Fad Diets Versus Dietary Guidelines (continued)
Reprinted with permission of the American Institute for Cancer Research.

Fad Diets and "Food Combining"

Two of the diet plans reviewed by AICR take this misreading even further and feature the mysterious practice of "proper food combining."

Both Judy Mazel's New Beverly Hills Diet and Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food offer sternly worded cautions against certain combinations of foods. Mazel espouses several theories about the mechanics of digestion that are scientifically incorrect. Somers misinterpretation of the digestive process leads her to the assertion that certain digestive enzymes "cancel each other out," which "leads to fatness."

The Glycemic Index itself is nothing more than a means to gauge the relative rates of digestion of certain foods. It does not contain, nor does it suggest, any particular theory regarding the body's enzymatic activity. Neither does it speak to the order in which foods can or should be eaten.

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