Have you ever tried to eat healthier, added more greens to your plate, cut back on junk food, and chosen the healthier option when you could, but wondered whether it was making much of a difference? Something I’ve found interesting through studying nutrition is that it’s not just about the foods we eat. Sometimes, what we eat together matters, too.

I talked a little about this in my last post on supplements, where I shared how certain nutrients can work together, while others can affect how well we absorb them. The same idea applies to food.

I used to think that as long as I was eating healthy foods, that was pretty much all I needed to think about, and to be fair, choosing a variety of nourishing foods is a great place to start. But as I learned more about nutrition, I started to notice how certain foods can complement each other. For example, adding some vitamin C-rich foods to a meal with beans or lentils can help your body absorb more of the iron.

It’s a pretty simple thing, but I find it interesting because these are foods we probably already have in our kitchens. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of putting them together.

Food Combos That Are Worth Knowing

Iron and Vitamin C

If you’re eating foods like spinach, lentils or black beans, there’s a simple way to help your body absorb more of the iron in them. It’s called non-heme iron, which is the type of iron found in plant foods. Our bodies don’t absorb it as easily as the iron found in meat, but vitamin C can help, and this is easy to do with foods you probably already have at home.

Spinach + fruit: Add some sliced strawberries or mandarin oranges to a spinach salad.

Lentils + tomatoes: Add diced tomatoes to lentil soup or your favourite lentil curry.

A squeeze of lemon: Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over cooked greens, roasted broccoli or a bowl of beans.

Sometimes, adding a little vitamin C to a meal is all it takes to help your body absorb more of the iron in your food.

Veggies and Healthy Fats

Another combination I find interesting is vegetables with a little healthy fat. Some nutrients in vegetables, including vitamins A, E and K, are fat-soluble, which means fat helps your body absorb them. Beta-carotene in carrots is another example. It’s pretty easy to add some healthy fat to a meal.

A few easy ways to do this:

A drizzle of oil: Add some extra virgin olive oil to roasted carrots or drizzle it over steamed greens.

Avocado: Slice some into your salad or add it to a veggie bowl.

A handful of nuts or seeds: Sprinkle walnuts, sliced almonds or pumpkin seeds over your vegetables for a little crunch.

A simple nut butter dressing: Mix tahini or peanut butter with a little water and lemon juice to make an easy dressing for raw vegetables.

Turmeric and Black Pepper

Turmeric and black pepper are an interesting combination. Turmeric contains a compound called curcumin, which has been studied for its potential anti-inflammatory effects. The tricky part is that our bodies don’t absorb curcumin very well on its own. Black pepper contains piperine, a compound that can increase curcumin absorption. Researchers have studied this combination, although the amount of piperine used in studies may be quite different from what you’d get from a pinch of pepper in your cooking.

There are a few easy ways to use them together:

Golden milk or turmeric tea: Add a little black pepper along with the turmeric and ginger. If you’re making golden milk with milk or another fat-containing option, that provides some fat, too.

Soups and stews: When you add turmeric to lentil soup, chicken stew or curry, season with black pepper as well.

Roasted vegetables: Toss cauliflower, sweet potatoes or chickpeas with olive oil, turmeric, salt and black pepper before roasting.

I already use black pepper in plenty of savoury dishes, so adding it when I cook with turmeric is easy enough. Just keep in mind that more absorption doesn’t automatically mean a bigger health benefit, and a pinch of pepper won’t guarantee the same results seen in research.

Protein and Carbohydrates

Have you ever eaten lunch and found yourself looking for something else to eat not long after? Sometimes, it comes down to what was in the meal.

Carbohydrates give our bodies energy, and there’s nothing wrong with eating foods like bread, rice, fruit or pasta. But adding some protein can help make a meal or snack more filling. Protein takes longer to digest than many carbohydrates, and eating the two together can also affect how quickly blood sugar rises after a meal.

Here are a few easy ways to do it:

Toast with a little more to it: Add an egg, some cottage cheese or smoked salmon to your toast.

Fruit and nut butter: Have an apple or banana with peanut butter, or enjoy some nuts on the side.

Build up your grain bowls: Add chicken, tofu, edamame or canned tuna to rice or pasta.

Fruit and yogurt: If you enjoy fruit and granola, try adding Greek yogurt or skyr for extra protein.

Zinc and Protein (Animal Foods)

Zinc is another nutrient where the foods you eat can make a difference in how much your body absorbs. It’s found in foods like meat, seafood, beans, lentils, oats and pumpkin seeds. The difference is that zinc from animal foods is generally easier for our bodies to absorb than zinc from plant foods.

Why? Plant foods contain natural compounds called phytates. These can bind to zinc in the digestive tract, making it harder for your body to absorb. This doesn’t mean beans, lentils or seeds aren’t good sources of nutrition. It just means that if you eat mostly plant-based, it’s worth knowing a little about how to get the most out of them.

A few things you can try:

Soak your beans and lentils: Soaking dried legumes before cooking can help reduce phytates. Some methods of sprouting and fermentation can reduce them further.

Try sourdough bread: Traditional sourdough fermentation can break down some of the phytates in wheat, which may make more of its zinc available for absorption.

Add seeds to your meals: Pumpkin and hemp seeds contain zinc, so try sprinkling them over oatmeal, soups or grain bowls.

You don’t need to avoid foods that contain phytates. They’re a normal part of many nutritious plant foods, and these foods offer plenty of other benefits, too. If you eat mostly plant-based, it’s simply helpful to know that preparation methods can make a difference in how much zinc your body absorbs.

Healthy Fats and Colourful Vegetables

Carrots, sweet potatoes and red peppers contain carotenoids, including beta-carotene, which our bodies can use to make vitamin A. Having some fat with these foods can help us absorb more of these nutrients. It can be as simple as roasting carrots with olive oil, adding a little butter to sweet potatoes or tossing some avocado into a salad. When you think about it, plenty of traditional dishes already bring foods together this way. Beans cooked with tomatoes, vegetables stir-fried in oil and curries made with spices and ghee are all familiar examples. People weren’t necessarily thinking about nutrient absorption when they cooked these meals, but these combinations can offer nutritional benefits alongside the flavour.

A Few Things Worth Being Aware Of

Here’s another combination to know about: calcium and iron.

Calcium can affect how much iron your body absorbs from a meal, particularly non-heme iron from plant foods like lentils and spinach. So, if you’re trying to get more iron from your food, you might want to think about when you’re having your dairy products or calcium supplements.

There’s no need to give up milk or cheese. For most people, there’s no reason to worry too much about how these foods fit together in everyday meals. But if you’ve been told your iron is low, or you’re taking an iron supplement, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist whether separating your calcium and iron intake would be helpful.

Iron and Coffee or Tea

If you’re someone who likes having coffee or tea with your meals, this is something to know about. Both contain polyphenols that can reduce how much iron your body absorbs from food, particularly plant sources like beans, lentils and leafy greens.

You don’t have to give up your coffee or tea. But if you’re trying to improve your iron levels, having your drink between meals instead of alongside them may help. Leaving around an hour or two between your meal and your tea or coffee is one option, especially if your iron levels are low.

Very High Fibre and Mineral Absorption

Fibre is important for digestion, but there’s a little more to the story. Foods like wheat bran contain phytates, which can bind to minerals such as iron and zinc and make them harder for your body to absorb. For most people eating a varied diet, this isn’t something to worry about. Whole grains, beans, lentils and other high-fibre foods still offer plenty of nutritional benefits. It’s more about understanding how different foods interact than avoiding fibre-rich foods.

Zinc and Iron (Together in High Amounts)

Zinc and iron are another pair worth knowing about, especially if you take supplements. In certain circumstances, higher doses of iron can interfere with how well your body absorbs zinc. If you’re getting these minerals from everyday foods, it’s generally not something you need to worry about. But if you’re taking a higher-dose iron supplement and also supplementing with zinc, the timing may matter. It’s a good idea to check with your pharmacist or healthcare provider about whether you should take them at different times.

Large Amounts of Calcium and Other Minerals

Calcium is another mineral where the amount you take in can matter. Taking large amounts of calcium supplements may affect how your body absorbs certain other minerals, including zinc and magnesium, although the evidence isn’t clear-cut.

Getting calcium from everyday foods generally isn’t something you need to worry about. If you’re taking high-dose calcium supplements along with other mineral supplements, though, it’s worth checking with your pharmacist or healthcare provider to make sure the amounts and timing make sense for you.

What This Can Look Like in a Real Day

So what does this actually look like when you’re putting meals together? It can be as simple as a few things you add to foods you already eat.

Morning — Eggs on sourdough toast with sliced tomatoes, or a glass of orange juice on the side. The eggs provide protein, while the tomatoes or juice add vitamin C to your meal.

Lunch — Lentil soup with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. Lentils provide plant-based iron, and the vitamin C from the lemon helps your body absorb more of it. The olive oil also helps with the absorption of certain nutrients in the vegetables.

Afternoon — An apple with peanut butter or a handful of nuts. It’s a simple snack that gives you a mix of carbohydrates, fat and some protein.

Dinner — Stir-fried vegetables cooked in a little oil with chicken, tofu or beef, served over rice. You’re getting a mix of nutrients from the vegetables and protein source, and the oil helps your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients. If you’re cooking with turmeric, add a little black pepper, too.

I used to think more about whether I was eating healthy foods than how they worked together. Now I find these little combinations interesting, especially when they’re easy to work into meals I already enjoy. It’s something to keep in mind next time you’re cooking, but there’s no need to turn every meal into a science experiment.

Simply Salt & Soul

The Salt (The Science): Eating a food doesn’t mean your body absorbs all the nutrients in it. Things like what you eat it with and how you prepare it can make a difference. For example, adding some olive oil to carrots can help your body absorb beta-carotene, and cooking tomatoes can make some of their lycopene easier to absorb. Different nutrients respond differently, so there’s no single best way to prepare every vegetable.

The Soul (The Wellness): I think it’s easy to get caught up in all the nutrition advice out there and start questioning every meal. But most of these pairings are simple things you can try with foods you already eat. Add some lemon to your lentils, toss your vegetables in olive oil, or have some nuts with your afternoon fruit. You might already be doing some of these things without realizing it.

This post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Individual nutritional needs vary. If you have specific concerns about nutrient absorption or deficiencies, speaking with a qualified health practitioner is always a good idea.