Many people know this nutritional advice from grandma: cherries and water don’t go together. The myth that the combination of fruit and liquid causes stomach pains is even said to go so far that the stomach can burst. But is that really true? We got to the bottom of this legend and we have the answer for you.

Controversial Myth: Stomach Pain from Eating Cherries and Drinking Water?

There are no medical studies that the Federal Center for Nutrition refers to as to whether cherries actually cause stomach pains when combined with water. However, there are various theories as to how the severe abdominal pain can occur after eating the cherries along with drinking water. The nutritionist Claus Leitzmann speculates that the origin of the grandparent myth probably comes from the war and post-war period.

Clean water was scarce at that time. The abdominal pain was probably caused by contaminated water that was drunk along with the cherries that were eaten. Other causes of abdominal pain can be yeast or bacteria on the cherries. In the stomach, they can start to ferment together with the drunk water and the fructose of the cherries and cause severe stomach pains. The water you drink also dilutes the stomach acid, which loses its protective effect.

The harmful bacteria can therefore continue to work unhindered on the fermentation process in the stomach. People who suffer from fructose intolerance should therefore be particularly careful when consuming foods containing fructose. A doctor’s recommendation is not to overdo it with the consumption of cherries and to drink liters of water afterwards. If you stick to a halfway normal consumption amount, there will probably be no stomach ache. By the way: Apricots (apricots), damsons (plums) and other stone fruit, as well as gooseberries, can cause stomach ache for the reasons mentioned above if you eat too much of them and drink too much water afterwards.