How should you eat your fruits? (Pexels)
Your dietary habits play an important role in maintaining your overall health and well-being. However, despite knowing about the repercussions, many of us still veer towards consuming unhealthy foods or make certain mistakes while consuming healthy ones, too — which can take a toll on our health. But, we are not really talking about munching on processed foods; we are instead referring to the mistakes we often make when eating fruits. Wondering what they are? We’ve got you covered.
In an Instagram post, Dr Dimple Jangda, an Ayurveda and gut health coach, listed the top mistakes one must never make when eating fruits.
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Never eat fruits as a dessert after a heavy meal
Fruits require only one hour in the stomach for digestion. As such, having fruits after a solid meal will only push the undigested meal (grains, pulses, beans, vegetables, meat) into the small intestine causing indigestion and symptoms like bloating, gases and flatulence. So, ensure to keep a two-hour gap between your meal and fruit consumption. And, if you have had fruits first, wait for an hour before eating a solid meal.
“So, if you had fruits at 8am, you can have your solid meal or breakfast at 9am. If you have had a solid meal first, then have fruits two hours after breakfast,” she added.
Do not eat fruits for dinner
Fruits have active acids and microbial enzymes, like fumaric acid, tartaric acid, oxalic acid, critic acid, malic acid that have a waking effect on the body and disturb the melatonin production needed to fall asleep. In fact, one apple has the same energising effect on the body and mind, as one cup of coffee. Hence, do not eat fruits after sunset. It’s best to eat your second portion of fruits as a evening snack around 4pm to keep away from junking.
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Are you eating fruits along with your main meals? (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Do not mix fruit groups
There are 3 kinds of fruits that must never be had together
– Astringent fruits : apples, berries, cherries, and pear
– Sweet fruits : Papaya, mango banana, peach, and avacado
– Sour fruits : Orange, lemon, tangerine, and grapefruits
Having fruits either in the morning or in-between meals is always better as it allows for better nutrition absorption, said Pavithra N Raj, chief dietitian, Manipal Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, Bangalore. “Fruits have a good amount of fibre, so combining and having along with meals is not advised. Also, fruits have micro nutrients; so, when combined and eaten along with meals, nutrition absorption may not happen to the fullest,” Pavithra told indianexpress.com.
Eating one fruit at a time is always good because each fruit is different in nature — some are citrus, some are carbohydrate-rich and some others are vitamin and potassium rich. “Combining fruits may cause some digestion and bloating problems,” said Pavithra.
