Vegetables and fruits are not digested. Cucumber - beneficial properties or harm - what is more? Eating fruit immediately after the main course is also a bad idea.

and mentioned that eating these two vegetables together has been controversial for a long time. We'll tell you who doesn't recommend this familiar and beloved combination and why.

Often the only criterion for choosing ingredients is the taste and benefits of each individual product. However, eating even healthy vegetables together can be harmful. According to Ayurveda and food theory, tomatoes and cucumbers have different effects on digestion and are not digested together.

Combining ingredients that have different digestion times is not a good idea. While one product will only pass into the intestines, the second will already be completely digested, which will lead to the fermentation process of sugars and starches and will not allow you to enjoy the benefits of food as you thought. The fermentation process can cause gas, swelling, stomach pain and intestinal problems.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are not compatible with each other in this regard. When they reach the stomach and the fermentation process begins, the acid released in the abdominal cavity can cause numerous digestive problems.

Cucumbers alkalize the body, while tomatoes oxidize. So, when eating red and green fruits together, the ascorbinase enzyme, which is found in cucumbers, will destroy the ascorbic acid of tomatoes. This means that if we combine two vegetables, our body will not be able to get the vitamin C that the tomato comes from.

If you want to have a healthy stomach, liver and get enough vitamins from food, avoid frequent consumption of the popular salad. You can eat it occasionally, but only to please yourself with your favorite combination.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are not the only two foods that are advised not to be eaten together. Here are a few more combinations that you should avoid using:

Fruits after meals

Fruits do not stay in the stomach for long because they contain simple sugars that do not require digestion. If you eat foods rich in protein, fat and starch, they will take much longer to digest. When you eat fruit after your main meal, the fructose will cause fermentation, which will cause discomfort such as flatulence and pain.

Cereals and oatmeal with milk and orange juice

The acid in orange juice and any acidic fruit destroys the enzyme responsible for digesting the starches found in grains. Additionally, acidic juices can curdle milk inside the body, turning it into a heavy, slimy substance. If you can't give up your favorite breakfast, drink juice half an hour before oatmeal.

Yogurt with fruits

Ayurveda and food combining theory do not recommend mixing any sour fruits with dairy products as they can impair digestion, change intestinal flora, produce toxins and cause colds, coughs and allergies. For those who like fruit parfaits, Ayurveda recommends mixing yogurt with honey, cinnamon and raisins instead of sour fruits and berries.

Bananas with milk

Ayurveda ranks this combination as one of the most severe and toxin-forming. It creates heaviness in the body and slows down mental activity. If you like banana milk smoothies, use very ripe bananas and add cardamom and nutmeg to stimulate digestion.

Macaroni and cheese

The combination beloved by many is also not healthy. The starch found in pasta and the protein found in cheese have different digestion times, so this combination will also cause fermentation. Eating bread with cheese will have the same effect.

Macaroni with tomato sauce and cheese

Acid-containing tomatoes are not recommended to be mixed with starchy carbohydrates such as pasta. When you generously sprinkle the dish with cheese, digestion becomes even more problematic. You feel tired and want to rest because your body requires a ton of energy. This is one of the reasons why the afternoon siesta is celebrated in Italy and Spain. To avoid unpleasant consequences, season the pasta with vegetable oil or pesto sauce with the addition of baked vegetables.

Beans with cheese

This is a favorite combination in many Mexican dishes. And if you add a portion of guacamole and hot sauce, you won’t even have to leave the table. Legumes themselves can cause bloating, and cheese will make the situation worse. Eat these foods separately from each other, especially if you have weak digestion.

Watermelon with melon

Perhaps these are the most famous products that are not recommended to be combined not only with each other, but also in general to be eaten separately from any food.

Ekaterina Romanova

Külmkapp Photo: Sven Arbet

If you suffer from an unhealthy habit - overeating, think about it: maybe you start eating while your stomach has not yet coped with the previous dose of food?

Different foods require different “attention” from our digestive system. What happens to food after we swallow it? In order for food to benefit a person and provide the necessary energy, it must turn into chemical elements, which the body then absorbs.

This process begins in the mouth, when saliva dissolves and teeth grind food. Later, in the stomach, it is attacked by acid and gastric juices. After leaving the stomach, food enters the intestines, where it continues to interact with gastric juice. Then it is absorbed through the capillaries into the blood passing through the liver - thousands of enzymes located there neutralize any poison (such as alcohol, for example), while preserving useful iron, vitamins and glucose.

More specifically, all food can be divided into 4 categories according to the time it is digested in our stomach:

Foods that pass quickly (mostly carbohydrate foods)
- average digestion time (this is mainly protein food)
- long-term digestion food (this includes fatty foods and a combination of fatty and protein foods)
- food takes too long to digest and is practically indigestible.

The first category includes: almost all fruits (with the exception of bananas, avocados and the like), vegetable and fruit juices (not mixed), berries, kefir. All of the above products do not stay in our stomach for more than 1 hour. For example, fruits pass into the intestines from the stomach within 40–45 minutes. In some situations, it can take 35–40 minutes.

The second category includes: vegetables, herbs, dairy products with the exception of cottage cheese and hard cheese, sprouts, soaked nuts and seeds, and all dried fruits. All of them enter our intestines in approximately 1.5–2 hours.

The third category includes: porridges and cereals, nuts and seeds that are not pre-soaked in water, cottage cheese and hard cheese, all types of mushrooms, legumes (if they are boiled), baked goods made from premium flour. Their residence time in the stomach is 2–3 hours from the moment they arrive.

And finally, group 4 includes: tea with milk, coffee with milk, meat (including poultry, as well as fish), pasta (except for those made from whole grain flour or durum wheat flour), all types of canned food. All products from group 4 are very difficult to digest, or are practically not digested at all.

What conclusion can we draw now, guided by information about how long food is digested in the stomach? It's very simple:

If you want to be healthy, you don’t have to stick to a diet; you just need to eat as many foods as possible that are digestible in a short period of time. Thus, you protect your digestive system, and the body spends less energy on its processing.
- Avoid or eat to a minimum those foods that belong to category 4.
- It is not recommended to combine foods and foods that have different digestion times in the stomach.
- If you have stomach or intestinal problems, eat only food from categories 1 and 2.
- In the evening you can only eat foods from categories 1 and 2.

Digestion time in the stomach

After lunch, food is digested in the stomach for two to four hours, after which it enters the small intestine, where the digestion process lasts another four to six hours, after which the food passes into the large intestine, where it can remain for about another fifteen hours.

The figures below show how long the products spend in the stomach and apply to people with a healthy digestive system when only one of the specified products is consumed at a time.

Water
If you drink water on an empty stomach, the water immediately passes into the intestines.

Juices and salads
- Fruit juices, vegetable juices and broths are digested in 15-20 minutes
- Semi-liquid (mashed salad, vegetables or fruits) 20-30 minutes

Fruits
- Watermelon is digestible in 20 minutes
- Melons - 30 minutes
- Oranges, grapefruits, grapes - 30 minutes
- Apples, pears, peaches, cherries and other semi-sweet fruits - 40 minutes

Vegetables
- Mixed salads (vegetables and fruits) are digested within 20-30 minutes
- Raw mixed vegetable salads - tomatoes, lettuce (Romaine, Boston, red, lettuce, garden), cucumber, celery, green or red pepper, other juicy vegetables are digested within 30-40 minutes
- If vegetable oil is added to the salad, the time increases to more than an hour
- Steamed or boiled vegetables, as well as leafy vegetables - spinach, endive, kale - 40 minutes
- Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, pumpkin, corn on the cob - 45 minutes
- Root vegetables - turnips, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, etc. - 50 minutes

Semi-concentrated carbohydrates - starches
- Artichoke, acorns, corn, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, yams, chestnuts - 60 minutes
- Starchy foods, such as cracked rice, buckwheat, millet, corn flour, oatmeal, quinoa, Abyssinian broom, pearl barley, are digested on average in 60-90 minutes

Concentrated carbohydrates - cereals
- Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, corn flakes, oats (the first 3 are best) - 90 minutes

Beans and legumes (Concentrated carbohydrates and protein, starches and proteins)
- Lentils, lima beans, chickpeas, peas, beans and beans - 90 minutes
- Soybeans - 120 minutes

Nuts and seeds
- Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pepita, sesame seeds - about 2 hours
- Nuts - almonds, filberts, peanuts (raw), cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans - 2.5-3 hours

Dairy products
- Skim milk, low-fat cottage cheese, ricotta, low-fat cottage cheese or cream cheese about 90 minutes
- Whole milk cottage cheese - 120 minutes
- Hard cheese made from whole milk - 4-5 hours

Animal proteins
- Egg yolk - 30 minutes
- Egg (completely) - 45 minutes
- Fish - cod, scrod, flounder, sole seafood - 30 minutes
- Fish - salmon, trout, herring, fattier fish - 45-60 minutes
- Chicken - 1-2 hours (without skin)
- Turkey - 2 hours (without skin)
- Beef, lamb - 3-4 hours
- Pork - 4-5 hours

DIGESTION TIME FOR DIFFERENT FOODS
(approximate time spent in the stomach before passing on)

Water
if the stomach is empty, it passes immediately into the intestines

Juices
fruits and vegetables, vegetable broth - 15-20 minutes
Semi-liquid (mashed salad, vegetables or fruits) - 20-30 minutes

Fruits
Watermelon - 20 minutes
Melons - 30 minutes
Oranges, grapefruits, grapes - 30 minutes
Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, etc. - 40 minutes

Vegetables
Raw mixed vegetable salads - tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, celery, green or red pepper, other juicy vegetables - 30-40 minutes

Boiled, stewed or steamed vegetables
Leafy vegetables - spinach, endive, kale - 40 minutes
Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, pumpkin, corn on the cob - 45 minutes
Root vegetables - carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, etc. - 50 minutes

Semi-concentrated carbohydrates - starches
Jerusalem artichoke, acorns, corn, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, yams, chestnuts - 60 minutes

Concentrated carbohydrates - cereals
Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, corn flakes, oats (the first 3 are best) - 90 minutes

Beans and Legumes (Concentrated Carbohydrates and Protein)
Lentils, lima beans, chickpeas, peas, beans and beans - 90 minutes
Soybeans - 120 minutes

Nuts and seeds
Seeds - sunflower, pumpkin, pepita, sesame - about 2 hours
Nuts - almonds, filberts, peanuts (raw), cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans - 2.5-3 hours

Dairy products
Skim milk, ricotta, low-fat cottage cheese or cream cheese - about 90 minutes
Whole milk cottage cheese - 120 minutes
Hard cheese made from whole milk - 4-5 hours

Animal proteins
Egg yolk - 30 minutes
Egg (whole) - 45 minutes
Fish - cod, scrod, flounder, sole seafood - 30 minutes
Fish - salmon, trout, herring, fattier fish - 45-60 minutes
Chicken - 1-2 hours (without skin)
Turkey - 2 hours (without skin)
Beef, lamb - 3-4 hours
Pork - 4-5 hours

Editor's Notes
approx. 1: raw animal proteins are digested in a shorter time than that stated above for cooked/heated animal fats.
approx. 2: This digestion time is given for an ideal situation where you eat one food at a time, chew well, and your digestive tract is working efficiently, such as after fasting. This is the digestion time for an optimally healthy person with healthy eating behavior. Much of this data comes from the work of Dr. Gian-Curcio and Dr. Bass.
Digestion time for a normal diet, for people with suboptimal digestion who have little energy, and for dishes mixed with a large number of ingredients (not assembled in the correct order) is much longer.

For proper nutrition, you need to know not only the number of calories in food, but also the time it takes to digest a particular product, so as not to burden your stomach with a meaningless load in the form of some apple eaten between lunch and dinner. Fast-digesting foods give a person quick energy, while slowly digested foods provide a long-lasting feeling of fullness. Everything that is not included in the digestion time described below takes even longer to digest.
1 hour 15 minutes
Parsley

1 hour 30 minutes
Lemon
Sea kale

1 hour 45 minutes
Avocado
Grape
Mango
Olives
Raspberry

2 hours
Blueberry
Cherries
Grapefruits
Oranges
Raisin
Coconut milk
Artichokes
Garlic
Potato
Tomatoes
Brown rice

2 hours 15 minutes
Fresh figs
Pear
Pineapple
Strawberry
Asparagus
Carrot
Cabbage
Salads: lettuce, lettuce, etc.

2 hours 30 minutes
Dates
Dried figs
Gooseberry
Fresh peach
Almond
Dandelions
Green
Leek
Mushrooms
Beans
Beans
White rice
Basmati rice

2 hours 45 minutes
Fresh apples
Fresh apricots
Currant
Dried apricots
Prunes
Watermelon
Chestnuts
Fresh coconut meat
Pecan
Pine nut
Beet
Zucchini
Wheat bran

3 hours
Lime
Dried prunes
Hazelnut
Walnut
Broccoli
Cabbage
Swiss chard
sweet corn
Chicory
Kohlrabi
Rhubarb
Spinach
White beans
Lentils
Soybeans
Sprouted wheat

3 hours 15 minutes
Cranberry
Cantaloupe
Melon “torpedo”
Olive oil
Pomegranate
Cashew
Dried coconut meat
Celery
cucumbers
Onion
Sweet green pepper
Pumpkin
Radish
Swede
Sweet potato
Turnip
Fresh peas
Peanut
Millet

3 hours 30 minutes
Sesame oil
Eggplant
Mustard
Dried peas
Soybean oil
Rye

3 hours 45 minutes
Persimmon
Quince
Red cabbage
Barley
Wheat

4 hours
Brussels sprouts
Horseradish

Healthy products that deserve more attention.

There are a number of products that we rarely or never buy. Let us at least remember those vegetables and fruits that our mothers and fathers forced us to eat, but we stubbornly refused. What a pity! They help improve your health without a doctor's prescription. The benefits of such products have been proven by many years of use, and some - literally for centuries.
First on the list -kiwi. This exotic fruit has become a regular guest on our shelves in recent years. One kiwi a day covers the daily requirement of vitamin C, which is known to strengthen the immune system, blood vessels, increase the body's resistance to all kinds of infections, and help the body fight stress. In addition, kiwi contains a lot of magnesium, potassium mineral salts and fiber, which helps remove cholesterol from the body and normalizes digestion.
The second useful product iscranberry. This berry is indispensable for colds - it has an antipyretic effect, kills viruses in acute respiratory infections. The use of these healing berries lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients, strengthens the gums, and enhances the secretory activity of the pancreas.
Raisins are a tasty and nutritious product with many beneficial properties. Raisins have a strengthening effect on the nervous system, help suppress anger, and strengthen the heart. Raisins contain substances that stop the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.
Finishes our list broccoli. This is an excellent supplier of vitamins C, PP, K, U and beta-carotene. There is almost 2.5 times more ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in broccoli than in such recognized suppliers of this vitamin as citrus fruits. In addition, broccoli is a valuable source of minerals: in terms of the content of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, and iron, it competes with its closest relative - cauliflower, surpassing it twice in the content of not only mineral salts, but also protein. Broccoli has also gained fame as a famous fighter against cancer - because of selenium, which this product is especially rich in. And finally, for those who care about their figure, it will be useful to know that the calorie content of broccoli is only about 30 kcal per 100 g!

Categories:

The usual and most popular salad is tomatoes, cucumbers, some greens, salt and butter. It cooks quickly and is very tasty. It turns out that these vegetables are incompatible. Moreover, when they enter the body together, they neutralize each other and contribute to the accumulation of salts in the body. This article will help you understand why you should not eat tomatoes and cucumbers. So, more details.

Why can't you eat cucumbers and tomatoes together?

What's wrong with these vegetables? And why do nutritionists advise using them separately?

The answer to this question is quite simple - cucumbers and tomatoes are antagonistic vegetables. Their effect on the body is exactly the opposite. Tomatoes and cucumbers are alkaline. If you remember school chemistry, you can understand what the reaction will be when mixing such ingredients. salt. The latter overload the liver first, then go to the kidneys. Such overload of organs and the deposition of excess salts are completely unnecessary. This is the first reason why you can’t eat cucumbers and tomatoes together. Be careful.

There is another reason why you should eat these vegetables separately. The body requires various enzymes to digest tomatoes and cucumbers. Getting into the stomach, and then into the intestines, a mixture of these vegetables contributes to the formation of gases. This happens because the stomach secretes an enzyme to digest only one vegetable, while the other begins to ferment (rot).

Many people can say that cucumbers and tomatoes are so tasty, and there is no discomfort when eating these vegetables together. Of course, the result is not felt immediately, however, it is better to use it separately. There is another reason why you should not eat cucumbers and tomatoes together. More on this later.

Vitamins in cucumbers and tomatoes - incompatible vitamins

Very helpful. These are, first of all, vitamins. Having figured out exactly what the body gets from tomatoes and cucumbers, you can understand another reason for the incompatibility of these vegetables.

Tomato. This vegetable is a storehouse of substances necessary for the body. It is useful both fresh and processed. Fresh tomatoes are best digested if consumed with vegetable oil.

Tomatoes contain many minerals. Tomato is rich in vitamins. It contains: vitamin A, B, C, B vitamins, niacin (vitamin PP), vitamin K, E, D. 100 grams of tomatoes contain the most vitamin C.

Now it’s the turn of the cucumber, an equally healthy vegetable. In terms of mineral content, it is not inferior to a tomato, despite the fact that it consists of 95% water. What vitamins are cucumbers rich in? It contains B vitamins and vitamin C.

And they contain vitamin C. What's wrong? It would seem, then, why shouldn’t you eat cucumbers with tomatoes? The thing is that vitamin C in tomatoes is ascorbic acid. Vitamin C in cucumbers is ascorbinase. These two substances neutralize each other's beneficial effects. You can eat more than one kilogram of tomatoes and still not get a portion of vitamin C if you combine them with cucumbers.

Incompatibility of two vegetables in the garden

Experienced gardeners know why you can’t plant tomatoes and cucumbers together. These two vegetables require different growing conditions. Therefore, by placing cucumbers and tomatoes next to each other in the garden, an amateur gardener risks being left without a harvest.

Cucumbers love moist air and warmth. Frequent watering is harmful for this vegetable; very quickly the branches of cucumbers begin to rot and die. The bright sun can also cause the death of bushes. Tomatoes, on the contrary, tolerate abundant watering and sunlight well. But, being in a greenhouse next to cucumbers, the tomatoes begin to hurt. They also become rotten due to high humidity. Ventilation is beneficial for tomatoes, but it is detrimental for cucumbers. Therefore, it is better to grow these vegetables separately. While in the greenhouse, the foliage of the cucumbers evaporates a lot of moisture, creating a microclimate that will be harmful to the tomatoes. To get a good harvest of tomatoes, they should be grown in a separate greenhouse with ventilation, or in open ground.

We previously found out why you can’t eat cucumbers and tomatoes in the same dish. As you can see, it turns out there are reasons why these vegetables cannot be grown together.

How and with what to use correctly?

Now that it is clear what is happening and why you cannot mix cucumbers and tomatoes together, a question arises. What is the best way to combine these vegetables and with what?

To ensure that a tomato does not lose its vitamin C in the company of a cucumber, it is best to combine it with broccoli. When combined with this dark cabbage, the tomato works more effectively.

Another healthy combination of tomato and exotic fruit, avocado. The healthy fats that the green fruit is filled with will help better absorb the lycopene contained in tomatoes. Lycopene is a natural pigment responsible for the red and orange color of vegetables and fruits. It is an antioxidant, reduces the risk of prostate cancer and prevents diseases of the cardiovascular system. Thanks to avocados, the body will receive 4 times more of this beneficial substance. Here is one option for replacing cucumber in a regular salad. If you don't like avocado, you can replace it with leafy greens:

lettuce leaves;
spinach;
arugula;
asparagus.

Tomatoes in the company of proteins and fats will help better digestion of the dish as a whole. Salads with tomatoes in combination with various cheeses are not only healthy, but very tasty and nutritious.

It is not advisable to combine tomatoes with starchy foods. In this case, the acid that tomatoes are rich in prevents the body from digesting and absorbing starch.

Like tomatoes, cucumbers can and should be combined with leafy greens, hard and soft cheeses. Cucumber promotes better absorption of protein and fatty foods. At the same time, it prevents you from overeating, quickly satisfying your hunger.

Next. What do nutritionists answer to the question of why you can’t eat tomatoes with cucumbers? Of course, as long as a person is young and healthy, and the liver works without interruption, this combination will not particularly affect health. But later, poor nutrition will still make itself felt. It is worth listening to this advice and not overusing the “harmful combination” of healthy vegetables. If you really want it, you can only occasionally treat yourself to the usual taste. No matter how useful these vegetables are, their combination will not bring any benefit to the body, and will even be harmful.

Why can't you mix cucumbers and tomatoes in a salad? The reasons have been explained above. Now the only thing left to do is to choose salad recipes in which the ingredients will not conflict with each other. Now we will look at them.

Tomato and avocado salad

To prepare it you will need the following products:

half an avocado;
two large tomatoes;
onions;
greens (dill, parsley);
salt;
black pepper;
vegetable oil.

Practical part

Peel the avocado, cut into cubes, chop the greens, finely chop the onion. Tomatoes can be cut into slices or large cubes. Salt and pepper to taste, add vegetable oil.

Salad of tomatoes, canned mushrooms and green peas

Required ingredients:

canned peas - 150 grams;
canned champignons - 150 grams;
fresh tomatoes - several pieces (about two or three);
greens, onions, salt, lemon, spices.

Cut onions and tomatoes into half rings. Mushrooms, if large, cut into 4 parts, if not very large, then in half. Mix peas, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and finely chopped greens. Then you need to salt and pepper the dish to taste. Then you should season it with lemon juice and vegetable oil.

Tomatoes with feta cheese

For cooking you will need: cut two large tomatoes into cubes, add cheese. You can break the cheese with a fork. Or, just like tomatoes, cut into cubes. Pass three cloves of garlic through a garlic press. Season the salad with yogurt.

Salad with cucumber, lettuce and herbs

To prepare, prepare the following ingredients: 2 cucumbers, 4 leaves of Iceberg lettuce, parsley, cilantro, dill, salt, olive oil. Cut the cucumber into rings, chop the greens and lettuce coarsely or tear them with your hands. Season with salt and oil.