It's best to wait an hour after your meal before eating the fruit platter
Core Tip: So, when is the best time to eat fruit? The best time is one hour before or one hour after a meal.
Currently, many restaurants offer a delicious fruit platter after the meal to attract customers. After a satisfying meal, eating some sweet fruit feels very good. Chen Xiafei, Chief Nutritionist at the Department of Nutrition of Huadong Hospital in Shanghai, says that while restaurant meals are often greasy and a little fruit can be refreshing to cleanse the palate, if possible, fruit should still be eaten some time after the meal. Eating fruit right after being full is not conducive to absorbing its nutrients and can easily burden the digestive system. Song Xin, a nutritionist at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital affiliated with Capital Medical University, agrees.
When we eat a full meal, and various vegetables and staples have not been fully digested in the stomach, eating a lot of fruit means the nutrients in the fruit cannot be fully absorbed by the digestive system, leading to waste. Furthermore, fruit is a raw and cold food. Eating it immediately after a hot meal can cause stomach discomfort. This is one reason. The second is that after a full meal, the fructose in the fruit cannot enter the intestines in a timely manner, leading to fermentation in the stomach, which produces organic acids and causes various digestive issues like bloating and diarrhea.
So, when is the best time to eat fruit? The best time is one hour before or one hour after a meal. Many components in fruit are water-soluble, so eating it before a meal helps the body absorb essential nutrients. Additionally, fruit is a low-calorie food, with an average calorie content of only 1/4 that of an equivalent weight of staple foods and 1/10 of that of meat. Eating low-calorie foods first makes it easier to control the total calorie intake of a meal. Moreover, many fruits are prone to oxidation and spoilage. Eating them first can shorten their time in the stomach, reducing the degree of oxidation and spoilage and minimizing any potential adverse effects on the body.
Among the three daily meals, eating fruit one hour after breakfast is the healthiest. Because breakfast is usually simple and low in calories, having a high-sugar fruit around 9 or 10 a.m. can be quickly converted into energy, making you feel refreshed. It's best not to eat fruit after dinner, as excess sugar is less likely to be metabolized and can easily lead to weight gain.