The dissociated diet is based on the idea that a bad combination of foods would strongly promote weight gain. According to this method, losing weight would therefore amount to completely dissociating certain foods in order to avoid the extra pounds. Although these allegations have never been proven, the dissociated diet is a concept on which other slimming methods were then based (such as the Scandinavian dissociated diet, Antoine’s dissociated diet, etc.). In this file we discuss the dissociated diet as it appeared in the literature in the book ” Food Combining Made Easy ” by Dr. Shelton.`
The people who promote this diet claim that a dissociated diet helps promote the work of enzymes.
The distribution of food categories must be done in accordance with Dr. Shelton’s rules. Warning: it is sometimes indicated on the Internet that you cannot superimpose different categories of food during the same day (for example carbohydrates and acids), this is false. Indeed the Doctor, in his book, specifies that the foods must be well combined, without always being separated.
While it’s important to combine foods well, it’s also important not to discard any of them . This is one of the positive points of this diet . However, the rules imposed in the dissociation are such that there inevitably comes a time when deprivation takes over: it is for example very difficult to consume meat regularly in this diet. However, this wish not to prohibit any food is part of a process of balance and refusal of deficiencies, the body having many needs that must be satisfied with the help of a multitude of different nutrients (which it is generally not possible to find in deprivation diets such as the Atkins diet or the Mayo diet for example). As with the majority of diets, it is best to discuss it with your general practitioner who will be able to guide you as best as possible.
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE DIET
The following fundamental rules come from Dr. Shelton’s book (3) , page 19 to 30, it is the whole chapter “good and bad combinations” which indicates how to combine foods.
- Acids and starches should never be combined in the same meal
- Should never be combined in the same meal:
- Acids and starches
- Proteins and carbohydrates
- Acids and proteins
- fat and protein
- Sugar and protein
- Sugar and starches
- Proteins must be consumed alone, in the form of the same and unique food.
- Fruit should be eaten alone, in the same meal.
- Melons should be eaten alone, in the same meal.
- Milk should be drunk alone, unless it is accompanied by sour fruits.
- You have to desert the desserts (Doctor Shelton makes a pun in English in his book: ” desert the desserts “): no dessert is therefore possible.
With these rules in hand, you just have to compose all your different meals.
Example of a typical week
This example of a typical week respects the different constraints imposed by Dr. Shelton’s dissociated diet.
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Melon | Vegetable salad Chard (little known in France) Yellow squash Potatoes | Vegetable salad Green beans Okra Hazelnuts |
| Tuesday | Peaches Cherries Apricots | Vegetable salad Beets Carrots White beans | Vegetable salad Spinach Cabbage Cottage cheese |
| Wednesday | Cantaloupe (a variety of melon) | Vegetable salad Okra Green squash Artichoke | Vegetable salad Broccoli Fresh corn Avocado |
| Thursday | Berries with cream (sugar free) | Vegetable salad Cauliflower Okra Brown rice | Vegetable salad Green squash Turnip greens Lamb chops |
| Friday | Nectarines Apricots Plums | Vegetable salad Carrots Sweet potatoes Green cabbage | Vegetable salad Hazelnuts Beets Green beans |
| Saturday | Watermelon | Vegetable salad Baked eggplant Chard Whole wheat bread | Vegetable salad Yellow squash Spinach Eggs |
| Sunday | Bananas Cherries Glass of milk | Vegetable salad Green beans Okra Irish potatoes | Vegetable salad Kale Bean sprouts Broccoli |
In the example above, presented in the work of Doctor Shelton, the meat is very little present (there is only one meal with meat during the week). The problem is to know, for each of the foods consumed, its protein, carbohydrate, fat content, etc. In order to find out if it is possible to match this element with other foods.
ADVANTAGES
The dissociated diet has many advantages, and this is also the reason why it is commonly used in France, by people wishing to follow a diet.
The first advantage is that the person following the dissociated diet can eat as much as they want , there is no imposed quantity. The rule is simply to combine your foods well. Weight loss is partly ensured by the fact that as these associations are restrictive, it is difficult to “gorge” on the same type of food.
In the kitchen, preparation is made easier since we generally deal with foods that have very strong similarities (only fruit, etc.). However, the preparation is facilitated once the elements have been selected, a particularly difficult task at the start.
DISADVANTAGES
No scientific study has been able to prove the veracity of the allegations made by Dr. Shelton. The dissociated diet therefore has no solid foundation in terms of nutrition.
The main problem with this diet is that this type of diet is not really consistent . The human body needs a varied diet. However, the consumption of foods by association can disturb the body and cause deficiencies because the associations are binding: it is therefore not uncommon to be stuck on one type of food (unless you sacrifice another). It takes several days before you can go around all the different types of food.
The dissociated regime over a short period seems more reasonable than in the long term.
In general, this kind of diet is psychologically difficult : separating foods is one of the best ways to get sick of them . Consideration to put in parallel with the many cases of depression that can occur during such a diet. However, weight loss is not called into question since, according to its users, it does indeed exist (due to the restrictive side imposed). On this subject you have a space, at the bottom of this file, where you can leave your feedback on this diet.
Dr. Shelton wanted his diet to be educational. However, it is quite difficult to set up (you have to know the carbohydrate, protein, etc. content of each of the foods consumed in order to establish the right associations with yourself).
ORIGINS OF THE REGIME
The diet would be the continuation of the research of Doctor Horward Hay, who proposed in 1930 (2) the premises of the dissociated diet. Dr. Hay proposed separating foods into three distinct groups: basic foods, acid foods, and neutral foods. His research was based on the principle that enzymes in the body function differently depending on the acidity of the environment. Thus, by consuming only a very specific food group (acid for example), the enzymes could “do their job better”.
Doctor Shelton died in 1985, many publications have punctuated his life as a vegetarian and health educator.
| Originally, an interesting idea: not to deprive individuals of particular foods. However, in fact, deprivation does exist (especially with regard to desserts). Associations are sometimes difficult and, as a result, certain products are extremely difficult to integrate into the daily diet. The effectiveness of the method does not seem to be called into question, but the effects on health are really risky. A diet to be carefully considered. Explanation of the attribution of the mark: |
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