Eating most of my carbs in fruit?

Hausisse1

Hello!! It seems that most days I end up eating most of my carbs in fruit. Fruit is good for you, but I just had the thought: isn't it pretty high GI? Would I be better off eating some more of my carbs in breads and stuff? The little "you've had too many sugars today!!!" indicator in my nutrition facts always turns red as a result of the fruit that I've eaten.

Any thoughts? Thanks

Sugarbeat

If you like fruit and you're not too concerned about your blood sugar levels, I say go for it. At least you're getting plenty of vitamins and fiber.

tiffanybrooks530

not all fruit has high GI , if you want to stay on the low end check out these articles

http://www.weightlossforall.com/glyemic-list-fruits-vegs.htm

http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/glycemic-index-and-diabetes.html

misselemental

"Would I be better off eating some more of my carbs in breads and stuff? "

Fruit carbs are not bad, refined processed bread carbs are! Never ever feel guilty about eating fruit and don't let any one make you think otherwise! Do your research

beachhouse758

I don't think replacing fruits with breads is the way to go.
I would substitute other types of carbs for some of the fruit-- like sweet potatoes, broccoli, quinoa, lentils, beans, asparagus etc...

Now before someone goes off on a tangent, I am not saying that bread is evil. Have it, if you'd like. But there are more nutritionally dense carbs that you can pick as alternatives to fruit.

blktngldhrt

If you don't have a medical condition, you don't have to worry about it. Plus..fruit carbs and bread carbs are still both carbs. If they're making you feel crappy..eat some protein and fat with your carbs. If they're not..keep eating what works for you.

Also..as someone said, not all fruits are high gi.

Hausisse1

Thank you all! Yeah, I agree, the less processed the better. I don't eat bread very much 'cause I prefer the taste/texture of fruit! I will take all of your advice into account.

VitaSh

Fruit is a good choice but probably not a good idea to have it as your only carb source. You need some starchy sources like oats or sweet potato and also some from fibrous veggies as well (any greens, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus etc) . Fruits come in the form of fructose which gets stored in your liver and if you overdo it, can spill into our fat stores. The other sources are glucose which your muscles use most efficiently (that is why it's a good idea to eat starchy carbs right after a workout with protein so that your "hungry" muscles that are depleted of glycogen can use them. And these carbs can help "shuttle" amino acids from the protein faster into your muscles in order to start the repairing processes and help you build lean muscle). Of course don't take this as "fruit makes you fat" because if you don't overdo it on the fruit (don't overeat your calories in any nutrient, really), you are getting beneficial phytonutrients and antioxidants from them. The physiology is complex and scientists are still learning how we use nutrients but I'm just making a point how our bodies can most efficiently use some carbs over others in certain situations. Good luck with your health journey

Hausisse1

VitaSh wrote: »

Fruit is a good choice but probably not a good idea to have it as your only carb source. You need some starchy sources like oats or sweet potato and also some from fibrous veggies as well (any greens, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus etc) . Fruits come in the form of fructose which gets stored in your liver and if you overdo it, can spill into our fat stores. The other sources are glucose which your muscles use most efficiently (that is why it's a good idea to eat starchy carbs right after a workout with protein so that your "hungry" muscles that are depleted of glycogen can use them. And these carbs can help "shuttle" amino acids from the protein faster into your muscles in order to start the repairing processes and help you build lean muscle). Of course don't take this as "fruit makes you fat" because if you don't overdo it on the fruit (don't overeat your calories in any nutrient, really), you are getting beneficial phytonutrients and antioxidants from them. The physiology is complex and scientists are still learning how we use nutrients but I'm just making a point how our bodies can most efficiently use some carbs over others in certain situations. Good luck with your health journey

Yeah, I eat plenty of yams and oatmeal almost every morning! Thank you for the info

Hausisse1

VitaSh wrote: »

Fruit is a good choice but probably not a good idea to have it as your only carb source. You need some starchy sources like oats or sweet potato and also some from fibrous veggies as well (any greens, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus etc) . Fruits come in the form of fructose which gets stored in your liver and if you overdo it, can spill into our fat stores. The other sources are glucose which your muscles use most efficiently (that is why it's a good idea to eat starchy carbs right after a workout with protein so that your "hungry" muscles that are depleted of glycogen can use them. And these carbs can help "shuttle" amino acids from the protein faster into your muscles in order to start the repairing processes and help you build lean muscle). Of course don't take this as "fruit makes you fat" because if you don't overdo it on the fruit (don't overeat your calories in any nutrient, really), you are getting beneficial phytonutrients and antioxidants from them. The physiology is complex and scientists are still learning how we use nutrients but I'm just making a point how our bodies can most efficiently use some carbs over others in certain situations. Good luck with your health journey

Oh, and I eat plenty of veggies as well, but those are lower carb/calorie so it seems like most of my carbs come from fruit/grains

cwolfman13

If it were me, I'd balance things out with more veg and some whole grains and legumes.

VitaSh

That sounds great then Our bodies don't need nearly as much carbs as sometimes depicted unless you're a marathon runner (someone once told me 300 grams! I'm not on a male bodybuilding bulking regimen, thank you lol). I eat about 135 grams mostly from oats, a yam, and veggies. Helps that I'm completely in love with oatmeal. And I do love bodybuilding so it's what I'm doing right now, leaning out a lot with moderate carbs (only a few options) and high protein. I usually have more a variety of carbs than oats and yams and veggies when I'm not cutting/leaning out for competitions. I carb cycle with most strenuous workouts being a high carb day (160 grams) a couple of moderate days, and one day when it's only veggies and it's just under 100 grams total. Again this is a special diet for right now for me but very effective in terms of leaning out. My baseline is about 135-140 grams daily total and that works for me.

Oh, and I eat plenty of veggies as well, but those are lower carb/calorie so it seems like most of my carbs come from fruit/grains [/quote]

Hausisse1

cwolfman13 wrote: »

If it were me, I'd balance things out with more veg and some whole grains and legumes.

I'll try that! Thank you

Ralphone

its way better then dite coke and big macs
enjoy it

VitaSh

I adore fruit though. I love my berries and apples!

Hausisse1

VitaSh wrote: »

That sounds great then Our bodies don't need nearly as much carbs as sometimes depicted unless you're a marathon runner (someone once told me 300 grams! I'm not on a male bodybuilding bulking regimen, thank you lol). I eat about 135 grams mostly from oats, a yam, and veggies. Helps that I'm completely in love with oatmeal. And I do love bodybuilding so it's what I'm doing right now, leaning out a lot with moderate carbs (only a few options) and high protein. I usually have more a variety of carbs than oats and yams and veggies when I'm not cutting/leaning out for competitions. I carb cycle with most strenuous workouts being a high carb day (160 grams) a couple of moderate days, and one day when it's only veggies and it's just under 100 grams total. Again this is a special diet for right now for me but very effective in terms of leaning out. My baseline is about 135-140 grams daily total and that works for me.

Oh, and I eat plenty of veggies as well, but those are lower carb/calorie so it seems like most of my carbs come from fruit/grains

[/quote]

That's great! Honestly, though, I'm just trying to maintain my weight and develop a healthier relationship with food, maybe build some muscle. But yeah, I used whataremymacros.com and initially it gave me 240 (!) g carbs a day haha but an amount so much was WAY too hard to follow, so I tweaked it to 200 g and even then I don't usually meet it and end up going over on my protein -_-

I read that the FDA recommends 60% of daily calories be in carbs, which seems super high to me! I'm just really frustrated at all of the conflicting nutritional guidelines I see out there.

Hausisse1

For what it's worth I eat 1607 kcal a day

VitaSh

Yes that is way too much in my opinion as well. FDA isn't end all be all. I mean experts just recently came out saying total cholesterol in food is not going to be counted as it was before for heart disease risk! It's the trans fats and processed foods that are increasing bad cholesterol. It's confusing. But fats are essential to for hormone levels so is protein for everything else in your body. Carbs are there for energy and mood but if you don't hit your 60% or whatever the FDA says, you won't automatically suffer or become unhealthy. And yeah there are articles now saying we need more protein than the FDA recommends anyway. When I started to eat more protein than recommended (not insane amounts) and switched to more fish, for instance, I stopped losing my hair. My hairdresser is like you have baby hairs growing in everywhere your hair is so much thicker. I was so happy about that. So if I'm healthier by not following the FDA's exact macro breakdown (60% of carbs is too much in my opinion unless you run marathons lol and the protein is not enough), I will continue to do what I'm doing.

Hausisse1

VitaSh wrote: »

Yes that is way too much in my opinion as well. FDA isn't end all be all. I mean experts just recently came out saying total cholesterol in food is not going to be counted as it was before for heart disease risk! It's the trans fats and processed foods that are increasing bad cholesterol. It's confusing. But fats are essential to for hormone levels so is protein for everything else in your body. Carbs are there for energy and mood but if you don't hit your 60% or whatever the FDA says, you won't automatically suffer or become unhealthy. And yeah there are articles now saying we need more protein than the FDA recommends anyway. When I started to eat more protein than recommended (not insane amounts) and switched to more fish, for instance, I stopped losing my hair. My hairdresser is like you have baby hairs growing in everywhere your hair is so much thicker. I was so happy about that. So if I'm healthier by not following the FDA's exact macro breakdown (60% of carbs is too much in my opinion unless you run marathons lol and the protein is not enough), I will continue to do what I'm doing.

Okay Do you think 50% carbs a day is okay? Like I said, I'm not necessarily trying to lose/gain weight or anything. It's more of a mental health/relationship with food thing for me (though of course physical health is super important as well)

VitaSh

It's how you feel in the end. I feel best with 30% carbs and then 40% from protein and 30% from fats but a good ballpark is about at least 0.5 grams of protein per body weight and then calculate the rest of your macros of carbs and fats from there, once you established your protein intake. That was easier for me. But I played around with it until I realized what felt best for me and how much energy I had. This is an easy macro calculator that you can personalize with your goals/preferences : http://macronutrientcalculator.com/

VitaSh

So if after a trial of 50% carbs feels best for you, then go for it.

Hausisse1

VitaSh wrote: »

So if after a trial of 50% carbs feels best for you, then go for it.

Yeah, the macro calculator is what gave me 240 g of carbs per day! That's what the weird thing was. So far I feel alright on 50%, but if I start not liking the way things are going, I'll tweak it again. Thank you! Always nice to hear others' opinions and experiences.

VitaSh

No problem I love talking about food because I love it lol. And I love how using the right nutrition can help achieve a variety of healthy goals. And yes, I tweaked my calculator with my own percentages. Have a great day!

cityruss

misselemental wrote: »

"Would I be better off eating some more of my carbs in breads and stuff? "

Fruit carbs are not bad, refined processed bread carbs are! Never ever feel guilty about eating fruit and don't let any one make you think otherwise! Do your research

Can you explain, assuming when eaten as part of a balanced and well thought out dietary intake and not looked upon in isolation, what is 'bad' about carbohydrates from refined processed bread, and how those carbohydrates differ from those that make up an apple, or a banana, or a carrot?

earlnabby

Hausisse1 wrote: »

VitaSh wrote: »

Yes that is way too much in my opinion as well. FDA isn't end all be all. I mean experts just recently came out saying total cholesterol in food is not going to be counted as it was before for heart disease risk! It's the trans fats and processed foods that are increasing bad cholesterol. It's confusing. But fats are essential to for hormone levels so is protein for everything else in your body. Carbs are there for energy and mood but if you don't hit your 60% or whatever the FDA says, you won't automatically suffer or become unhealthy. And yeah there are articles now saying we need more protein than the FDA recommends anyway. When I started to eat more protein than recommended (not insane amounts) and switched to more fish, for instance, I stopped losing my hair. My hairdresser is like you have baby hairs growing in everywhere your hair is so much thicker. I was so happy about that. So if I'm healthier by not following the FDA's exact macro breakdown (60% of carbs is too much in my opinion unless you run marathons lol and the protein is not enough), I will continue to do what I'm doing.

Okay Do you think 50% carbs a day is okay? Like I said, I'm not necessarily trying to lose/gain weight or anything. It's more of a mental health/relationship with food thing for me (though of course physical health is super important as well)

Well the recommended range is 40-60% so 50% is right in the middle (which is why it is the MFP default). If you feel good and don't notice any adverse effects at 50%, go for it. I had to drop mine to 35% partially because I am T2D and my doctor gave me a daily max of 180 g, and partially because my skin and hair get bad if I don't get enough protein and fat.

Unknown

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jorbjorb

I love fruit so most of my carbs is fruity lol and white rice . Ya what ever I know it's bad