Sugar in fruit???
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OP, if you haven't ever looked at the "Eat This, Not That" food books, see if your local library has one and take a look. The photos are eye-opening. (Don't bother with their website - it's all fluff.)0
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We Asked: Joy Dubost, R.D., is a nutritionist, food scientist and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Do you understand that this does not support the claim you made?The Answer: Whether it’s in a piece of fruit, your soda or a pastry, sugar is made up of the same two components: fructose and glucose. The molecular structure and composition of sugar molecules is the same no matter where they come from.
Mostly true. There are some other kinds of sugar, but those are the big ones (other than lactose in dairy).Don’t get the idea that because the sugar composition is the same in fruit and cake, they’re interchangeable. (Seriously, they’re not.)
In case you are misunderstanding this, it does NOT say that the sugar in cake and fruit are different, quite the opposite. It is saying that fruit and cake are different (as they are, of course), because there are different things BESIDES sugar in both cake and fruit. Thus, if you overeat on cake and gain weight, it is NOT because the sugar in the cake magically causes weight gain when the exact same amount of sugar in the fruit would not. For example, I have a recipe for cookies that are about 200 calories each in my recipe box, and yet they have LESS sugar in them than the average apple. The extra calories are from other ingredients (like a lot of butter).For one thing, fruit offers good stuff like vitamins, antioxidants and water, while candy and desserts are nutritionally void.
This is not totally true -- what about a fruit pie? Or some sweetened yogurt (protein, some other good things)? And you can add sugar to nutrient dense foods too, of course -- to oats or rhubarb or a bit to tomato sauce (I don't, but it is recommended in a good Italian cooking book I have).Fruit also tends to have less sugar by volume. Half a cup of strawberries: 3.5 grams of sugar. Half a cup of strawberry ice cream: 15 grams.
By volume, sure, but not necessary by serving. A half cup of ice cream vs. an apple -- the apple likely has more. The apple and my cookie, again, the apple. Now, the apple has fewer calories, but that's because of (in part) fat, not sugar, so let's not pretend sugar is something other than sugar.Plus, whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body’s digestion of glucose, so you don’t get the crazy insulin spike (and subsequent crash) that candy causes.
I would get no insulin spike from any of the foods mentioned above. I'd get more of an insulin spike from a piece of plain whole grain bread, I'd bet, than from ice cream (although I don't care much about spikes since I am insulin sensitive). The fat in ice cream tends to prevent such spikes, at least for some.That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it — as fat.
Now this is just silly and bad information. At a deficit you are unlikely to be storing fat as you won't have full glycogen stores and will be needing the calories you consume for energy. But even if you did, you'd end up using more than you stored, so no harm. The idea that you can gain weight on a deficit because carbs get stored as fat makes no sense (and it takes some calories to turn carbs into fat, so if you were so inefficient as to be always storing and burning rather than using before storing, that could be good for weight loss).10 -
OP, if you haven't ever looked at the "Eat This, Not That" food books, see if your local library has one and take a look. The photos are eye-opening. (Don't bother with their website - it's all fluff.)
How did OP's question about fruit make you think she needed this book? Just curious.1 -
We Asked: Joy Dubost, R.D., is a nutritionist, food scientist and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The Answer: Whether it’s in a piece of fruit, your soda or a pastry, sugar is made up of the same two components: fructose and glucose. The molecular structure and composition of sugar molecules is the same no matter where they come from.
The ratios of fructose and glucose are pretty much the same in both fruit and table sugar. Most fruits are 40 to 55 percent fructose (there’s some variation: 65 percent in apples and pears; 20 percent in cranberries), and table sugar (aka sucrose) is 50/50. Neither type of sugar is better or worse for you, but your body processes them differently. [/b]Fructose breaks down in your liver and doesn’t provoke an insulin response. Glucose starts to break down in the stomach and requires the release of insulin into the bloodstream to be metabolized completely.
Don’t get the idea that because the sugar composition is the same in fruit and cake, they’re interchangeable. (Seriously, they’re not.) For one thing, fruit offers good stuff like vitamins, antioxidants and water, while candy and desserts are nutritionally void. Fruit also tends to have less sugar by volume. Half a cup of strawberries: 3.5 grams of sugar. Half a cup of strawberry ice cream: 15 grams.
Plus, whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body’s digestion of glucose, so you don’t get the crazy insulin spike (and subsequent crash) that candy causes. That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it — as fat. Even dried fruit, a notoriously sugary treat, has all the fiber and nutrients of its plump forbear. But do watch out for dried fruits with added sugar(check the nutrition label), and don’t eat a ton just because they’re smaller. Picture how many pieces are in a handful of raisins compared with a handful of grapes. See what we mean?
On average, Americans don’t eat enough fruit, so don’t cut it out of your diet in an attempt to limit your sugar intake! Sugar itself isn’t toxic. But getting too much of it from cookies and cake is.
Gee, that's a little embarrassing - you'd think that an R.D. would have at least an elementary understanding of human physiology. Because that's not how any of this works, especially while in a caloric deficit. There is no net storage of fat while in a deficit regardless of how much of any macronutrient you consume. And sugar is also stored as glycogen in the body before de novo lipogenesis begins to take place, even while in a caloric surplus. It's pretty embarrassing to her that she doesn't know that.
Then again, the Huffington Post isn't exactly a scientific journal.8 -
You cant gain weight in a defecit - the only way eating fruit would do that is:
1. Food/ waste weight in your system from the bulk ( if eating a lot)- but thats not body fat, so not a big deal.
2. If the sugar causes blooid sugar jighs and crashes which cause you to eat more and go over your maintenance calories on a regular basis.
Other than that, no problem
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It's not bad for you. I love fruit and eat about 3 servings a day. I just try to avoid the other processed sugar I eat, so I stay below the recommended limit that mfp gives me.0
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Sugar in fruit will not cause you to gain weight the same way raw sugar will; like candy and pastries, refined sugars. However, too much fruit will make you gain weight. Eat berries--like strawberries. If I'm craving something sugary, I will eat 3 apples or 2 cups of strawberries before I'll eat 2 pieces of cake. I won't gain weight from the apples. I will from the 2 pieces of cake.
Wrong. Excess calories are responsible for weight gain, not sugar.5 -
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Sugar in fruit will not cause you to gain weight the same way raw sugar will; like candy and pastries, refined sugars. However, too much fruit will make you gain weight. Eat berries--like strawberries. If I'm craving something sugary, I will eat 3 apples or 2 cups of strawberries before I'll eat 2 pieces of cake. I won't gain weight from the apples. I will from the 2 pieces of cake.
wrong - calorie surplus causes weight gain, not sugar..
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We Asked: Joy Dubost, R.D., is a nutritionist, food scientist and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The Answer: Whether it’s in a piece of fruit, your soda or a pastry, sugar is made up of the same two components: fructose and glucose. The molecular structure and composition of sugar molecules is the same no matter where they come from.
The ratios of fructose and glucose are pretty much the same in both fruit and table sugar. Most fruits are 40 to 55 percent fructose (there’s some variation: 65 percent in apples and pears; 20 percent in cranberries), and table sugar (aka sucrose) is 50/50. Neither type of sugar is better or worse for you, but your body processes them differently. [/b]Fructose breaks down in your liver and doesn’t provoke an insulin response. Glucose starts to break down in the stomach and requires the release of insulin into the bloodstream to be metabolized completely.
Don’t get the idea that because the sugar composition is the same in fruit and cake, they’re interchangeable. (Seriously, they’re not.) For one thing, fruit offers good stuff like vitamins, antioxidants and water, while candy and desserts are nutritionally void. Fruit also tends to have less sugar by volume. Half a cup of strawberries: 3.5 grams of sugar. Half a cup of strawberry ice cream: 15 grams.
Plus, whole fruit has a lot of fiber, which actually slows down your body’s digestion of glucose, so you don’t get the crazy insulin spike (and subsequent crash) that candy causes. That also means your body has more time to use up glucose as fuel before storing it — as fat. Even dried fruit, a notoriously sugary treat, has all the fiber and nutrients of its plump forbear. But do watch out for dried fruits with added sugar(check the nutrition label), and don’t eat a ton just because they’re smaller. Picture how many pieces are in a handful of raisins compared with a handful of grapes. See what we mean?
On average, Americans don’t eat enough fruit, so don’t cut it out of your diet in an attempt to limit your sugar intake! Sugar itself isn’t toxic. But getting too much of it from cookies and cake is.
If you actually understand the article, it's not the sugar that is different... it's that fruit comes with other beneficial nutrients. Even the bold would suggest that. The fact is, you are less likely to over eat fruit. But if you do, it can still convert to fat... well semantically, the carbs will decrease fat oxidation and increase carb oxidation causing fat to store as fat first and DNL would suggest that carbs are less likely to store as fat, but that a different story.
Anyways (and sorry for the tangent), no one is actually suggesting to stop eating fruit and only eat candy. But you can incorporate both into your diet in a healthy manor. And since you are new, maybe the below will be beneficial.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10460011/the-ultimate-guide-to-mfp/p1
OP, if you enjoy fruit as much as I do, and it fills you up, I would recommend eating it. It's nutrient dense and can support lowering cholesterol and aid in weight loss (as it's generally lower in calories than other hyperpalatable foods).5 -
You can eat a lot more apples than you can candy bars. A calorie is just not a calorie.
again, wrong.
a calorie is a unit of energy, so all calories are equal in that all provide the same unit of energy. So one calorie of cake = one calorie of apple.
However, all calories do not have the same nutritional profile, and that is where they differ.4 -
You can eat a lot more apples than you can candy bars. A calorie is just not a calorie.
The volume of food doesn't disprove the unit of measure. You will get a lot more full on chicken than avocado. It doesn't mean the calories are different, but the macronutrients that drive the calories is different.5 -
The sugar in candy was once in fruit, or corn, or some other sugar rich plant. Where sugar comes from doesn't matter. What does matter is that eating too much of it can be harmful.3
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Im glad sugar doesnt make you fat. if it did I would have been fat as a teen/young adult1
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We've got the same question or either related. As mostly of MFP users here answers that sugar is not bad as long it's fit your calorie budget! Diabetic or pre diabetic person should control their sugar intake not us
good luck 0 -
I think what she means to say is that two things can have the same energy density yet produce very different effects based on satiety and volume. For instance, it is far easier to overeat a hyperpatable food like cake or soda than it is to overeat Fuji apples because Fuji apples have more fiber, which adds bulk to the chyme digesting in your stomach, mimicking the effect of filling it, and contribute a greater amount of water than a piece of cake, which has also shown to be beneficial in satiety.
A food like cake for instance, doesn't take up much volume in the stomach, and so it has the illusion of being empty despite having eaten something.1
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