To begin, it's important to state that this topic isn't something everyone chooses to believe in because there isn't a lot of scientific data to back it up.
Personally, understanding food combining has been life changing for me. I used to deal with so many digestive issues such as constipation, bloating, and inflammation. The funny thing was these problems weren't coming from junk food, they were coming from my most healthy meals.
I knew there was a problem but I blamed it on having what I thought was IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), because digestive problems had run in my family.
After understanding food combining, a lot of my "problems" went away...
Food Combining
Food combining is the idea that combining the wrong foods can lead to digestive problems, toxin build up, and distress such as constipation and inflammation whereas combining the right foods can prevent these things.
Food combining is backed by the idea that certain foods are digested at different speeds (fruits, starches, and protein). Essentially, you can create a "traffic jam" in your digestive track by consuming foods with different digestive speeds (mentioned on Healthline.com).
Some rules associated with food combining are:
1. Starches & sugars should not be combined with protein
2. Protein pairs well with greens/non-starchy veggies
3. Starches pair well with greens/non-starchy veggies
4. Only eat fruit on an empty stomach
5. Wait 3-4 hours before switching categories (not much science behind this, but for some it's helpful in preventing digestive distress)
The most important rule for me is that protein is best with leafy veggies rather than carbs & starches. If your plan was to have chicken, veggies, and rice, try eating just chicken and veggies (increase quantity of both) to see if your digestive track handles it better.
It is said that by consuming your protein with a carb/starch (foods with two different digestive speeds), the food won't pass through evenly and will get stuck/rot, creating an extremely acidic environment in the gut that can lead to issues such as yeast overgrowth, bloating etc.
I used to eat my starches, proteins, and leafy greens together. This resulted in extreme bloating. Once I removed my starch from this meal, I could digest everything easily and with no bloating.
Overall
Remember, this isn't a diet and our bodies have adapted to consuming multiple macronutrients at once, however, for those of you that may have sensitivities like me, this may be worth trying out.