Don't Make These Mistakes When Eating Fruit, Says An Ayurvedic Expert

Who doesn't love a fresh smoothie or a tasty fruit salad? Fruit is a healthy staple, but as we all flock to the produce aisles for berries, watermelon, and more, there are a few Ayurvedic food rules that can help us get the most out of our sweet treats.

In Ayurveda, the key thing to remember when eating fruit is to eat it by itself, according to Ayurveda counselor Sara Garofalo. Garofalo explains that you wouldn't necessarily want to grab a piece of fruit right after dinner, for example.

Once you do, "The digestive system wants to digest the fruit faster because that's the easiest kind of sugar [to digest]," she tells mbg of the Ayurvedic reasoning behind eating your fruit separately from meals.

And lastly, when you do eat fruit, Garofalo explains that in Ayurveda, fruits come in four main categories. You can eat different fruits within one category, but you wouldn't want to eat an orange (acid) and banana (sweet) at the same time, she notes. The biggest category to avoid combining with other fruits is melons, she adds. They should always be eaten alone.

We don't typically think of fruit as being something that upsets our digestion or causes discomfort, but in Ayurveda, these fruit-eating rules have stood the test of time for optimal digestion.