I know it’s hard to believe, but eating incompatible fruit combinations can make you sick. If you have been reading my articles on health, you probably already know that I am a strong advocate of a Mediterranean Diet that includes adequate amounts of fruits because they provide many essential vitamins and minerals for good health. So if that’s the case, how can you get sick from eating fruits? Because when you eat certain fruits in combination with other foods, your body produces toxins and chemical reactions that are harmful to your body. These toxins can cause illness.

Thus, the first rule is to pay attention to the different combinations that you can incur when eating fruits; correct combinations will promote health, while incorrect combinations will generate disease. This is due to certain incompatibilities between foods that can be classified into chemical and physical:

* Chemical incompatibility: One in which toxic elements are formed during the digestion process due to the fact that some of the nutrients found in the food that are part of the meal are chemically incompatible with each other.

* Physical incompatibility: One in which some foods slow down the digestion of others, causing the mixture to stay longer than necessary in the digestive tract, that is, in the stomach and intestines. An example would be eating acidic and starchy foods at the same meal.

Fruit sorting

It is important to know the different groups in which fruits are classified as this classification would help you to combine them properly. Fruits are generally classified as:

Sour fruit: These fruits are rich in acids. Not all acidic fruits contain citric acid as is the case with pineapple. Acidic fruits include oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, tangerines, lemons, tomatoes, kiwis, and strawberries.

Low acid fruit: The acids in these fruits are not as strong as those in acidic fruits. Low-acid fruits include apricots, plums, grapes, green apples, pears, nectarines, peaches, cherries, and mangoes.

Sweet fruit: These fruits do not contain acids. Among them we find ripe bananas, all nuts, ripe mangoes, custard apples, sweet grapes and figs.

Neutral fruit: They are the richest in proteins, vitamins, mineral salts and oils. Neutral fruits are avocados, papayas, and walnuts.

Be aware of certain mixtures between fruits.

Fresh fruits are easy to digest because they are low in protein, starches and fat, while they have a high content of water, enzymes and vitamins, characteristics that make them quickly absorbed through the intestine. Due to their rapid absorption, fruits should not be eaten immediately after meals, as they will settle on top of other foods in the stomach and ferment. This fermentation will cause toxins and poor digestion.

While it is best to eat fruits alone, they can be tolerated when eaten with other foods with similar digestive conditions. The following are some guidelines that you can observe when eating fruits to prevent toxin formation:

Acidic and slightly acidic fruits: It is better not to combine them with other foods. Especially do not combine them with sweet or starchy fruits such as potatoes, bread, rice, corn, crackers, cereals, pumpkin, lentils, or wheat. However, you can combine them with animal proteins such as red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, and nuts.

Sweet fruit: They can be combined with each other. Sweet fruits are not compatible with acidic ones; When acids mix with sugars, they stay longer in the intestine and toxic fermentation occurs. Also, glucose formation takes longer.

Do not mix sweet fruits with cheese, yogurt, nuts, seeds, beans, chicken, fish, red meat, eggs, and coconut.

Neutral fruit: Consuming neutral fruits (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts, etc.) and sweet fruits in the same meal will always cause indigestion that can damage the liver. When neutral fruit oils are combined with sweet fruit sugars, they produce toxic compounds that are harmful to the body’s cells. Neutral fruits can be combined with each other.

Combinations to avoid

1. Oranges and carrots: They can cause a malfunction of the liver. They increase bile production, increase substances that damage the kidneys, and can cause heartburn.

2. Pineapples and dairy products: This combination is quite toxic to the body.

3. Papayas and lemons: It can cause problems with hemoglobin, causing anemia.

General recommendations to follow when eating fruit

1. Eat fruit before a meal, not after

2. Don’t get carried away by acidic fruit juices

3. Don’t drink fruit juice after a meal. You can drink it an hour before your meal.

4. Do not mix fruits and vegetables in the same meal.

5. Do not mix oranges with other fruits.

6. Citrus fruits should be eaten in the morning.

7. Sweet fruits can be consumed at any time of the day.

8. Fruits must be eaten ripe. Unripe fruits become acidic in the body.

For a nutritious and tasty fruit salad, you can mix the following fruits: papaya, ripe mango, pears, figs, dates, red apple, peaches, banana, nectarines, and fresh cherries.

Final thoughts

Many scientific studies have shown that when people eat adequate amounts of fruit, there is a substantial decrease in many common chronic diseases. However, keep in mind that incompatible fruit combinations it can cause illness.

Have a wonderful and healthy day.

Emilia Klapp, BS, RD.