The dissociated diet essentially goes against everything we’ve been taught about nutrition for the last several decades. It’s supported the premise of food combining, which involves only eating certain food groups (for example, all starches or all vegetables) at a meal.

Essentially, on the dissociated diet, you’re discouraged from eating well-rounded meals that include a spread of food groups. This guide covers the reasoning behind the dissociated diet, and whether or not it's a viable or healthy choice to try.

What Experts Say"The dissociated diet suggests alkaline and acidic foods cannot be digested together, but experts agree there's no scientific rationale for this. Eating just one food group at a time and limiting protein/fat increases the danger of nutrient deficiencies and is unsustainable."
— Chrissy Carroll, RD, MPH

Background

Developed by Dr. William Howard Hay within the early 1900s, the dissociated diet is additionally called the Hay Diet or the Dr. Hay Diet.

It’s a way of food combining, which involves creating your meals out of foods with similar properties. within the case of the dissociated diet, meaning combining foods supported their digestive properties. That is, whether a food is acidic, alkaline, or neutral.

Dr. Hay believed that eating multiple food types in one sitting causes the gastrointestinal system to overwork and hamper, effectively slowing down your metabolism and taxing your organs. His reasoning behind this assertion centered around the incontrovertible fact that your body must produce and secrete different digestive enzymes for alkaline and acidic foods.

His research led him to work out that the body digests carbohydrate-heavy foods with an alkaline process, while protein-heavy foods required an acidic process.

Dr. Hay also believed that eating multiple foods directly causes a build-up of poisons, particularly an excessive amount of acid in body fluids, or acidosis. Advocates of the diet claim that eating this manner gives you more energy, satisfies you with smaller portions, helps you reduce, and keeps your gastrointestinal system in peak operating mode.

However, there’s not much science behind the concept, and of what little research there's, food combining doesn’t seem any longer effective than an overall healthy diet.

How It Works

The primary rule governing the dissociated diet is to only eat one food group at a time. you'll follow that rule out a spread of ways:


  • Only eat one food group per meal
  • Only eat one food group per day
  • Only eat one food group per time of day (split your day into chunks, wherein you stick with certain food groups)

The dissociated diet consists of three food groups: proteins, starches, and neutral foods. you'll combine proteins with neutral foods and starches with neutral foods, but you ought to avoid combining proteins and starches.

What To Eat

Compliant Foods


  • Acid fruits
  • Sub-acid fruits
  • Sweet fruits
  • Melons
  • Non-starchy vegetables
  • Starchy vegetables
  • Carbohydrates and starches
  • Animal-based protein
  • Plant-based protein
  • Fats
  • Red wine, wine, and cider
  • Beer and ale
  • Whiskey and gin

Non-compliant Foods


  • Refined carbohydrates
  • Foods with tons of added sugar
  • Deli meats
  • Other overly processed foods


Compliant Foods

Acid fruits: Grapefruit, oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, pomegranates, tomatoes. Combine with sub-acid fruits, nuts, and seeds. Don’t combine acid fruits with sweet fruits or other food groups, except tomatoes.

Sub-acid fruits: Apples, apricots, berries, grapes, kiwi, mangoes, nectarines, papaya, peaches, pears, plums, strawberries. Combine with acid fruits or sweet fruits, but not both at an equivalent time. you'll also combine sub-acid fruits with nuts and seeds. Don’t combine with other food groups.

Sweet fruits: Bananas, coconut, dates, dried fruits, prunes, raisins. Combine with sub-acid fruits, nuts, and seeds. Don’t combine with acid fruits or other food groups.

Melons: Cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon. Eat these alone, not together with the other food groups.

Non-starchy vegetables: Asparagus, artichokes, green beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, eggplant, garlic, lettuce, celery, carrots, onions, parsley, peppers, turnips, mushrooms, zucchini. Combine with protein, fats, carbohydrates, and starches.

Starchy vegetables: Pumpkin, winter squash, yams, sweet potatoes, peas. Combine with non-starchy vegetables and fats. don't combine with protein or fruits.

Carbohydrates and starches: Bread, pasta, grains/cereals, potatoes. Combine with non-starchy vegetables and fats. don't combine with protein or fruits.

Animal-based protein: Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy. Combine with plant-based protein, non-starchy vegetables. don't combine quite one source of protein at a meal. don't combine with starches or fruit.

Plant-based protein: Beans, nuts and seeds, peanuts, soybeans, soy products, tofu. Combine with non-starchy vegetables. don't combine with starches or fruit.

Fats: Avocado, olives, coconut, butter, cream, and olive, avocado, flax, sesame, and canola oils. Combine with non-starchy vegetables, carbohydrates and starches, and protein. don't combine with fruit.

Red wine, wine, and cider: Drink these beverages with a protein-based (acidic) meal.

Whiskey and gin: These are considered neutral beverages, so you'll consume them with any meal.

Beer and ale: Drink with a meal of carbohydrate-based (alkaline) meal.

Non-Compliant Foods

Nothing is technically off-limits, but the diet encourages you to avoid overly processed foods and high-sugar foods.

Recommended Timing

You’re encouraged to attend a minimum of four hours before eating an “incompatible” meal. as an example, if you eat a salad with acid and sub-acid fruits, you ought to wait a minimum of four hours before eating a meal of chicken and steamed non-starchy vegetables. aside from that, timing is entirely up to you.

But due to that recommended wait period, many of us who follow the dissociated diet restrict their entire day’s food intake to at least one food group. for instance, you would possibly prefer to eat only fruit one day; protein and non-starchy vegetables subsequent day; and starchy vegetables and carbohydrates the subsequent day.

Resources and Tips

Perhaps the simplest thing you'll do to form the dissociated diet easier is to hotel plan . To achieve success on this diet, you’ll get to know what to eat and when to eat it. Meal planning and preparing food for a whole week can assist you adhere to the diet’s rules with less effort or strain.

Modifications

If you’re curious about the dissociated diet but think it sounds a touch too confusing and restrictive, you'll try a softer introduction to food combining. for instance, the dissociated diet rules that you simply can’t combine carbohydrates and starches with fruit. But a bowl of oatmeal with sliced bananas and berries may be a hearty, healthy meal and there’s nothing wrong with combining those foods into a yummy breakfast.

Essentially, you'll place foods into less restrictive categories, perhaps something like “starches, fruits, and grains” and “proteins, dairy, and vegetables.” Having just two groups to believe can make the dissociated diet less restrictive and easier to stick to.

Pros and Cons

Pros


  • Focuses on nutrient-dense food
  • May assist you eat less


Cons


  • Confusing
  • Maybe overly restrictive

Pros

Focuses on nutrient-dense food: Perhaps the simplest thing about the dissociated diet is that it teaches people to settle on the whole, nutrient-dense foods. There isn’t much room for processed food within the food groups that Dr. Hay developed, because processed foods often contain multiple properties and macronutrient profiles that might fit into quite one food group.

For instance, you'll consider a box of crackers as a starch, but crackers often contain high-fat content because they’re made with oils. And you'll think a protein bar fits into the protein category, but many protein bars contain carbohydrates and added sugars.

May assist you eat less: an idea called “sensory-specific satiety”2 states that food becomes less appetizing when a whole meal consists of comparable flavor profiles and textures. So separating your food into the dissociated diet groups may cause you to feel satisfied with smaller portions, thus helping you eat less and aiding in weight loss.

Additionally, a number of the food groups, including all of the fruit and vegetable groups, have a reasonably low-calorie density. this suggests you'll eat larger quantities of food for fewer calories. for instance, 100 calories worth of melon seems like tons more food than 100 calories worth of cashews.

Cons

Confusing: it'd take a short time to urge the hang of the dissociated diet — it’s quite hassling to find out and memorize which foods can and can't be eaten with other foods. This confusion might cause some overwhelmed dieters to drop the diet completely.

Maybe overly restrictive: consistent with the limited research on food combining, there’s no reason to eat your meals within the fashion dictated by the dissociated diet. this sort of eating plan doesn't allow you to concentrate on your internal hunger cues or practice mindful or intuitive eating.

For some people, the three food groups and limited combinations might feel overly restrictive. Food restriction can cause feelings of guilt and shame around food, and eventually can cause disordered eating. If you’re trying the dissociated diet and feel restricted, it'd be best to undertake a special healthy eating plan.

How It Compares

If you’re checking out a replacement diet to undertake, you almost certainly want to understand how all of your diets of consideration compare to at least one another. during this section, find out how the dissociated diet compares to the US federal dietary recommendations, also as three other popular diets: the vegetarianism, the alkaline diet, and therefore the Suzanne Somers Diet.

USDA Recommendations

The federal dietary recommendations include five food groups: fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein. The key recommendations within the federal guidelines include:


  • a spread of vegetables from all of the subgroups—dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy, and other
  • Fruits, especially whole fruits
  • Grains, a minimum of half which are whole grains
  • Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages
  • A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts, seeds, and soy products
  • Oils
  • Limited saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars and sodium

The dissociated diet recommendations are pretty cohesive with the federal guidelines therein the dissociated diet encourages whole foods. However, the USDA recommendations encourage you to eat balanced meals with foods from multiple groups, whereas the dissociated diet encourages you to avoid meals with multiple food groups.

To succeed in your weight loss (or weight gain) and fitness goals, you want to skills many calories you would like to eat every day. Our Weight Loss Calorie Goal Calculator can assist you thereupon.

Most people need around 2,000 calories per day, but confine mind that everybody is different and there’s no “correct” amount of calories you ought to be consuming. Women and youngsters may have fewer calories while men and other people with very active lifestyles may have more calories. Many factors, including age, height, weight and activity level all play a task in your caloric needs.

Similar Diets

Several diets share features of the dissociated diet.

Alkaline diet: The alkaline diet is another method of food combining that focuses on restoring your body’s pH level. The concept? People eat too many acidic foods, which alters their body’s pH and causes unfavorable health outcomes. Eating more alkaline foods, like fruits and vegetables, is supposedly the road to raised health consistent with alkaline diet advocates. Fruits and veggies are certainly healthy, but you shouldn’t risk missing out on important nutrients from grains and proteins. Fats also are a crucial nutrient and are needed to soak up fat-soluble vitamins.

Suzanne Somers Diet: Actress Suzanne Somers published her diet in her book Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, reduce, which details this low-carb, low-sugar food combining plan. Somer’s food group rules could also be even more confusing than the dissociated diet’s rules, and therefore the diet is extremely restrictive when it involves refined carbohydrates and sugar. just like the other food combining diets, there’s little to no evidence to support the efficacy of this eating plan.

Macrobiotic diet: This diet follows the other protocol of the dissociated diet: On the vegetarianism, you eat acidic and alkaline foods together to balance your body’s yin and yang. the entire concept of macrobiotics focuses on balancing your yin and yang, and a few research shows that vegetarianism can have healthiness outcomes (although that’s likely thanks to the kinds of food eaten, not the way during which they're eaten).

Choosing a diet may be a personal decision that involves many considerations, including your dietary needs and preferences, your current relationship with food, your health goals, and more. Before attempting any diet, confirm to think about those factors and ask yourself questions like, “Do I even have enough time in my schedule to plan to this diet?”

The dissociated diet, while not protected by science, may appeal to you as a replacement, non-traditional way of eating that doesn’t necessarily desire a diet. However, the danger of nutrient deficiency is present, as is that the risk of a restrictive mindset about your meals. If you’re interested in the dissociated diet, ask your doctor about whether it might work for you.