Food is an indispensable part of our lives. We enjoy the taste, aroma, and texture of food and sometimes even find happiness in discovering ‘perfect combinations’ from various foods. While there are food combinations that create synergy or are beneficial to our health, there are also combinations that can cause health problems. Let’s look at 10 food combinations that can turn toxic if eaten together without knowing their potential negative effects.
Eel + Peach
Eel is often thought of as a stamina food. It’s a high-fat, high-protein food rich in Omega-3, making it highly nutritious. However, even though eel is good for the body, its benefits cannot be reaped when eaten with a peach. The organic acid in peaches that gives them their sour taste removes nicotine and is beneficial to health, but when eaten with fatty eel, it can hinder the digestion of the eel. This can stimulate the intestines and cause diarrhea. Instead of peaches, eating eel with ginger, persimmon leaf tea, and chives is better, which creates a good synergy.
Octopus + Fernbrake
Octopus, a high-end ingredient that was even served on the royal table in the old days, and fernbrake, which is popular in the spring, can provide a variety of vitamins when eaten separately. However, fernbrake is rich in fiber, which can cause digestive disorders in people with poor gastrointestinal function. Also, octopus is high in protein among seafood, and consuming a large amount of high-protein food can lead to indigestion. Therefore, it’s better to eat the high-protein octopus and fiber-rich fernbrake separately.
Tomato + Sugar
Tomatoes, when ripe, pair perfectly with sugar. Tomato preserves made with sugar are so popular that many people enjoy them. However, tomatoes are full of vitamin B and mineral components, and when eaten with sugar, these vitamins and minerals are used to break down the sugar. As a result, the vitamins and minerals are not absorbed into our bodies and cannot be used as nutrients. Therefore, it’s better to eat tomatoes separately for adequate nutrient absorption.
Anchovy + Spinach
Anchovies, rich in calcium, an essential nutrient for our bodies, often appear on the table as side dishes. Spinach, which often appears as a salad, is a green vegetable containing various nutrients to the extent of being called a superfood. However, when eaten together, the organic acid in spinach, oxalic acid, interferes with calcium absorption in anchovies. Especially for growing children who need more calcium, it’s better not to serve anchovies and spinach together.
Blue Crab + Persimmon
You can often see warning signs at buffet fruit corners saying, ‘Guests who have eaten crab should not eat persimmons.’ Blue crabs and persimmons are typically incompatible foods. The tannic acid that gives persimmons their astringent taste is dangerous when it meets blue crabs. Blue crabs are high in protein, and the reproduction of food-poisoning bacteria is very fast. These blue crabs contain vibrio bacteria, and when they meet the tannic acid contained in persimmons, they accelerate the reproduction of bacteria, increasing the risk of food poisoning. Therefore, it is better not to eat them together.
Fried Food + Watermelon
Refreshing watermelon is often eaten with alcohol, and fried food is indispensable for drinking. Watermelon and fried food, which are good combinations with alcohol, are one of the incompatible foods. Eating watermelon after eating greasy food can lead to indigestion. Fried food is high in fat and takes a long time to digest, and if water from watermelon enters this state, it dilutes gastric juice, and digestion can slow down further. Especially for people with weak stomachs, it’s better to avoid this combination.
Banana + Milk
Milk and bananas are such a popular combination that they even come out as banana milk products, and everyone thinks they are a good match. However, the reality is not so. Consuming milk and bananas together can slow down digestion due to the dietary fiber in bananas, and during digestion, it can cause feelings of fatigue and lethargy. Especially if consumed in the evening, it can lead to indigestion, making it difficult to have a good night’s sleep. Therefore, eating them separately with a time gap or adding a little cinnamon to stimulate digestion is necessary.
Black Tea + Honey
The ‘tannin’ in black tea, which gives it its bitter taste, helps lower cholesterol in the body and aids in antibacterial action. Because of this bitterness, people often add honey to sweeten it, which decreases the black tea’s efficacy. Honey has antioxidant effects and relaxes the body when you have a hangover or a cold. However, when black tea meets the ‘iron’ in honey, it turns into natinsan iron, which slows down absorption in the body and is excreted as is. Therefore, consuming them separately is better to benefit from black tea and honey fully.
Orange Juice + Bread
Various types of bread and orange juice, most commonly seen in hotel breakfasts, offer a refreshing start for those embarking on their travels. Although they are representative breakfast menus, they are of incompatible food combinations. The starch in bread is digested by the ptyalin in saliva, but it isn’t easy to work under the acidic conditions of orange juice. This can lead to symptoms of indigestion. Therefore, to avoid any disruptions to a lively and refreshing trip, it’s better to enjoy bread with a different beverage instead of orange juice.
Clam + Corn
Eating clams and corn together can cause food poisoning. Clams are rich in protein and amino acids, and corn is a food high in carbohydrates and sugar. When these two components combine in the stomach, they ferment and produce toxins, causing food poisoning. Also, they don’t digest well, so they can’t excrete shellfish toxins or vibrio bacteria in clams, which can be problematic. Therefore, you should be careful with foods like corn cheese that come as sides in clam barbecue restaurants.
By. Oh Hye-in (press@daily.co.kr)
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