Hay Diet

Developed by an American physician, Dr. William Howard Hay, the Hay Diet is one of the oldest food combining diets currently in use. Dr. Hay suffered a serious illness, Bright’s disease, and when near death began experimenting by consuming only natural foods. To his surprise, he discovered that his health drastically improved. He devoted the remaining years of his life to studying naturopathy and working out the elements of the perfect food combining diet.
Dr. Hay believed that foods should be separated into the distinct categories: alkaline, acid, and neutral. In order to digest food properly and avoid negative side effects such as weight gain and bloating, alkaline and acid foods must be eaten separately. Acid foods are generally those rich in protein such as meat, poultry, cheese, and milk while alkaline ones include carbohydrates such as rice, potatoes, and bread. Neutral foods include fruits and vegetables which are a cornerstone of this particular diet plan.
Food combiners following Dr. Hay’s plan eat three meals every day; the first meal consisting of alkaline only foods, the second meal containing protein foods with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and the third meal consisting of alkaline foods with added fruits and vegetables.
Scientists generally consider food combining a junk theory with very little scientific merit, and this diet has many elaborate rules and charts which you must follow in order to be successful with food combining. It has had no proven success as a weight loss diet and is not promoted as such a diet, rather touting its gastrointestinal benefits as the purpose of the diet.