In our daily lives, we often drink various beverages, but some can be harmful to your health when consumed on an empty stomach. Do you know which drinks you shouldn't have on an empty stomach? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) warns that coffee, yogurt, and honey are three major drinks you should never consume on an empty stomach!
Coffee
For office workers bustling around office buildings, coffee is a very familiar drink. 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, which eliminates sleepiness, improves blood circulation, and makes the body feel warm and less tired, thus having a "refreshing" effect. However, stimulation and excitement of the sympathetic nervous system have a negative effect on appetite, meaning appetite will decrease, so drinking coffee before a meal may suppress your desire to eat. Additionally, the stomach is stimulated, leading to increased 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 the increase in gastric juice secretion helps with digestion. Therefore, coffee is more suitable for consumption after a meal.
Yogurt
If you drink yogurt on an empty stomach, it can easily stimulate the gastrointestinal tract to empty quickly, causing the nutrients in the yogurt to be expelled before they can be fully digested and absorbed. Drinking it after a meal, however, can reduce this stimulation and allow the yogurt to be slowly absorbed by the stomach.
According to nutrition experts, the best time to drink yogurt is generally 30 minutes to 2 hours after a meal. Under normal conditions, the pH value of gastric juice ranges from 1 to 3. When the stomach is empty, gastric juice is highly acidic, with a pH below 2, which is not suitable for the growth of the active lactic acid bacteria in yogurt. Only when the stomach's pH value is higher can the lactic acid bacteria in the yogurt fully grow, 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.
Honey
Honey is a naturally nutritious and nourishing food, and one of the most commonly used supplements. It contains various inorganic salts and vitamins whose concentrations are similar to human blood serum, making it easily absorbed by the body. Many office workers have the habit of drinking honey water to prevent constipation, nourish the skin, and maintain overall health.
However, experts remind us that the timing of consuming honey 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, this can lead to excess stomach acid and cause stomach ulcers.
If you have a sensitive stomach, it's best to mix the honey 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.