Hi Tamarian:

No food combining principles are definitely against combining protein with carbs! It has to do with the stomach acid. There is one acid to break down proteins and another to break down carbs. When one eats protein and carbs at the same meal these two acids interefer with each other (one acidic and one is alkaline) - that is why most people experience "heartburn" - the two acids competing with each other - cancelling each other out and the food, instead of digesting, just sits in the stomach and rots - expelling gasses.

The basic premis of food combining.

Between midnight and noon eat nothing but fresh fruit (because the body is in the ellimination stage and shouldn't have to deal with digestion - but fruit digests in 20 minutes therefore it doesn't disrupt the ellimination stage).

Afternoon, you can eat other foods, but never combine protein with a carb (NEVER). If you eat a meal that has flesh, then you should wait something like 4 hours before you eat food again so that this food has time to pass out of the stomach. Flesh foods take longer to digest.

If you eat fruit - wait 20 minutes before you eat any other type of food. And NEVER eat fruit in combination with anything else - meaning don't eat it after a meal as a dessert - because it digests so quickly, if other food is in the stomach it will just ferment in the stomach and cause problems.

If you eat a meal that is veggies and carbs you can eat another meal in 3 hours because it digests quicker. Veggies can digest in both types of stomach acid that is why they can be combined with both proteins and starches without causing digestive upsets.

Eat as much high water content food as possible and as much fresh food as possible, meaning try not to cook your food too much - this destrory life-giving enzymes.

The idea behind food combining is that the body works in cycles and we tend to keep piling in food all the time, and food that doesn't compliment each other. So, the body cannot handle all this food, so it just stores it as fat so that it can deal with it later...but later never comes because we keep piling food into our bodies - and usually improperly combined food at that.

My main reason for asking the questions was wondering whether if one eats carbs - such as whole wheat breads and pastas (not junk food) but doesn't combine it with a protein whether this will cause insulin levels to rise or remain the same? Thus still be burning fat - yet being able to enjoy carbs too.

Do you think Atkins would know the answer?

Regards,