Many people find that eating fruit on an empty stomach can cause discomfort, so they schedule fruit consumption after a full meal, believing it can cut through the grease and aid digestion. However, health experts state that eating fruit after a meal is an incorrect eating habit, and for diabetics, it can further elevate blood sugar.
There is a best time to eat fruit
"If you are not overly full, eating fruits like apples after a meal can help with digestion and supplement vitamins. However, if you have just had a large meal and then consume a large amount of fruit afterward, not only will it not aid in digestion, but it will significantly increase blood sugar concentration and add to the burden on the pancreas. People with high blood sugar or diabetes should pay particular attention to this issue," a nutrition expert explains. "After a full meal, the body has already absorbed a large amount of high-protein, high-fat, and high-calorie foods, and blood sugar has already peaked. At this point, for individuals with high blood sugar or diabetes, eating fruit will only increase sugar and calorie intake, which is very detrimental to health. If you want to eat fruit, you should wait one to two hours after the meal."
As for the practice of eating fruit before a meal, experts say that eating fruit one to two hours before a meal can indeed help with nutrient absorption. "On one hand, blood sugar levels are not very high at this time, so eating fruit can increase the sugar content in the blood, reduce hunger, and thus effectively control food intake." At the same time, Yinghui Yu also notes that eating fruit between meals can also supplement the body's needed nutrients in a timely manner. "But it should be reminded to the public that although eating fruit before a meal helps with nutrient absorption, highly acidic fruits like pineapple should not be eaten before a meal as they can damage the gastric mucosa. Also, persimmons contain tannic acid, and eating them on an empty stomach before a meal can hinder digestion."
Therefore, it is advised that you should never eat fruit after a meal. Because blood sugar is already rising after a meal, eating fruit at this time will cause it to rise even higher. Over the long term, this can easily lead to high blood sugar, and persistently high blood sugar can easily lead to diabetes.
What is the most reasonable order for a meal
Drink soup first, then eat vegetables, followed by rice and whole grains, and finally eat fish and meat. This is because the metabolic time for each food in the body is different: vegetables take about an hour, fish and meat take two to three hours, and grains take two hours. Foods with slower metabolism are more suitable to be eaten later.