Viral Health Article Offers False Nutrition Claims

The article has been around since as far back as 2015, but occasionally gets resurrected and re-shared at intervals. We found that several of its claims have been debunked in the past.

First Claim: Fruits should be eaten on an empty stomach. The article states, “If you eat fruits on an empty stomach, it will play a major role to detoxify your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss and other life activities. Let's say you eat two slices of bread and then a slice of fruit. The slice of fruit is ready to go straight through the stomach into the intestines, but it is prevented from doing so due to the bread taken before the fruit. In the meantime the whole meal of bread & fruit rots and ferments and turns to acid. The minute the fruit comes into contact with the food in the stomach and digestive juices, the entire mass of food begins to spoil. So please eat your fruits on an empty stomach or before your meals!”

While health experts agree that it is generally good to eat fruits on an empty stomach, this New York Times article adds that fruits in fact can be eaten at any time and the notion that foods rot in the stomach is not true.

Also, the claim that eating fruits on an empty stomach will prevent greying hair, balding, nervous outbursts, and dark circles under the eyes is false as highlighted by Dr. Tim Harlan, an Associate Professor of Medicine at George Washington University and Director of the GW Culinary Medicine Program.

Second Claim: Drinking cold beverages after a meal leads to cancer.

A number of health professionals say there is no scientific evidence to support this. This article by Michael F. Picco, M.D., Medical News Today and Very Well Health says rather than causing harm, water in whatever form helps the digestive system. Cold water adjusts to the body temperature and as such does not lead to the congealing of food elements as claimed in the viral write up.