Alright, I'v heard conflicting information about this and was wondering if anyone could clear it up for me. I'v heard eating your salad before your meal is helpful for digestion and I'v heard that eating your salad after your mean helps digestion. Which is true?
salad/digestion
- Thread starter thinker
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Before. Fruit and vegetables passes through the stomach in 30 minutes to an hour. Meat stays in the stomach for several hours. Eating fruit and vegetables after a meal forces it to remain in the stomach for that time, where it rots and spoils. Waiting 30 minutes before eating your meal after eating fruit and vegetables is a good thing. It prevents it from rotting in your stomach. 
digestion
I don't buy that eating fruit after you've eaten meat will cause it to stay in your stomach and rot. The pH in your stomach is so low and there are so many enzymes that it gets broken down way before it can "rot". Things such as meat may take longer to break down, because of their density, but your stomach churns stuff up a lot, so the order you eat is not entirely relevant.
A lot of the traditions of when to eat a salad or sorbet in respect to meat or the rest of the meal have to do with cleansing the palate and preparing it for new tastes. Salad and fruit are good for cleaning your taste-buds essentially, which is why its often served between courses in Europe, instead of at the begining like in the US.
I don't buy that eating fruit after you've eaten meat will cause it to stay in your stomach and rot. The pH in your stomach is so low and there are so many enzymes that it gets broken down way before it can "rot". Things such as meat may take longer to break down, because of their density, but your stomach churns stuff up a lot, so the order you eat is not entirely relevant.
A lot of the traditions of when to eat a salad or sorbet in respect to meat or the rest of the meal have to do with cleansing the palate and preparing it for new tastes. Salad and fruit are good for cleaning your taste-buds essentially, which is why its often served between courses in Europe, instead of at the begining like in the US.
Originally posted by Jerrek
Before. Fruit and vegetables passes through the stomach in 30 minutes to an hour. Meat stays in the stomach for several hours. Eating fruit and vegetables after a meal forces it to remain in the stomach for that time, where it rots and spoils. Waiting 30 minutes before eating your meal after eating fruit and vegetables is a good thing. It prevents it from rotting in your stomach.
Does it matter if it rots in your stomach? I mean, after a day or two it doesn't look too nice either way.
methylcellulose
Registered Senior Member
Haha. Nice.
I never took a nutrition class in school (much to my woe now) but from what I understand, aside from the nutritional value of a salad (high in vitamins and such), raw vegetables are a great source of fiber which cleans out the digestive tract. Whether you eat the salad before or after the meal, both the meal and salad will be digested at the same time within the stomach unless there was a substantial time period between courses. Eat 'em in the order they come in that case, I guess. It wouldn't hurt to eat a salad (or FiberOne) whenever you get hungry by itself to scrub your insides clean.
I never took a nutrition class in school (much to my woe now) but from what I understand, aside from the nutritional value of a salad (high in vitamins and such), raw vegetables are a great source of fiber which cleans out the digestive tract. Whether you eat the salad before or after the meal, both the meal and salad will be digested at the same time within the stomach unless there was a substantial time period between courses. Eat 'em in the order they come in that case, I guess. It wouldn't hurt to eat a salad (or FiberOne) whenever you get hungry by itself to scrub your insides clean.
No. You don't want food to rot in your body. You want it to be broken down *before* that happens.
No. Fruit and vegetables take virtually no energy to digest and are out of the stomach in 30 minutes to an hour. If you eat your main course after that, the valve will close and the food will then be digested in the stomach for several hours. That gave the fruit a chance to escape rotting in the stomach because it is in the digestive tract.
you know jerrek, you never really answered his question.
he wanted to know which helps digest a meal better, eating salad before or after a meal. you answered with what helps digest the salad better, not what helps digest the meal. so come on... do tell.