Food Combinations that Cause Food Poisoning

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Food Combinations that Cause Food Poisoning

I’m a social media fanatic. Even from dreamland, I can’t stop scrolling and grinning. So I bumped into an exam answer sheet for college students. One of the questions was, “Define food poisoning.” Her bold definition with a daily illustration will blow you away. 

“Food poisoning is when a wicked person like Patience Ozokwor adds otumokpo [juju] you collect from baba [native doctor] to someone’s food so that the person will die.”  Of course I can see someone in stitches. You are not alone. 

That’s the best of the student’s knowledge. What about you? Are you aware that more than 1.5 million Nigerians suffer food poisoning every year? Between 1pm and 3pm on this particular Friday in February 2022, Bolaji Opeyemi had made use of the restroom six times due to a running stomach that botched his system. 

He couldn’t just fathom what exactly went wrong or what his system was reacting to. At the beginning, it wasn’t something too serious, but he was almost losing weight within hours. Hence, he cried out for help.

A quick medical examination in a nearby hospital in the Lagos suburbs revealed that he was suffering from food poisoning. How? When? Where? Who? A riot of thoughts clustered his mind. What easily came to his mind was that some enemies were after him. 

But the medics, on attending to him, gently explained the likely causes of his medical condition. He appeared gobsmacked as the explanations sharply contradicted his long-held belief of what food poisoning was all about.

Food poisoning is an illness caused by bacteria or other toxins in food, typically with vomiting and diarrhoea.

This article succinctly takes you through why you should avoid certain bad food combinations because of their high possibility of causing food poisoning.

It is indisputable that food combinations are the best part of our daily diet in Nigeria. Rice and beans, salad and rice, fried plantain (dodo) and beans, yam porridge and vegetable sauce and tye rest make certain foods attractive to consume.

Combined food makes our taste-buds joyful. But let’s not forget that there are certain foods that don’t go with each other and consuming them together can make you sick. There are a few bad food combinations you should definitely avoid to stay fit. 

Here are some food combinations and other eating habits that could pose danger to your health and they can cause food poisoning: Lemon and Milk, Peppermint and Soda, Proteins and Carbs, Salad and low-fat dressing, Milk and Banana. Others are Dalia and Juice, Yogurt and fruit, Cheese and Meat, Cereal and Juice.

One of the reasons you need to avoid bad food combinations is that it can cause serious digestive problems. They can form acidity and upset the stomach. Some of the harmful food combinations can cause constipation or even loose motion. 

For instance, are you aware that if you consume proteins and carbohydrates together they can counteract in your digestive pathway and can make you ill? Eating cereal and juice can cause curdling of the milk in your stomach and upset it, too.

To be on the safe side, you should always follow a balanced diet regularly. If you are thinking about losing weight then you can contact a dietitian first. Also, you can definitely try different diet methods, such as a keto diet or paleo diet. Choose the one that suits you.

According to Sraya Samaddar, who is a Health and Nutrition Content writer with years of experience, further breaks down each food combination and the consequences on the body.

  1. Lemon and Milk

Milk is really hard to digest. We all know when lemon is mixed with milk it coagulates. Thus eating lemon with milk will cause curdling of milk in your stomach and upset it. Causing acidity and heartburn. Still, if you want to have it together try to start with cold milk. 

2. Peppermint and Soda

You might  have seen it in all on periodic viral videos on Facebook and youtube that when mint is mixed with aerated drinks it causes the drink to literally explode out from the bottle. Imagine having that in your stomach! Some people say that if mint and soda mixed in a particular proportion, then it can form cyanide. It’s always better to stay safe than sorry.

3. Proteins and Carbs 

The mouth-watering ‘burger and fries’ combination the fast-food chains are giving us, might not be good for your health. The digestion place and procedure of these two are entirely different. The carbohydrate digests mainly in the small intestine whereas the protein is digested in the stomach. When you eat both the protein and carbohydrate together they counteract. The carbohydrate ferments while the protein putrifies. This can cause gas, bloating and even can lower your blood sugar level.

4. Salad and Low-fat Dressing 

The first food that comes to our mind when we think about losing weight is the salad with low dressing. Though it seems like a  healthy choice, it lacks the vital nutrients as your body does not take nutrients from the vegetables without any fat. So in this food combination, you are not giving your body carotenoids like alpha/beta carotene and lycopene. 

5. Milk and Banana

We all just love an occasional banana smoothie. But Milk and banana cause heaviness to the stomach and it creates toxicity. This combination will make your mind weak and body lethargic. So if you want to have a banana smoothie make sure to add green cardamom, nutmeg powder and cinnamon powder. This will add digestion in the smoothie. 

6. Dalia and Juice

Most of us love to have a bowl of Dalia with a glass of orange juice at breakfast. We think it is a healthy choice but we are wrong. This food combination makes our blood sugar level high instantly, after a little time the blood sugar level drops drastically. Such drastic changes in the blood sugar level are not good for your health. 

7. Yogurt and fruit 

Mixed fruit and yoghurt is a perfect summertime snack for us, but this may not be a healthy choice. But the acid from the fruit combined with the protein of yoghurt makes the entire dish toxic. It can even lead to food allergies. This is even harmful to your digestive system. 

8. Cheese and Meat 

Those mouth-watering cheesy meatballs, cheese and meat omelettes and meat in fondue, we love the combination of cheese and meat. Whereas cheese and meat both are our favourites, not to have them together might be a good decision. Meat and cheese both have a very high protein content, so it is very difficult to digest them. This is one of the bad food combinations that can cause serious health damage!

9. Cereal and juice 

Most of us start our day with a bowl of milk cereal and a glass of fresh juice. We consider it as the best choice for breakfast. However, this bad food combination is not good for your health. Milk contains casein and juice contains acid, combining them together will curdle the dairy and destroy the enzyme of the juice. So always try to have juice at least one hour before or after having cereal. 

Now that you know about bad food combinations that can cause food poisoning. Therefore, try to avoid them for a food-poisoning free life. As we have different food choices, we also have different digestive powers. Always be careful about your choices of bad food combinations. 

Do you know any bad food combinations like the ones listed above? Please you could kindly share them with us in the comment section below. 

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