Can Persimmons Be Eaten Raw? Precautions for Eating Raw Persimmons

Persimmon is a fruit popular in the market, rich in nutrients, and loved by many people in the market, but raw persimmons taste very astringent. Can persimmons be eaten raw?

1. Can persimmons be eaten raw?

Persimmons cannot be eaten raw. In un-deastringed raw persimmons, the tannic acid and pectin content is at a relatively high level among many fruits. Under the action of gastric acid, these substances easily form hard-to-digest plant fiber masses. They can wrap around other foods and grow larger and larger in the stomach, and in severe cases can even block the gastrointestinal tract.

2. Dietary taboos for persimmons

1. Avoid eating persimmon skin. The vast majority of the tannic acid in persimmons is concentrated in the skin. During deastringency, it is impossible to remove all of the tannic acid. If eaten together with the skin, it is more likely to form gastric persimmon stones, especially when the deastringency process is incomplete, as the skin then contains even more tannic acid.

2. People with a cold stomach or chronic gastritis should not eat too many persimmons. Persimmons are cold in nature, so those with a cold stomach should not eat them. People with chronic gastritis, delayed gastric emptying, indigestion and other conditions of low gastric motility, or after subtotal gastrectomy, should not eat persimmons.

3. Stop when appropriate. The tannic acid in persimmons can form compounds with calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and other minerals in food that cannot be absorbed by the human body, making these nutrients unusable. Therefore, eating too many persimmons can easily lead to a deficiency of these minerals.

4. People with anemia should eat less. Persimmons contain tannins, which easily bind with iron, thereby hindering the body's absorption of iron from food, so people with anemia should preferably eat less. Persimmons should not be eaten when taking iron supplements. The tannic acid in persimmons binds with iron to form a precipitate, which can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and even colic, while also affecting iron absorption.

5. Avoid eating persimmons on an empty stomach. Persimmons contain relatively large amounts of tannic acid and pectin. On an empty stomach, these form hard lumps of varying sizes under the action of gastric acid. If a gastric persimmon stone cannot be discharged naturally, it will cause gastrointestinal obstruction, with symptoms such as severe upper abdominal pain, vomiting, and even hematemesis. Gastric persimmon stones as large as a fist have been found during surgery.

6. Pay attention to reasonable food combinations. In traditional Chinese medicine, crab and persimmon both belong to cold-natured foods, so they should not be eaten together. From the perspective of modern medicine, high-protein crab, fish and shrimp easily coagulate into lumps, namely gastric persimmon stones, under the action of tannic acid. At the same time, persimmons should not be eaten after drinking alcohol, otherwise it will affect digestion and over time cause intestinal obstruction.

Although persimmons are delicious, they should still be eaten in moderation, and relatively raw and astringent persimmons should not be eaten, so as not to harm the body.