Time to digest foods and why it’s important




Fast digesting foods pass through your stomach quickly so will not fill you up.  This makes it easy to overeat and taking in more calories and leading to weight gain.  The biggest causes of weight gain from fast-digesting foods are often fruit juice.  This is calorific, high in sugar and easy to consume a large amount of.

Slow digesting foods will be absorbed at a steady rate supplying your body with constant energy.  However, your body will constantly need to work and it’s important not to consume too many slow-digesting foods to avoid your digestive system getting overworked and never resting.

Avoid mixing fast and slow-digesting foods

It’s advised to avoid mixing slow and fast-digesting foods in the same meal.  Have the fast-digesting foods first, such as fruit, then move onto the slower complex carbohydrates once the fruit is digested.  Eating fruit after a heavy slow-digesting meal can cause it to sit in the stomach and ferment causing gastric issues.


For breakfast and dinner eat meals with quickly digested foods.  You don’t want to overstress the body after it’s waking up or to be digesting foods while trying to sleep.

Lunch is the time to eat foods that have a mixture of different digestion times as the body is at its most productive.  Something like a cashew cheesecake isn’t perfect food combining but lunch is the best time to eat it.

Water digestion


Juices, smoothies and broths digestion



Fruit digestion




Vegetable digestion

Raw high-water salad vegetables such as lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and radishes digest in 30 minutes.




Grains and concentrated carbohydrates digestion


Pulses and beans all take about 2 hours to digest.  This includes black beans, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans and soybeans.

Seeds and nuts digestion



Meat and dairy digestion

Nest and Glow is a plant-based recipe site but for completion, I will include the digestion times for meat and dairy.


Egg yolk 30 minutes and whole egg 45 minutes.

Non-oily fish 30 minutes and oily fish 50 minutes.


Food digestion bottom line

  • Avoid pure fruit juice and have at least 50% of vegetables in fresh juice to avoid having too much sugar.
  • Digestion times are rough estimates and depend on the individual.


Time to digestDairyFruit & VegFish & Meat
15-20 minutesBroths or juices.
20 minutesWatermelons.
20-30 minutesSmoothies.
30 minutesEgg yolkOther melons.
Bananas, grapefruit, grapes and oranges.
Raw high-water salad vegetables i.e. lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and radishes.
Non-oily fish i.e. cod, haddock, plaice, tinned tuna.
40 minutesApple, pear, cherries, plums, kiwi.
Leafy green and cruciferous vegetables i.e. bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, kale.
45 minutesWhole egg
50 minutesRoot vegetables i.e. beetroot, carrot and parsnip.Oily fish i.e. mackerel, salmon, sardines, tuna, whitebait.
60 minutesStarchy vegetables i.e. butternut, corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes and chestnuts.
90 minutesSkimmed milk.
Low-fat cheese products.
Brown rice, buckwheat, oats and cornmeal.
2 hoursCottage cheese.
Soft cheeses.
Pulses and beans i.e. black beans, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans and soybeans.
All high-fat seeds i.e. pumpkin, sesame, sunflower.
Chicken and turkey.
3 hoursNuts i.e. legume peanuts and all other nuts like almonds, brazils, cashews, pecans and walnuts.
4 hoursBeef and lamb.
5 hoursHard cheeses.Pork.

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