In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores food combining and the importance of understanding what works best for your own body.

The first thing to say about food combining is please remain calm. Human beings have learned how to eat many different things over many thousands of years. Unless you have an anaphylactic reaction to something, you should not become afraid of a particular food. If you do have an anaphylactic reaction, then you must certainly be alert to that food. Otherwise, remain calm.

If you eat something that does not agree with you, remember that it does not agree with you at that moment. You can always test it again after six months, a year, or even longer, and see what happens.

The next thing to remember about food combining is that there is a difference between combining things on your plate and combining things in the pot. If you want to combine many different things, put them together into one pot and turn them into a soup, stew, or something similar. Then they have already undergone the process of combining before you consume them.

This is often a useful way to think about food combining. If you would normally put certain foods together to make a soup, then even if you are not making soup, but simply eating them together in one meal, there is a greater chance that the meal will digest well.

There are also certain foods that generally do not combine well. Watermelon is one example, and melons in general can be difficult. I love watermelon and have eaten it since I was very young, but I have found that it is better eaten by itself. Eat it, enjoy it, and allow some time to pass before eating something else.

This is often true with milk as well. Some people do well taking milk with meals, and there can be value in doing so for certain individuals. But milk is a very specific substance, and it is not suitable for everyone. When you do consume milk, it is often better to take it separately, warm it, and add things such as powdered ginger and other spices. Bringing it close to a boil can make the milk easier to digest and reduce the chance of it interacting poorly with other foods.

There are many rules about food combining, and you will find many different opinions. The most important thing to remember is that these rules may be true for some people, but they may not necessarily apply to you.

The only way to know is to experiment. It is important to try things and also to remain calm. If one experiment does not work well, do not assume that you have caused serious harm to your body. Simply recognize that this particular combination is not working for you at this time.

Then adjust. Perhaps you can eat that food by itself, or combine it with something else, but not with the particular food that caused difficulty.

The goal is to understand what your own body needs. Remember that your ability to digest certain foods can change throughout your life. Something that worked well when you were younger may not continue to work as you get older and as your agni becomes less strong.

In my own case, I have found that I can no longer tolerate garlic very well. I have also spoken with many people who discovered that as they became older, they lost their tolerance for garlic. If I cannot taste it in the food, I usually do not react to it. But if I can taste it, then there is enough present for my body to respond.

So do not assume that because something worked for you in the past, or because a certain food combination worked for someone else, it will necessarily work for you.

Read, observe, experiment, and pay close attention to how your own body responds. Work with that reality, so that reality does not have to come and work with you.