You’re up early, getting washed and dressed in a hurry to get to work. It’s time to make the donuts and you’re running on an empty stomach. In this situation, it’s tempting to reach for any food item within reach. Most folks with a modicum of concern for their health would feel proud to go past the bacon and muffin and have a nice healthy banana.
A banana might seem like a good choice, but this, like many other foods is not ideal first thing in the morning. This is true for a variety of reasons. In the case of the banana, it is both too insubstantial and too sugary to make a healthy start to your day. The truth is, you might be better off getting up a bit earlier and going for ham and eggs.
Remember, your stomach is going to be tender first thing in the morning. After marinating in undiluted stomach acids for several hours your stomach lining is both sensitive and eager to absorb nutrients. Anything you subject it to will be much more likely to irritate. To that end, here are 10 foods you should not eat on an empty stomach.
Citrus
In the delicate state described above, citrus fruit poses the danger of acid reflux and heartburn. If you’ve ever had heartburn, you know that it’s not pleasant. It might even give you a bad scare since most cases of heart attack happen early in the morning, and heartburn is often mistaken for a heart attack.
Bananas
As stated, bananas are too sweet for first thing in the morning consumption. But they also have a lot of magnesium, which can oversaturate the blood and cause an increased risk of heart disease.
Soda
Soda is bad for you any time of day but the morning is the worst time for the most sugary beverage on Earth. Cold drinks can damage the mucous membrane and cut off blood flow to your stomach. What’s more, the carbonation element acts a lot like table salt in the bloodstream. And of course, we all know by now that refined sugar is the worst thing you can eat any time of day.
Spices
Early in the morning, spicy foods can irritate your digestive tract, raise acid levels, and cause acid reflux.
Green Vegetables
We know, everything is wrong all the time, isn’t it? Well, green /veggies are great for your overall health, but even greens are not perfect. Early in the morning, the digestive tract hasn’t had time to fire up production of the specialized enzymes needed to digest hard cellulose. When you eat them on an empty stomach they can cause abdominal pain, heartburn, flatulence and discomfort. So, just save it for lunch when you want to make a healthy impression on your coworkers.
Pears
The raw fiber in pears might be great for an after lunch snack. But early in the morning, the smooth muscle stimulating effect of pears might be a bit too harsh. It could cause indigestion and nausea.
Tomato Products
Tomatoes have a lot of the substance known as tannin. This increases acidity, which is not ideal first thing in the morning as it can lead to gastritis.
Dairy
Dairy foods give us special acids that are helpful. But early in the morning, the high levels of hydrochloric acid in our guts can deactivate the good acids found in dairy. This negates many of the health benefits of dairy leaving you alone with dairy’s known drawbacks.
Puff Pastry
A high level of yeast is not particularly friendly to the early morning stomach. It can cause bloating and can irritate the lining of your stomach causing flatulence. Pastries are also usually laden with excessive amounts of sugar which can overload your liver and flood your bloodstream bringing on the inevitable crash hours later.
Sweets
A bad idea any time of day, refined sugars will absolutely wreak havoc with an early morning stomach. Not only does it boost acidity levels, but it throws off our ability to regulate glucose levels all day long. This can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancers.
Solution Foods
You didn’t think we were going to ruin your day and leave you with no solutions, did you? Here are some foods that are good to eat first thing in the morning.
Eggs
Not the same as other dairy products. Eggs are a gentle protein that will sustain you all day. They are great for keeping you feeling full longer. Research shows that people who eat eggs consume less calories daily.
Greek Yogurt
Again, not the same as regular dairy. Greek also has easy to digest proteins.
Nuts
A good vegetable protein source. Avoid salty nuts for obvious reasons.
Coffee
Great to have after you’ve eaten some morning friendly foods, (not before). Coffee boosts your mood and really helps to get you going early in the day.
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