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Appendices: The broad botanical definition of fruit versus the culinary

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Appendices: Food Combining

Appendices: The broad botanical definition of fruit versus the culinary

In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant. In cuisine, when discussing fruit as food, the term usually refers to just those plant fruits that are sweet and fleshy, examples of which would be plum, apple, and orange. However, a great many culinary vegetables, as well as nuts and grains, are the fruit of the plants they come from.
Fruits that might not be considered such in a culinary context include gourds such as squash and pumpkin, maize, tomatoes, and green peppers. These are fruits to a botanist, but are generally treated as vegetables in cooking. Some spices, such as allspice and nutmeg, are fruits. Rarely, culinary "fruits" are not fruits in the botanical sense, such as rhubarb in which only the astringent stalk, or petiole, is edible.
The term false fruit is sometimes applied to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones.
With most fruits pollination is a vital part of fruit culture, and the lack of knowledge of pollinators and pollenizers can contribute to poor crops or poor quality crops. In a few species, the fruit may develop in the absence of pollination/fertilization, a process known as parthenocarpy. Such fruits are seedless. A plant that does not produce fruit is known as acarpous, meaning essentially "without a developing ovule-bearing structure".

Appendices: Food Combining

Major reference in this book: “It’s a gas! -Fermentation during digestion”-

If one experiences stomach gas after eating, combinations can be improved to avoid gas, with reference to the guidelines.

Sprouted foods have begun to transform into veggies, allowing combinations more like those for veggies. Highly acidic ferments, including cheeses, may not combine well with sweet fruits or other carbohydrates, since a less acidic medium aids in the digestion of sweet fruits and carbohydrates. Mild ferments may combine okay with sweet fruits. (Please see “Appendices: Recipes- Super Easy Non-Dairy Nut Cheese Spread”.) The enzyme lipase in ferments does help break apart fats (lipids). (Please see “Appendices: Sprouting”.)

Starchy foods do not combine well with protein since they require less acid in the stomach than protein. Probiotics may not combine well with denatured cooked starches since the bacteria produce lactic acid in the otherwise less acidic cardiac stomach, making it more acidic than is optimal for amylase to break down the starches. Therefore the body needs to redirect blood flow to the stomach to support increased gastric activity, causing sluggishness elsewhere and a need to rest. Such starches may not combine well with fermented sauerkraut due to its high content of lactic acid.

Protein does not combine well with fruits since the fruits’ acidity hinders the release of hydrochloric acid, slowing the digestion of protein. Rapidly digested fruits may ferment if retained in the stomach by either starch or protein. Melon gets digested very rapidly, so that it needs to get eaten alone. (Please see “It’s a gas! -Fermentation during digestion”.)

The following is from The Raw Secrets by Frédéric Patenaude (ISBN 0-9730930-0-5 www.fredericpatenaude.com).

Food Combining Simplified to 3 Simple Rules when eating mostly whole, unrefined plant foods including many raw:

1-DO NOT COMBINE FAT WITH SUGAR-This is probably the most important rule to follow. The combination of fat (or protein) with sugar encourages fermentation. Some authors allow combining an acid fruit (such as an orange) with a fat (such as nuts or avocado). Although this combination isn’t the worst, it still isn’t optimal and often creates digestive problems. Examples of this combination: dates with nuts, dried fruits with avocado, avocado with sweet fruits, a fruit salad with coconut, etc. etc.

2-DO NOT COMBINE ACID FOODS WITH STARCH-Acid with starch is a pretty bad combination. The acidity literally stops the digestion of starches, or makes it much more difficult (and sometimes painful). Examples of this combination: mixing tomatoes with (cooked) potatoes, the classic tomato-sandwich, but also mixing bananas with oranges. Oranges contain much acidity and bananas still contain starch, even when they are ripe. Bananas combine better with fruits that contain less acidity (sweet apples, mangoes, etc.).

3-DO NOT COMBINE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FATTY FOODS WITHIN ONE MEAL-Fatty foods are quite difficult to digest. When many of them are present within a meal, digestion is considerably slower. Examples of this combination: nuts with avocados, nuts with an oil, coconut with avocado, coconut with other types of nuts, etc.

A more detailed approach:

Good = “Combine well”, Fair = “May combine”, Poor = “Do not combine”

Food Combining Chart

Food Groups	Avoca-dos	Nuts and Seeds	Oils and Fats	Starchy Veggies	No/Low Starch Vegetables	Sweet Fruits	Sub-acid Fruits	Acid Fruits
Avocados	Good	Poor	Fair	Fair	Good	Poor	Poor	Fair
Nuts + Seeds	Poor	Good	Poor	Poor	Good	Poor	Poor	Poor
Oils + Fats	Fair	Poor	Good	Fair	Good	Poor	Poor	Poor
Starchy Vegetables	Fair	Poor	Fair	Good	Good	Poor	Poor	Poor
No/Low Starch Veggies	Good	Good	Good	Good	Good	Fair	Fair	Fair
Sweet Fruits	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Fair	Fair
Sub-acid Fruits	Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor	Fair	Fair	Good	Good
Acid Fruits	Fair	Poor	Poor	Poor	Fair	Fair	Good	Good

Food Categories: Fruits

Acid: citrus, pineapple, lemon, tomato, etc.

Sub-Acid: mild tree fruits, such as peach, apple, apricot, cherry, cherimoya, pear, etc.

Sweet: banana, papaya, fig, raisins, date, persimmon, many tropical non-acidic fruits, and dried fruits.

Melons occupy a separate category from the other fruits for this purpose.

Vegetables

No/low Starch: cucumber*, bell pepper*, dark greens (spinach, kale, etc.), cabbage, raw carrot and jícama.

Celery and lettuce

Starchy (cooked): potato, yam, carrot, steamed vegetables.

*These foods are technically fruits, but are included in this category because of their composition.

Fatty foods

Fruits: avocado, fresh olives.

Nuts and Seeds: walnuts, almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, etc.

Oils and Fats: preserved olives, oils and butter.

Simplified Food Combining: Combination proprieties

Combine well = This combination is good with normal quantities of food.

May combine = This combination could be accepted by some people, but there are some reasons to avoid it for many.

Do not combine = This combination should be avoided.

Combination proprieties: Sweet fruits

Combine well with other varieties of sweet fruits, celery and lettuce. They may combine with acid fruits, melons, sub-acid fruits, non-starchy vegetables. They do not combine well with starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, avocados, oils and fats.

Acid fruits

Combine well with other varieties of acid fruits, sub-acid fruits, celery and lettuce. They may combine with non-starchy vegetables and avocados. They do not combine well with starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils and fats.

Melons

They combine well with other varieties of melons, celery and lettuce. They may combine with sweet fruits. They do not combine well with any other foods.

Non-starchy vegetables

They combine well with all other vegetables, nuts, seeds, avocados, fats and oils. They may combine with fruit.

Lettuce and celery

They combine well with everything.

Starchy vegetables

They combine well with all vegetables. They may combine with avocado, oils and fats. They do not combine well with fruits, nuts and seeds.

Nuts and seeds

They combine well with non-starchy vegetables (including celery and lettuce). They combine very well with tomatoes. They do not combine well with starchy vegetables, fruit, avocados, oils and fats.

Avocado

Combines well with non-starchy vegetables (including celery and lettuce). It may combine with starchy vegetables, acid fruits, and oils. It does not combine well with nuts, seeds, sub-acid fruits and melons.

Oils and Fats

They combine well with non-starchy vegetables (including celery and lettuce). They may combine with starchy vegetables and avocados. They do not combine well with fruit, nuts and seeds.

Transition Foods (Here “transition” means to unrefined living foods.)

Yogurt (soy or dairy*)

Combines with acid fruit, lettuce, celery and other non-starchy vegetables.

*Please see “Dairy dubious for health”.

Sprouted bread

Combines with non-starchy vegetables and may combine with acid fruit.

Combining Inferior Foods

Meat and fish (not recommended for robust long term health): Eat in very small quantities if at all, one kind only. They combine with low starch vegetables only (including celery and lettuce).

Bread: Eat as little as possible. Combines with vegetables, and fats [for a very high calorie, low nutrient density snack].

Other cereals: Eat as little as possible. Combines with vegetables only.

Junk food (crackers and chips, candy, pastries, chocolate, etc.): These items do not combine with anything. If you happen to eat them, eat them away from the healthy meals so that digestion is not hindered.

Simply put: a) Do not mix nuts and seeds with sweet fruit. b) Do not mix avocado with sweet fruit. c) Do not mix an acid with a (cooked) starch. d) Do not mix bananas and acidic fruits (oranges, etc.) e) Do not mix starchy vegetables with fruits.

Most other rules are not really important. For example, melons can be combined with most other fruits, without much problem, especially if they are eaten before other fruits. Most sweet fruits can combine with juicy fruits. Tomatoes can combine with most fruits (except bananas).

The following is from “Beyond Health” (www.chetday.com/articlemenu.html).

Food Combining Chart

Food Groups	Proteins	Fats	Starches	Vegetables	Sweet Fruits	Sub-acid Fruits	Acid Fruits
Proteins	Good	Poor	Poor	Good	Poor	Fair	Good
Fats	Poor	Good	Fair	Good	Fair	Fair	Fair
Starches	Poor	Fair	Good	Good	Fair	Fair	Poor
Vegetables	Good	Good	Good	Good	Poor	Poor	Poor
Sweet Fruits	Poor	Fair	Fair	Poor	Good	Good	Poor
Sub-acid Fruits	Fair	Fair	Fair	Poor	Good	Good	Good
Acid Fruits	Good	Fair	Poor	Poor	Poor	Good	Good

Please note that the combinations regarding starch in the previous chart may be wiser.

Proteins: Nuts, seeds, soybeans, dairy cheese*, eggs*, poultry*, meat*, fish*, yogurt*.

Fats: Oils, olive, butter*, margarine.

Starches: Whole grains, cereals, peas, beans, lentils.

Vegetables: Leafy green vegetables, sprouted seeds, cabbage cauliflower, broccoli, green peas, celery, tomatoes**, onions.

Sweet Fruits: Bananas, fits, custard apples, all-dried fruits, dates.

Sub-acid-fruits: Grapes, pears, apples, peaches, apricots, plums, fruits guavas, raspberries.

Acid fruits: Grapefruit, lemons, oranges, limes, pineapple, strawberries.

*Not recommended for robust long term health.

** Botanical fruit: It may combine with more restrictions than vegetables, for example only fairly well with starches, grains, since it’s sub-acid. (Please also see the previous chart.)

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