Should Fruits Be Eaten Before Or After Meals?

We pride ourselves on being more progressive and open-minded than our parents, and yet our generation seems to embrace and even encourage rigidity, especially when it comes to food. From low-carb high-protein diet plans to high-carb low-protein diet plans, the number of fad diet plans just keeps growing. “Zero carb “and “Zero fat” are commonplace terms and we often take pride in managing to stick to unrealistically inflexible diet plans. To be fair, a lot of absurd diet-related information is often garbed in pseudo-scientific language to lend it credibility. One of the common arguments doing the rounds currently is that there is a “right time to eat fruits” (which implies that there is a “bad time to eat fruit”). Some articles say that the best time to eat fruit is after your meals while others say that you should only eat fruit before your meals. So, let's cut through the pseudo-information and take a look at the facts.

Should Fruit Be Eaten Before Or After Meals?

First, there is no “best time to eat fruit”, it doesn't matter when you eat fruit because it's still going to give you the same health benefits. You can eat fruit before your meal, after your meal, or even as part of a salad along with your meal – it really doesn't make a difference ! There is nothing wrong with eating fruit at night, in fact you should substitute your dessert for a bowl of fruit as this would be a healthier and more nutritious



choice.

If You Eat Fruit With Other Foods Will It Ferment In Your Stomach?

Sugar + Carbs + Bacteria = Fermentation, Right? WRONG!

One of the most common arguments is that sugar + carbs + bacteria = fermentation therefore if you have sweet fruit along with your meals, the bacteria in your stomach will cause your food to ferment. This does seem vaguely plausible since we know that yeast ferments sugars to form alcohol such as wine and beer. However, there is one small thing that is conveniently ignored – hydrochloric acid. Your stomach produces hydrochloric acid to help digest the food you eat. Hydrochloric acid is an extremely strong acid which is why your stomach acids are strong enough to dissolve metal ! This acid severely retards the proliferation of bacteria, so even if you have fruit along with food, fit will not rot in your stomach!

Is It True That Your Body Cannot Digest The Carbohydrates In Fruit Along With Other Foods?

Your digestive system (your pancreas in particular) produces several digestive enzymes that break down proteins, carbs, and fats. When speaking on the subject, Jill Weisenberger, MS, RD, CDE, author of Diabetes Weight Loss, said,”If we could not digest mixed meals, we would not even be able to digest most foods since most foods are a combination of nutrients. For example, even vegetables like green beans and broccoli are a mix of carbohydrate and protein.”