When to Eat Fruit? When to Drink Soup?
Some traditional habits quietly dictate meal order—such as eating fruit after meals or drinking soup before meals. What sequence is more rational and scientifically sound?
Fruit: Before meal? After meal? Between meals?
1. Before meal: Using fruit to replenish sugar, especially effective for quickly restoring energy and glucose in hypoglycemic states. Fruits also contain abundant dietary fiber, creating a feeling of fullness after consumption, reducing hunger and desire for food. Eating fruit before a meal may reduce the amount consumed during the main meal, thereby affecting intake of proteins, starches, and fats.
2. After meal: Many people prefer or habitually eat fruit immediately after a meal. However, consuming large amounts of fruit right after eating raises blood glucose rapidly, increasing pancreatic burden, and may hinder or interrupt digestion, reducing absorption of certain nutrients.
3. Between meals: The best time to eat fruit is between meals. Generally, around 9–10 a.m., 3–4 p.m., or 2 hours before bedtime. Normal individuals may consume 1–3 servings of fruit daily. Diabetic patients may consume one serving of low-sugar or moderate-sugar fruit (e.g., watermelon, kiwi, apple, pear) between meals when blood sugar is stable, approximately 200 grams.
Soup: Before meal? After meal?
First, let’s examine the types of soup:
1. Clear soup: Made primarily from vegetables, such as cabbage soup, loofah soup, winter melon soup, etc. Ingredients can include seasonal vegetables, winter melon, loofah, cucumber, dried mushrooms, dried vegetables, tofu, etc. Drinking this type of soup generally has no contraindications.
2. Concentrated soup: Rich, long-stewed soups made from bones and skinless meat, or fatty soups prepared from pork bones, chicken feet, skin-on poultry, and fatty meats. These soups contain high levels of purines, so gout patients should avoid them. Also, these soups may irritate the gastrointestinal tract, so they are unsuitable for those with weak digestive systems, elderly people, children, and pregnant or postpartum women.
3. Other soups: Any soup containing fruits (e.g., papaya, apple, honey date, red date, lotus seed), herbs (e.g., codonopsis, angelica), root tubers, or dried legumes—those with a sweet or pasty taste—are best consumed in moderation, as excessive intake may raise blood sugar.
Drinking a small amount of soup before a meal can replenish body fluids, lubricate and protect the mouth, esophagus, and gastrointestinal tract, aiding in food dissolution and promoting digestion and absorption. However, drinking too much soup before a meal dilutes digestive juices, impairing digestion and absorption. Additionally, the stomach has a fixed volume; large amounts of soup occupy space, reducing the intake of main course food, compromising dietary variety and richness. Therefore, it is acceptable to drink a moderate amount of light soup or other soups before meals.