Coffee
For white-collar workers shuttling between various office buildings, coffee is a very familiar beverage--cafes are the preferred venues for daily business meetings, and coffee is also a great tool for staying alert during overtime and late nights.
The caffeine in coffee stimulates the sympathetic nervous system after entering the body, thereby eliminating sleepiness, improving blood circulation, making the body feel warm, and reducing fatigue, which is why it has a "refreshing" effect.
However, stimulation and excitement of the sympathetic nervous system have a negative effect on appetite, meaning appetite will decrease. Therefore, drinking coffee before a meal may suppress your desire to eat. Additionally, stimulation of the stomach increases gastric juice secretion, which can irritate an empty stomach and is not good for patients with conditions like stomach ulcers. However, drinking it after a meal can aid digestion because gastric juice secretion increases. Therefore, drinking coffee after a meal is perfectly fine.
Of course, as the saying goes, "too much of a good thing is bad." No matter how good something is, it should be consumed in moderation. Ideally, coffee should be limited to two to three cups a day. If you drink four or five cups, most people will start to feel nauseous, so be careful.
Honey
Honey is a nutritious natural food and one of the most commonly used supplements. It contains various inorganic salts and vitamins similar in concentration to human blood serum, making it easy for the body to absorb. Many office workers have the habit of drinking honey water, which can prevent constipation, nourish the skin, and maintain overall health.
Experts remind: The timing of honey consumption is very important. It is recommended to drink it 1.5 to 2 hours after a meal. Drinking honey water on an empty stomach can easily increase the body's acidity, and over time, excessive stomach acid can lead to stomach ulcers or duodenal ulcers.
For people with sensitive stomachs, it's best to drink it mixed with water at 30°C, otherwise it may easily cause adverse symptoms like diarrhea or gastroenteritis. However, the temperature should not be too high. From a pharmacological perspective, heating honey above 67°C will destroy its vitamins and reduce its aroma, lowering its nutritional value.
Weight Loss Tea
Summer is the best time for fitness and weight loss to show off a great figure. Many office workers who want to correct their figure and prevent obesity rely on weight loss tea to control their weight.
Tea is, of course, a beverage we are all too familiar with. Most people know that you shouldn't drink tea immediately after a meal; it's best to wait half an hour. However, many people fail to notice that tea should also not be consumed on an empty stomach. The ancient saying, "Do not drink tea on an empty stomach," means exactly this. Because tea contains caffeine and other alkaloids, drinking it on an empty stomach can lead to excessive absorption of these substances by the intestines, easily causing gastrointestinal discomfort and loss of appetite.
Currently popular weight loss tea products on the market emphasize the concept of tea therapy for wellness, with their main ingredients extracted from natural tea leaves. Therefore, they are also not suitable for drinking on an empty stomach. Moreover, according to a person in charge from the well-known domestic weight loss tea brand Besengen, drinking it correctly can make weight loss tea more effective, and one very important rule is to drink it after a meal and never on an empty stomach.
Yogurt
People often discuss how to drink yogurt for better health or when is the best time to drink it for optimal nutrient absorption. If consumed on an empty stomach, yogurt can easily stimulate the gastrointestinal tract to empty quickly, and the nutrients in the yogurt won't have enough time to be fully digested and absorbed before being expelled. Drinking it after a meal can reduce this stimulation and allow the yogurt to be slowly absorbed in the stomach.
Li Guangyi, a nutrition expert, explains: Generally, the best time to drink yogurt is between 30 minutes and 2 hours after a meal. Under normal conditions, the pH value of gastric juice is between 1 and 3. When the stomach is empty, the gastric juice is highly acidic with a pH value below 2, which is not suitable for the growth of the active lactic acid bacteria in yogurt. Only when the pH value of the stomach is higher can the lactic acid bacteria in the yogurt grow fully, which is beneficial to health. Furthermore, the optimal temperature for drinking yogurt is 10°C-12°C. Note that the temperature should not exceed 50°C, as this will deactivate the beneficial bacteria.