Hay diet leads to weight loss, improves one's health and even keeps health conditions such as asthma and diabetes at bay. Read on to know what constitutes a hay diet, followed by benefits as well as drawbacks of the same.
Hay diet, also known as the food combining diet, was first introduced by Dr. William Howard Hay in the year 1911. According to him, the main reason why people have health problems is the wrong kind of chemical conditions in the body. When there are chemical imbalances in the body, a person suffers from acidity, which lowers the body's alkaline reserve. This leads to a condition known as toxaemia. Hay diet was introduced to prevent this condition from developing so that the body can maintain an appropriate chemical balance. Read more on weight loss diets.

Hay Diet Rules
The following is a list of a few important dos and don'ts that need to be considered when selecting this diet.
Most of the diet of a person should be made up of vegetables, fruits and salads.
Foods which give the body proteins, fats and starches, should be eaten in lesser quantities.
Sugar and starch containing foods should not be combined with either proteins or acidic fruits, in the same meal.
There should be a difference of at least four hours in between meals that contain proteins and starch.
Milk should not be taken along with any meal.
Refined and processed foods should be completely eliminated from the diet.
Hay Diet Food List
Dr William Howard Hay divided foods into three lists or categories. According to him, a person following a hay diet plan should follow three basic principles. Here are the three lists of foods, followed by the three principles of hay diet.

List A
Proteins
Meats
Poultry
Eggs
Cheese
Fish
Yogurt
Soybeans
List B
Neutral Foods
Vegetables
Salads
Seeds
Nuts
Herbs
Creams
Butter
Olive oil
List C
Biscuits
Starches
Cakes
Breads
Oats
Crackers
Pastas
Potatoes
Rice
Honey
Sweets
According to Dr Hay, foods in list A lead to acid formation in the body. Foods in list B are alkaline in nature and foods in list C are acidic in nature. The first principle of hay diet is never to combine foods in the list A and C, whether in a meal or when preparing any hay diet recipes. Secondly, combining of foods in list A and B is completely healthy. Thirdly, combining of foods in list B and C is healthy too.