Not everything that tastes good, means it’s okay. This could probably be the reason why most people now have ulcers or severe acidity in the stomach and discount it to be caused by work stress or family problems. In some studies including ayuvedric principles, I quote:

“According to Ayurveda, every food has its own taste (rasa), a heating or cooling energy (virya) and post-digestive effect (vipak). When foods, (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) having different attributes, tastes, heating or cooling properties, and post-digestive effects are eaten together, agni will be slowed down. The foods can then remain in the stomach for seven to eight hours. These same foods, if eaten separately might well stimulate agni, be digested more quickly and even help to burn ama. Thus, according to Ayurveda, one should eat according to one’s constitution and take fruits, starches, proteins and fats separately at different times of the day. Combining foods improperly can produce indigestion, fermentation, putrefaction and gas formation. This condition, if prolonged, can lead to toxemia and disease complex. For example, eating bananas with milk can diminish agni, change the intestinal flora producing toxin*s and may cause sinus congestion, cold, cough and allergies.”

Some combinations give you rashes, some give you diarrhea, and often people think they were food poisoned due to microorganisms such as e-coli, that could be true yes. But then again, you’d think, basing on the ayuvedric teachings, is it not fodder for certain bacteria that you combined food that promote these bacteria’s favorite food or breeding environment as well? Just a thought :) Specific so-called toxic combinations are crab and persimmons. True to some people, they’ve caused hospitalizations due to either allergy breakout or even diarrhea. And mostly, when we hear of victims of these food poisoning incidents, its the elderly or the children who are severely or fatally affected. Simply because of the body’s immune systems that may have failed them.

So even if it’s an old wives’ tale, I best leave it to the ancestors’ wisdom and follow. After all, the worst effects may not even be felt NOW but overtime, the body may just continuously deteriorate or harbor some strange illnesses when I get older, simply because I weakened it long before, by simply combining some counter-acting yin and yang types of food.

Oh by the way, a lot of the so-called Modern Scientific methods and procedures of the Western World frowned on a lot of Chinese principles. Take accupuncture, pressure points reflexologies, certain healing medicinal herbs for example.. and decades later, what has happened to people worldwide? A general clamor for natural supplements, herbal medicines, and the like. A lot like the way they laughed at the olden people brewing teas from copious amounts of bark, leaves and flowers are not being taken seriously. Even Chinese cordyceps for example, used for centuries have just began to surface and they’re now touted by Western Medicine as new drug to counter some leading diseases.. tsk tsk tsk..the skepticism is soooo over the top, don’t you think? ;)