There’s no doubt that eating fruit is an important part of our healthy diet. Fruits are healthy for us, and we all know that—but it’s good to know that eating fruits should follow some general guidelines to gain maximum benefits from them. It’s actually just not as simple as putting it into our mouths whenever we want and like.
Incorporating fruits into our diet in the proper way gives our digestive system more powerful benefits through vitamin intake and improved digestion. Most fruits are the great source of fiber, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate and many more.
So, what are the rules of eating fruits so we can obtain the best benefits from them?
Fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach
When fruit is eaten, the digestive process works very quickly and our body uses different enzymes to digest the fruit. When fruit is consumed in empty stomach it gives a lot of energy helps in detoxification of the system. You need to leave a gap at least 30 minutes between a meal and a fruit snack. Ideally, one should eat fruits an hour before the meal or two hours after, if they have diabetes or any other digestive problem like acidity.
Take precautions when combining certain fruits and foods
Some recommend that fruits should be taken solely without combining with food because this will make them emit poison or undergo decay and ferment in the gut. There are few incidences that these things might actually happen, because the digestive system has very fine ability to break up food. However, it is wise to avoid mixing foods that shouldn’t be eaten together. For example, consuming acid fruits and protein together can hamper digestion.
Fruits should be washed before eating
Fruits should be washed under running tap water and it is suggested to move our hand nimbly over the whole fruit’s surface so that the germs on them can be removed. Dry the fruits well before consuming.
Are canned fruits are OK?
Usually, canned fruits have been mixed with sugar syrup—which also acts as natural preservative. But, other artificial chemicals are also added to the canned fruits. So it is clear that canned fruits are not much beneficial as much fresh fruits are.
Don’t go crazy
We know that fruit is highly nutritious, but still, it does contain calories. If you eat a bowl of fruit 30 minutes after you had your meal with a huge amount of calories, you might be getting more calories than your body needs. Consuming too many calories, even from healthy foods like fruit will lead to weight gain. Keep in mind too that if your diet is very fruit-heavy, it leaves less room to eat other nutritious foods such as vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and low-fat dairy foods.
