Information about nutrition is everywhere! We are exposed to an overwhelming and often contradictory amount of news, advertising, media, and conversation about food and nutrition each day. Nutrition Translation will help you discern what information is worth incorporating into your life and what information is just plain quackery (or worse, dangerous!).
Check back with nutritiontranslation.com for posts on simple, yet evidence-based ways to keep yourself and your family healthy.
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Hi Marissa! Looks like you’re off to a great start!
Question- I hear various things about eating fruit with other things. Some say you shouldn’t mix fruit with other foods, as the fruit will ‘rot’ as your stomach is busy digesting other things you’re eating. Is this true? I’ve been avoiding mixing fruit in with meals and eating it solo as a snack instead, but please elaborate if possible! To what extent is this true? Apples and peanut butter? Fruit for dessert? Fruit in salad?
thanks!!!
Hey there, Jet! Thanks for the post!
I’ve been looking into your question a bunch because I had never heard this idea of fruit rotting in your stomach in any of my nutrition classes, textbooks, or research. It turns out that the eating fruit on an empty stomach recommendation originated from a scam email “from” a fictitious doctor that has been forwarded around the world since the late 1990s (check out snopes or the skeptic’s dictionary for the whole scoop: http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/fruit.asp or http://www.skepdic.com/skeptimedia/skeptimedia106.html).
Here’s what you should know about fruit (based on my studies and research): Unless you have a diagnosed health concern like high blood sugar or diabetes, you can eat fruit whenever you want! Apple slices with peanut butter are a great snack, fruit is a fantastic dessert, and fruit in salad is completely delicious. It’s best to eat whole fruits as opposed to processed fruits, like juices, preserves, sauces, pies, etc, because whole fruits typically have more fiber. Equally important, whole fruits are jam-packed with vitamins and phytochemicals (literally “plant chemicals”) which help us metabolize food into energy, help us build our immune system (to fight against everything from colds to cancers), and help us regulate other body systems from blood clotting to bone growth. Some of these vitamins and phytochemicals even help our skin and hair look great. So, whenever you can replace sweets or candy with fruit, go for it!
The funny thing about the eat fruit on an empty stomach claim is that it suggests that it is best to have fruit (which breaks down to fructose in your digestive system) go through your system quickly. However, nutrition and metabolism researchers are actually finding that it’s better when carbohydrates go through your system more slowly. A 2007 article in the Journal of Nutrition (Wong & Jenkins) reviews several studies and reiterates that slowing the absorption of carbohydrates may reduce the body’s need for insulin and could reduce heart disease and diabetes risk. It is also possible that the slowing of carbohydrate absorption could improve the microflora environment in the intestines (like the pre- and probiotics we hear about all the time).
As often is the case, it is important to remember that this is still a topic under investigation, but the experts are leaning heavily towards slow absorption of carbs being beneficial.
Wong, J. M. W. & Jenkins, D. J. A. (2007). Carbohydrate digestibility and metabolic effects. Journal of Nutrition, 137, 2539S-2546S.
full text is available here: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/137/11/2539S.full