Myth or truth from combination of sweet potato and persimmon

There are many different perspectives on whether food combination causes harm or benefits to our body. In general, the enzymes that complete digestion of carbohydrate, protein and lipid are secreted in intestine under alkaline medium. A good salivary and gastric digestion used to complete intestinal digestion. Dr Virginia Vetrano: “When incompatible mixtures of foods are taken, the efficiency of digestive enzymes is reduced and cause food decomposes in the digestive tract.” The products of fermentation and putrefaction from bacteria decomposition are toxic to the body when they are absorbed by the cells later and harm our digestion tract. As a result, our body need to work extra hard to eliminate these toxic materials (Dr. Bernarr, N.D).

There are myths about take persimmon and sweet potato together which you will get terribly ill or vitamin toxicity. According to the theory, starchy foods should not be consumed with sweet fruits. Sweet potato is considered as the starchy food while persimmon is categorized as sweet fruits. This is because this combination of foods may result in increase in stomach acid which eventually leads to gastric hemorrhage or gastric ulcer. When sugar from persimmon is taken into mouth, our mouth will be filled by saliva but with the absence of ptyalin. This is because sugar practically does not undergo digestion in mouth and stomach. Therefore when starch come from sweet potato is disguised with sugar, our taste buds are deceived, resulting in impaired carbohydrate digestion of starch (Dr. Bernarr, N.D).

Sweet potato which rich is in fiber will tend to delay the stomach digestion. As a result, sugar also gets held in stomach for a longer time and eventually promotes the fermentation process in stomach due to improper carbohydrate digestion. Furthermore, monosaccharide and disaccharide sugars are more likely to be fermented compared to polysaccharides. During fermentation process in stomach, the bacteria will turn the food into alcohol and acetic acid which further increase the acidity of stomach. Eventually, that may lead to gastric ulcer or gastric hemorrhage. Besides, these products of fermentation can be toxic to cells and tissues when absorbed by the intestinal villi. Our body will be alerted by nervous system, causing the body to work harder to eliminate toxic out (Dr Andrew L. Rubman, 1st October 2007).

There is no doubt that persimmons and sweet potatoes have a relatively high amount of vitamin A. Excess amount of vitamin A may lead to toxicity. However, the vitamin A found in both of these foods is in form beta-carotene, which poses no harm to our body even in large amounts because it is not converted efficiently enough in the body to cause vitamin A toxicity. Instead, it is stored in fat under skin, which turns your skin into yellowish colour. Therefore, combination of these foods will not cause vitamin A toxicity but instead it promotes good antioxidant properties due to beta-carotene and vitamin C in it (Dr. Bernarr, N.D.).