Key Takeaways
- Nutrients in some foods are easier to absorb when they’re paired with complementary foods.
- This includes tomatoes with olive oil and turmeric with black pepper.
- A gastroenterologist also recommends spinach with citrus and garlic with honey.
Did you know that some foods are more beneficial for your health when paired with another food? It might sound strange, but there are food combos that are more nutritious when eaten together.
Gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz, M.D., recently shared his favorite healthy food pairings on Instagram. And it’s about more than just flavor; these combinations are about “getting more nutrition from your food,” per the doctor.
Here are the four food combos you should be eating more often, plus recipes that will help pair these ingredients together.
1. Tomatoes with Olive Oil
Tomatoes with olive oil are often paired together in Italian cuisine—but their partnership exceeds taste.
“Tomatoes contain lycopene, which is a fat soluble antioxidant compound that actually protects us from heart disease [and] reduces oxidative stress,” Bulsiewicz notes. “But it’s not that easy to absorb until you combine it with extra virgin olive oil. And the fat from the extra virgin olive oil actually helps you to get more of the lycopene from the tomatoes.”
Pair the fruit and oil in recipes like our Caprese Pasta Salad or Tomato Toast with Herbed Cream Cheese.
2. Turmeric with Black Pepper
Turmeric packs a powerful anti-inflammatory punch, and you can fully reap the benefits when pairing it with black pepper. Here’s why.
“Turmeric is this wonderful spice in curry that has these powerful anti-inflammatory polyphenols called curcumin,” the gastroenterologist explains. “Problem is, curcumin is not absorbed very easily, but what you can do is combine this with black pepper which has piperine. And piperine actually dramatically increases the absorption of curcumin from the turmeric.”
Just a pinch of black pepper goes a long way, so it won’t influence the taste of your dish or drink. Speaking of drinks, we love combining the two spices in immune-supporting Frozen Lemon-Ginger-Turmeric Shots or in a Turmeric Latte.
3. Spinach with Citrus Fruit
Dark leafy greens like spinach are great for your gut microbiome and for healthy digestion. As explained by Bulsiewicz, spinach is also high in iron, but the type of iron is harder to harness.
“It’s non-heme iron, it’s not as easy to absorb as heme iron,” he says. “So what we do is we add citrus. Citrus, such as this lemon, includes vitamin C which helps us to absorb the non-heme iron. This allows us to actually address iron deficiency and support our energy levels.”
Next time you make a spinach salad, add a squeeze of lemon or top it off with some orange slices. You can also add multiple citrus fruits into your homemade dressing for an easy and tasty touch, like this Citrus Vinaigrette.
4. Garlic with Honey
While this may seem like an unusual pair, garlic and honey are a marriage worth considering. We love it together as a flavor boost in sheet-pan dinners, like our Honey-Garlic Chicken Thighs with Carrots & Broccoli. And this ingredient pair is flavorful and beneficial.
“I’m a huge fan of garlic. Garlic has these sulfur containing compounds called allicin, and allicin is so good for us,” Bulsiewicz shares. “But the problem is, it breaks down very quickly—this is where honey comes in. If you add a nice raw honey, it can actually help to preserve the allicin while also offering its own benefits for your immune system and your gut health.”
