People who often eat out know that after a big meal, the restaurant will always serve a bowl of fruit, calling it "digestive fruit." Even though we are already very full, we still tend to have a few slices. So, can eating fruit at this time really aid digestion?
Actually, after food enters the stomach, it takes 1-2 hours to digest and slowly pass through. If it's a large meal rich in protein and fat, the digestion time is even longer, possibly reaching 6-7 hours. If you eat fruit immediately after a meal, the fruit will be held back in the stomach by the other food. If it stays in the stomach for too long, the fruit will ferment, leading to symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, or constipation, and it can also cause digestive dysfunction. Therefore, it's best to eat fruit 1-2 hours after a meal. Conversely, eating fruit before a meal helps in achieving the healthy eating principle of "eight parts full." Fruit is a low-calorie food, with an average calorie content of only one-fourth that of an equivalent amount of staple food like noodles and about one-tenth of that of meat like pork. Eating low-calorie food first makes it easier to control the total intake. Many fruits are prone to oxidation and spoilage. Eating fruit first can shorten its time in the stomach, reduce the degree of oxidation and spoilage, and lessen any potential adverse effects on the body.
Therefore, based on an analysis of the fruit's own components and the body's digestive and absorption characteristics, it is recommended that adults should eat fruit before each meal (except for fruits like persimmons that are not suitable to be eaten before a meal). However, children are in a period of physical growth, and some women have a "deficiency of the spleen and stomach" constitution in Traditional Chinese Medicine, making it unsuitable or uncomfortable for them to eat fruit before a meal. For these groups, it is better to have a fruit snack between meals rather than immediately after a meal.