Synergistic food combinations are a fairly recent discovery for me. I didn’t know what this meant but naturally, I would see myself slowly learning about it and putting this idea into practice whenever I got the chance. Synergy, according to the Cambridge dictionary definition, is the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately. So this means when you combine certain foods together, they create a reaction that allows your body to improve nutrient absorption to reap maximum benefits. 

Here are some of the synergistic food combinations that I am a big fan of and usually have all of these options in rotation. 

Kale and avocado: The way I eat these two ingredients are in a kale caesar salad. I’ve been hooked on this recipe for some time now, and I actually was inspired to recreate the Whole Foods Kale Caesar that they have at their salad bar. The reason these two ingredients work well synergistically is because fat soluble vitamins a, e d and k need monounsaturated healthy fats for proper absorption. The avocado boosts vitamin k absorption from the kale. Here is the recipe if you’d like to try it out! I substitute the chickpeas with other ingredients such as tempeh sometimes and add avocado as a topping with hemp seeds.

Turmeric and black pepper:  I use turmeric powder when I make tofu scrambles for breakfast. I also like to make tea or juice from fresh turmeric. This orange colored root has a polyphenol called curcumin, and has been known to have anti-inflammatory properties. According to the journal article called Curcumin: A Review of its Effects on Human Health, curcumin is great for  the management of oxidative and inflammatory conditions, metabolic syndrome, arthritis, anxiety, and hyperlipidemia. It may also help in the management of exercise-induced inflammation and muscle soreness, thus enhancing recovery and performance in active people or people who want to take preventative measures. When we combine it with black pepper, which has piperine, a chemical compound found to have anti-cancer effects, it increases curcumin’s bioavailability by 2,000%. 

Green tea and lemon juice: Recently I’ve been exploring tea more than coffee. One of the new things I like to do is drizzle some lemon into my green tea, which is abundant in antioxidants, boosts brain function, and helps protect the body from cardiovascular disease. I don’t always have caffeine, but when I do it’s nice to have this as a healthy alternative compared to black coffee. I like black coffee, but I am much more aware of my intake because it’s higher in caffeine and drinking it does not allow for proper absorption of calcium and iron. Green tea has caffeine but it is much lower than coffee or black tea. I also make sure to have my tea in the morning so that I can go to sleep at the end of the day. It gives me enough time to get most of the caffeine out of my system by the time I go to bed. 

Spinach and citrus: I usually have plenty of spinach in my green smoothies along with oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit or even blood oranges, it just depends what I have laying around in the kitchen. What all these fruits have in common is the vitamin C they contain. Eating vitamin C with plant-based iron sources increases the absorption of iron. Many people who are usually low on iron should really take note of this, but another important note for this is to not have any caffeine. As I mentioned earlier, having caffeine limits iron and calcium absorption, so it’s helpful to be mindful of everything you’re eating and drinking. 

Numbers one and four can be interchanged with your choice of healthy fats and vitamin C, these are just specific examples of the kinds of ingredients I use to combine my food for maximum absorption. Many people don’t think of how the ingredients in their food can help synergistic absorption when combined strategically, and it’s helpful to always try your best. I have recently been learning these concepts as an adult, so don’t feel like it’s too late to try a new approach to eating food. Synergistic food combining is a smart way to increase absorption in your body, for maximum health benefits. You only have one body, so I encourage you to treat her like the queen that she is!