What should not be eaten after consuming persimmons?
Aug 30, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Yu Yongchao
Introduction
After eating persimmons, one should not consume foods such as crab, sweet potato, milk, spinach, and beef, or take medications including calcium carbonate tablets, ferrous sulfate tablets, bismuth potassium citrate tablets, amoxicillin capsules, and omeprazole enteric-coated capsules. After eating persimmons, it is advisable to wait 1–2 hours before consuming other foods or taking medications to maintain appropriate intervals between meals and drug administration, thereby reducing the risk of adverse interactions.
Generally, after eating persimmons, one should avoid consuming foods such as crab, sweet potato, milk, spinach, beef, and medications including calcium carbonate tablets, ferrous sulfate tablets, colloidal bismuth subcitrate potassium tablets, amoxicillin capsules, and omeprazole enteric-coated capsules. The detailed explanations are as follows:
I. Foods
1. Crab: Crab is naturally cold in nature, and persimmon is similarly cooling. Consuming them together may intensify gastrointestinal irritation due to cold properties. Additionally, the protein in crab may combine with tannic acid in persimmon, forming indigestible precipitates that could cause discomfort such as abdominal bloating, pain, and diarrhea.
2. Sweet Potato: Sweet potato contains a significant amount of starch. Eating sweet potato after persimmon may stimulate gastric acid secretion. The gastric acid may then combine with tannic acid and pectin in persimmon, easily forming hard persimmon stones that increase the digestive burden on the gastrointestinal tract and may lead to stomach pain and bloating.
3. Milk: Milk is rich in protein, which may react with tannic acid in persimmon, forming coagulated substances that are difficult for the body to absorb. This not only affects the absorption of protein and nutrients from the persimmon but may also cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and indigestion.
4. Spinach: Spinach contains large amounts of oxalic acid, while persimmon contains tannic acid. Both oxalic acid and tannic acid may combine with calcium in food to form insoluble precipitates, affecting calcium absorption. Long-term consumption of these together may increase the risk of developing stones.
5. Beef: Beef is high in protein and fat and digests relatively slowly. Tannic acid in persimmon may combine with protein in beef, forming substances that are difficult to digest, increasing the burden on the gastrointestinal tract, potentially causing bloating, indigestion, and even affecting subsequent nutrient absorption.
II. Medications
1. Calcium Carbonate Tablets: These are calcium-supplement medications. Tannic acid in persimmon may combine with calcium in the medication, forming insoluble precipitates that reduce calcium absorption efficiency, diminishing the effectiveness of calcium supplementation and failing to achieve the desired calcium intake goal.
2. Ferrous Sulfate Tablets: These are used to treat iron-deficiency anemia. Tannic acid in persimmon may combine with iron in the medication, forming insoluble iron tannate, hindering iron absorption, affecting the treatment effectiveness for anemia, and prolonging the treatment duration.
3. Colloidal Bismuth Subcitrate Potassium Tablets: These are commonly used to protect the gastric mucosa by forming a protective layer on its surface. However, tannic acid in persimmon may interact with the medication's components, compromising the integrity of the protective layer, reducing the drug's protective effect on the gastric mucosa, and affecting treatment effectiveness.
4. Amoxicillin Capsules: These are antibiotic medications. Tannic acid in persimmon may react with amoxicillin, affecting the drug's dissolution and absorption, lowering its concentration in the bloodstream, thereby weakening the antibiotic's antibacterial effects and being detrimental to infection control.
5. Omeprazole Enteric-Coated Capsules: These are medications that inhibit gastric acid secretion. Although there is no direct severe toxic reaction between persimmon and omeprazole, under conditions of reduced gastric acid, tannic acid in persimmon is more likely to combine with protein in food to form persimmon stones, potentially affecting gastrointestinal health and indirectly interfering with the medication's ability to relieve stomach discomfort.
After eating persimmon, it is generally advisable to wait 1-2 hours before consuming other foods or taking medications, maintaining appropriate intervals between meals to reduce the likelihood of adverse interactions.
