Fruit Salad With Avocado, Hemp Seeds And English Walnuts - A Healthy Breakfast Or A Food Combining Faux Pas?

Must I always eat fruit alone?

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Food Combining
Back in the mid-80's I read the book, "Fit for Life" by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond. This was my first introduction to what is known as "food combining". I am mentioning this not because I'm endorsing or denying the benefits of carefully combining certain foods, but only because this recipe would be frowned upon by those who follow the strict guidelines of food combining.


For example, the number one rule of food combining is to eat fruits alone. Since fruit takes little effort to digest, they say that they should not be combined with more concentrated foods which stay in your stomach longer. There is a lengthy list of other rules on the order in which you should eat or combine foods. To follow these guidelines, one would have to quit their jobs and focus all their attention on how to properly plan their meals.


Here's my bottom line on this. If you are fairly healthy and eat a plant-centric diet of easily digestible foods, I don't think you have to pay that much attention to this. Eating shouldn't be this difficult. Of course if you are ill and your body has little energy to properly digest foods, then one should do everything possible to facilitate digestion. But when health conscious individuals ask me if they should food combine or eat according to their blood type or follow some other complicated food plan, I usually tell them not to stress out about it. Eat sensibly, listen to your body and adjust accordingly.


Back to the Fruit Salad
Now the number one problem with eating fruit by itself is that within a very short amount of time you'll be hungry again. You might even get a bit shaky from all the sugar in the fruit. Adding some healthy fat and protein to the salad will make you feel satisfied longer, even if it flies in the face of proper food combining. 


One delicious way to add good fat to a fruit salad is to add an avocado. Another way of adding good fat to the fruit salad, in addition to protein, is to add raw hemp seeds and English walnuts. Hemp seeds are one of the best sources of vegetarian protein with 5 teaspoons of hemp seeds providing as much protein as a hard boiled egg! And, of course, hemp seeds and English walnuts are excellent sources of ALA omega-3 fatty acids. Put them all together and you have a satisfying fruit salad that delivers 6 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and 1.7 grams of omega-3 fatty acid. And you won't be hungry in 30 minutes!


Here's an example of a fruit salad with avocado, nuts and seeds but feel free to substitute apples with pears, mango with peaches or papaya and grapes with a banana or strawberries.


Mixed Fruit Salad with Avocado, nuts and seeds
Raw Vegan, Gluten Free
Makes 4 servings


1 cup diced mango
1 apple, cored and diced with skin
1 cup seedless red grapes
1 California avocado, peeled, pit removed and diced
1/4 cup raw hemp seeds
1/4 cup English walnut pieces


Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.


Per serving: 232.8 calories, 14.6 grams fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 1.7 g ALA omega-3 and 6.0 g omega-6 fatty acids, 0 mg cholesterol, 6.1 g protein, 22.7 g carbohydrates and 4.8 mg sodium.