Fruits are a great choice when it comes to eating healthy. But, that’s not all, there is more to it. Having fruits at the right time, in the right form and the right combination is important. A common mistake, I have observed among people is the wrong way of consuming fruits.
Let’s see what they are:
- Having fruits with meals or post meal
- Having fruits late evening or night (post-dinner)
- Having fruit juices
The above mentioned are certainly not the right way of consuming fruits and is harmful. Let us take a look at each of these in a detailed manner.
- Having fruits with meals or post meal
Our meals contain lots of sugar & calories. All carbohydrates sources like rice, bread, chapatti etc. are finally broken down to sugars in our digestive system. Other components like dal, curds, chicken, eggs, and fish have proteins. Calories come from all these foods. Fruits contain natural sugar – fructose. Though natural it is still sugar. Adding a fruit to it will increase the calorie load. When fruits are consumed along with lunch or dinner, the excess sugar from fruits has a higher chance of turning into fats. The body always stores excess sugar as fats. Moreover, the combination of fruits with other foods might turn poisonous. When fruits are mixed with other food it creates digestive disorders. This cause indigestion, gas and bloating.
- Having fruits in the late evening or night (post-dinner)
There is a simple reason why you should avoid fruits in the late evenings or at night. Our activity reduces towards the end of the day. Calories or sugars that we eat the food get utilised (burnt) when we are active. Fruits have a natural source of sugar-fructose. We do not need this sugar during the night when our activity levels are low. The extra sugar from fruits gas high chances of getting converted into fat. Thereby increasing the body’s fat %.
People who have the night shift or sportspersons having a game in the late evening can go for fruits at this time.
- Having fruit juices
This is one of the common mistakes that I have observed. In fact, this very aspect provoked me to write this article. We have fruit juice out of the notion that it is very healthy or just a plain convenience. But, did you know that it is harming us in a big way? Fruit juice lacks fibres. A juice is taken out from relatively more quantity of fruits than what one can eat in one serving. As compared to this, we get all the fibres when we eat a whole fruit. Fibres help in removing the toxins & wastes from your body. When we have juice we tend to have it faster as compared to eating fruit pieces. Having a fruit juice raises blood sugar level faster. Whereas eating fruits in pieces is fibre rich and brings the Glycemic Index (GI) of the food down. Glycaemic Index is the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the blood. It is very important for having blood sugar levels maintained for Diabetic, pre-diabetic or even for a normal person.
Believe me, the satiety value is much more when you bite into a fresh, juicy fruit. All those who are having sweet cravings, try having a fresh fruit and see how dramatically you get that feel good factor!
Fruit juices can be had by elderly, sick people with digestive disorders. Sportsperson with very high activity levels can have it post-game/ exercise.
In a nutshell
- Have fruits as a mid-meal (in between your meals). Few best times are
- As soon as you wake up 6-8 am
- Mid-morning meal 11 am
- Evening snacks 4-5 pm
- Avoid fruits post 6 pm or late night unless you have high activity
- Always opt for a whole fruit & ditch the juice
