Fruits are one of the healthiest foods in people's minds, and some people even eat several times more fruit than staple foods. But do you know that eating fruit requires proper methods? Otherwise, not only will you fail to achieve health benefits, but you may also bring on various diseases.
I. Avoid eating fruit immediately after a meal
Eating fruit right after a meal will not aid digestion; on the contrary, it can cause bloating and constipation. Therefore, it is advisable to eat fruit 2 hours after a meal or 1 hour before a meal.
II. Avoid eating fruit without rinsing your mouth
Some fruits contain various fermentable sugars that are highly corrosive to teeth. If you don't rinse your mouth after eating, fruit residue left in the mouth can easily lead to cavities.
III. Avoid eating too much fruit
Excessive fruit consumption can lead to copper deficiency in the body, which in turn increases cholesterol in the blood and may cause coronary heart disease. Therefore, it is not advisable to eat too much fruit in a short period.
IV. Avoid eating unhygienic fruit
Eating fruit that is starting to rot, or fruit that has not been thoroughly washed and disinfected and is not protected from dust and flies—such as strawberries, mulberries, and sliced watermelon—can easily cause digestive tract infections like dysentery, typhoid fever, and acute gastroenteritis.
V. Avoid disinfecting fruit with alcohol
Although alcohol can kill bacteria on the surface of fruit, it will alter the fruit's color, aroma, and taste. When alcohol reacts with the acids in the fruit, it reduces the fruit's nutritional value.
VI. Avoid eating raw fruit without peeling it
Some people believe that the peel contains more vitamins than the flesh and therefore eat the fruit with the peel on. However, what they don't realize is that when fruits suffer from pests and diseases, pesticides are often used to kill them. These pesticides can penetrate and remain in the waxy layer of the peel, meaning the pesticide residue in the peel is much higher than in the flesh.
VII. Avoid using a kitchen knife to peel fruit
Because a kitchen knife often comes into contact with meat, fish, and vegetables, it can carry parasites or parasite eggs to the fruit, leading to parasitic infections in people. Furthermore, the rust on the knife and the tannic acid in apples can undergo a chemical reaction, which will impair the color, aroma, and taste of the apple.