By Setareh Kiumarsi
Animal protein is the topic of this part of the “When and How to Enjoy It” series. In earlier parts of this series, we talked about fruits, desserts, and dairy. If you haven’t read those yet, be sure to take a look. So, what exactly falls under the category of animal protein? Meat and eggs. How should they be consumed? Read on.
Animal proteins are considered heavy foods. Your digestive system has to work hard to break them down. Now imagine combining that heavy food with other sticky, dense items; like cheese or yogurt. Digestion becomes even harder. Often, the digestive tract can’t process the combination, and it turns into toxins and undigested mucus.
So, as a rule, don’t eat cheese or yogurt in the same meal with animal proteins. That means dishes like lasagna, cheeseburgers, or pizza are very difficult to digest.
Avoid eating two types of meat in the same meal. For example, if you’re out at a restaurant, don’t have meat kebab, chicken kebab, and fish all in one sitting.
Also be mindful of potatoes. Potatoes are cold and dry by nature—they cool down the digestive tract and weaken digestive fire. They’re suitable for people with overly fast metabolism (like those with hyperthyroidism). But when we eat red meat, we need to strengthen our digestive fire to help it handle such a heavy food. So when potatoes are combined with heavy proteins, they slow digestion significantly. That combo becomes like a rock in the digestive tract, and can take hours to fully break down and absorb.
That’s why combinations like steak with mashed potatoes, or cheeseburgers with fries, are actually very toxic and harmful.
What helps balance and digest animal protein?
Cook them with warming spices like saffron, turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, fennel, thyme, rosemary, and others. For every three parts of warming spice, add one part of cooling spice—like sumac, coriander seeds, or dried rose petals. This boosts the fire element in the food and supports digestion.
If you’re using red meat, always add sumac—it helps eliminate uric acid.
Grilled, stewed, or soup-based preparations of meat are much easier to digest than fried ones. When meat, chicken, or fish is fried—especially when coated in flour (like fried chicken, schnitzel, nuggets, etc.)—it becomes many times harder to digest. Both the flour and oil are highly mucus-forming.
If you suffer from serious digestive issues or sluggish digestion, avoid combining animal protein with carbohydrates like rice or bread. For example, a typical lunch might include a big plate of rice with a meat stew—but that’s a very heavy combo. Try alternating days: one day have meat with vegetables, and the next day rice with a plant-based stew.
And don’t forget your vegetables! Always eat veggies alongside animal proteins. Most vegetables have drying and mucus-clearing properties. When eaten with protein, they act like sponges; soaking up the excess mucus and making digestion easier. Plus, most vegetables alkalize the digestive tract, which helps neutralize the acidity of animal protein.
So pair animal proteins with warming vegetables like carrots, parsley, basil, spinach, bell peppers, leeks, and beets, as well as cooling vegetables like celery, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower. Keep a 3:1 ratio of warm to cool vegetables, and make sure any cooling vegetables are cooked and seasoned with spices.
Add a digestive salad to your meals too. (You can find several recipes on the cooking section of our website.) For example, if you used to eat 10–15 spoonfuls of rice with a big piece of chicken, now try having just 5–6 spoonfuls of rice with one or two small pieces of chicken, and fill half your plate with digestive salad.
And what about eggs? They fall under the category of animal protein too.
In Ayurveda, eggs are considered warm and moist. If eaten soft-boiled, they help build blood and strengthen the body. But there are a few important rules to follow:
Never eat more than one egg in a single meal.
Don’t eat eggs more than 2–3 times a week.
Don’t combine eggs with other proteins. Digesting two types of animal protein together is extremely difficult, and it can make the digestive tract inflamed and overly acidic. So don’t combine eggs with meat, chicken, seafood, sausage, cheese, yogurt, or milk. That means yes—no more sausage and eggs.
Also, don’t combine eggs with fruit.
Please be sure to credit the author, Setareh Kiumarsi, when sharing or republishing this article, which was written with love and the hope of well-being for all.
