weight. In fact, you may even lose weight eating this way. And with so many veggies to use for fillings, the Properly Combined Sandwich never gets boring! Just remember to save any dense protein items (hummus, raw goat cheese, almond butter) for your starch-free green leaf and nori wraps.

Food Combining Part Two: Reunited!

Gosh - where does the time go? It seems I just posted that last blog and suddenly it's a month later. My apologies to Sarah P. and all my other dear readers for this delay. OK - here we go with Part Two of my Exciting Adventures in Food Combining!

We left off in the late 1970's, with me as a newly minted vegetarian and fledgling raw fooder, about to leave the comfortable nest of home and embark on life. Fast forward two decades and a bundle of dietary evolution. It’s a rainy day near the end of the millennium and I’m staying dry by hanging out in Barnes & Noble, browsing the health section (of course). Still somewhat of a nutritional iconoclast (but thankfully less so, as Whole Foods culture is spreading nicely into the wider population) I must admit I haven't given much thought to Food Combining in some time. So: imagine my delight at finding the decidedly non-fringe, celebrity personality, Suzanne Somers, promoting this VERY approach in Eat Great, Lose Weight, the initial book in her “Somersize” series!

Somers' book was the first official mention of food combining that I, personally, had seen since my early health-seeking days. Of course, if I had been paying any attention to mainstream culture in the 1980’s, I surely could not have missed Fit for Life, Harvey and Marilyn Diamond’s massive bestseller whose sensible nutritional lifestyle program promotes food combining as a core foundational principle. Anyway, there in the homey glow of the cozy Barnes and Noble aisles, on that dark and rainy day, I stood entranced, gobbling up Suzanne’s choice tidbits with hungry glee. I especially remember being thrilled by her sophisticated European initiation into the mysteries of food combining, originally presented to her as a means for lasting weight loss and digestive support.

OK, so that was exciting, and then life went on. More years passed with no food combining encounters until 2005, not coincidentally the year my first book came out, as I was investigating other detox books for comparison. That search led me to Natalia Rose’s The Raw Food Detox Diet, where food combining principles appear under the alias “Quick Exit Combinations.”

I am eternally grateful to Natalia Rose for her brilliant book, as it helped lead me back full circle to raw foods, properly combined meals, and the superior health and energy I currently enjoy. (Meanwhile, as with all things Natalia, her pared-down, Quick-Exit version of food combining is one of the most practical and easy to follow, hence highly recommended.)

So, that’s my story, minus about ten thousand details! But the point is, and what I find extremely interesting in all this, is that food combining keeps coming around – whether it’s the 1940’s, the 1970’s or the 2000’s. Even more curious is that while a small number of insightful authors and nutrition experts across the decades have placed food combining at the very epicenter of their programs, many more, if not most others completely ignore it! Typically, hard science disregards food combining entirely. For example, my rigorous graduate degree program in human nutrition focused intensely on nutritional biochemistry and evidence-based nutritional therapeutics, but made no mention of food combining, despite the fact that it is reputed to have helped improve the health and digestion of thousands of people!

This begs the question, is food combining simply a pop culture fad that just won’t die–an unproven philosophy grounded in common sense wisdom but not science? Or is it something more?

After much thought, research and personal experimentation, I would have to answer no to the first question, and yes to the second. There is a great deal of truth and scientific validity in food combining, but for some reason, we don’t have many studies to back it up. And in this day and age, “sound science,” as both phraseology and concept, is often considered synonymous with and dependent upon published research studies.

I differ with this definition of “real” science as, in my understanding, the scientific method in its pure and original form is a method based on OBSERVATION, not corporate funded research. Hence, if we can OBSERVE results in our own body through the practice of food combining, we have the makings of a scientifically sound principle.

The purpose of food combining is elegantly simple: to FREE UP ENERGY in the body by SUPPORTING EFFICIENT DIGESTION and assimilation of food. This intended outcome is easy to observe from day to day, particularly in those with irritable bowel, GERD or other issues of digestive distress, as well as those who have trouble losing weight or suffering from chronic low energy. The quick results you get with food combining make it a perfect candidate for personal scientific experimentation. As a bonus, no laboratory is needed, other than one’s own body!

As noted in my previous post, two of the most important food combining rules are to eat fruit alone, and to eat starches and proteins at separate meals. There are numerous exceptions, though (for instance, DRIED fruits combine well with nuts), and countless "sub-rules" as well, in which I urge you to not get too entangled. Apply the basics, see how you feel, and take it from there.

Basic Food Combining Principles Chart © 2008 Diana Allen, MS, CNS

To help you get started, here's a chart that outlines the basic principles. Use it as a visual aid to see what goes with what. Feel free to combine foods in immediately connecting categories, and avoid eating foods from unattached categories. Above all, have fun with it!

May this and all your dietary efforts serve to increase your health and happiness.

Yours in the abundant light of wellness,

Diana ☺