Why Fruit May Be Holding You Back
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GISFWCoachChris
Posts: 13
Hello everyone,
That's right fruit may be the reason that you can't get past that plateau. Simply put, fruit is comprised primarily of fructose, a simple sugar, fiber, and vitamins. The issue with fruit is not the amount of calories that we get from it, but the quality of them. The sugars (fructose) found in fruits convert almost immediately into simple sugar within the body. This translates into elevated levels of insulin within the body which many of us know puts our body into fat storing mode rather than the fat burning we are looking for.
Things get even worse when fruit is separated from its fiber or is breached (separated from its protective skin covering more than 5 minutes before consumption). Guess why? Digestion! That's right before the food even hits your tongue the molecules in the fruit are bombarded by oxygen, which begins the decomposition/digestion process. Although refrigeration slows the process of oxidation a very little (due to lack of air flow, not temperature), by the time you consume those pre-peeled apple slices most of the fructose in the apples has converted to a simpler sugar molecule than fructose- sucrose! That's right, essentially table sugar. Juices are even worse!
Another issue is eating fruit in isolation. Carbohydrates should rarely, if ever be eaten in isolation due to how fast they convert into sugar. When you choose to eat fruit always do so accompanied by some fat and/or protein source such, nuts or a protein shake are great examples.
In closing, I am not saying that fruit consumption is bad, quite the contrary. Fruit is nature’s once and a while snack. It should be treated as the dessert of health foods and should be eaten as often as you consumed deserts before you decided to become knowledgeable and disciplined with your eating habits.
My advice: Stick to wild berries such as blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. They are all eaten with the skin on and are generally low in sugar. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and vitamins. Cut back on fruit and see what happens!
About the author:
Chris McHugh
Manager of Get In Shape For Women Westwood, MA
Certified:
National Academy of Sports Medicine CPT
National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercise Specialist
CHEK Institute Exercise Coach
CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach
That's right fruit may be the reason that you can't get past that plateau. Simply put, fruit is comprised primarily of fructose, a simple sugar, fiber, and vitamins. The issue with fruit is not the amount of calories that we get from it, but the quality of them. The sugars (fructose) found in fruits convert almost immediately into simple sugar within the body. This translates into elevated levels of insulin within the body which many of us know puts our body into fat storing mode rather than the fat burning we are looking for.
Things get even worse when fruit is separated from its fiber or is breached (separated from its protective skin covering more than 5 minutes before consumption). Guess why? Digestion! That's right before the food even hits your tongue the molecules in the fruit are bombarded by oxygen, which begins the decomposition/digestion process. Although refrigeration slows the process of oxidation a very little (due to lack of air flow, not temperature), by the time you consume those pre-peeled apple slices most of the fructose in the apples has converted to a simpler sugar molecule than fructose- sucrose! That's right, essentially table sugar. Juices are even worse!
Another issue is eating fruit in isolation. Carbohydrates should rarely, if ever be eaten in isolation due to how fast they convert into sugar. When you choose to eat fruit always do so accompanied by some fat and/or protein source such, nuts or a protein shake are great examples.
In closing, I am not saying that fruit consumption is bad, quite the contrary. Fruit is nature’s once and a while snack. It should be treated as the dessert of health foods and should be eaten as often as you consumed deserts before you decided to become knowledgeable and disciplined with your eating habits.
My advice: Stick to wild berries such as blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. They are all eaten with the skin on and are generally low in sugar. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and vitamins. Cut back on fruit and see what happens!
About the author:
Chris McHugh
Manager of Get In Shape For Women Westwood, MA
Certified:
National Academy of Sports Medicine CPT
National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercise Specialist
CHEK Institute Exercise Coach
CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach
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Replies
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theres nothing wrong with fruits if eaten in right amounts. if you eat 100 oranges a day then don't be surprised to get fat. always the key is MODERATION0
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theres nothing wrong with fruits if eaten in right amounts. if you eat 100 oranges a day then don't be surprised to get fat. always the key is MODERATION
I'm totally with you - although whenever I reach a plateau, I try to switch both my diet and my exercise up a bit.0 -
theres nothing wrong with fruits if eaten in right amounts. if you eat 100 oranges a day then don't be surprised to get fat. always the key is MODERATION
^Agree!0 -
Exactly. Fruit = sugar. Sugar is not the devil. Eating a lot of sugar is the devil. Processed sugars can be the devil because they are used differently in your body.
Moderate intake of fruits is vital as it provides you with clean energy but overdoing it is just adding fat stores to the machine.0 -
HMMM...this last week I started eating a low cal string cheese or almonds with my morning apple. I have actually lost some this week. maybe that helped!0
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Thank you so much for the information, I always appreciate a fresh perspective. I don't eat a whole lot of fruit myself, I try and focus on vegetables and have been stuck for quite some time. Thanks again!0
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I make a green smoothie every morning with fruit in it and I would DIE without it. I almost feel like it is an addiction because I get such a rush of energy from them. The best time to eat fruit is in the morning or right before cardio. It will give you the perfect type of energy and your body will thank you. Thus it will not be stored into fat since you are using the energy up. Do not be scared of fruit it is nature's perfect food because it supplies your body with an insane amount of nutrients and antioxidants that you can't get anywhere else.0
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My advice: Stick to wild berries such as blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc. They are all eaten with the skin on and are generally low in sugar. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and vitamins. Cut back on fruit and see what happens!
So your thought on how to store them, they mold fast.0 -
I suspect there are a lot more other foods we should be worrying about consuming rather than fresh fruit. I try to get in at least two a day. Unless someone is consuming excessive quantities of fruit, or particularly dried fruit and fruit juice, I really don't see this as something to focus on.0
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I suspect there are a lot more other foods we should be worrying about consuming rather than fresh fruit. I try to get in at least two a day. Unless someone is consuming excessive quantities of fruit, or particularly dried fruit and fruit juice, I really don't see this as something to focus on.
Totally agree with this. I was surprised though, when I started tracking, at how many calories fruit had. I've since cut back, but I absolutely adore the natural sweetness that fruit adds - bananas in smoothies, strawberries w my oatmeal, and an apple as my afternoon snack.0 -
We eat apples with the skin on? Bananas have their skin removed for mere seconds before they are eaten?
Geez...what is this coming to really? Now even warnings on fruit!
It truly seems that EVERYTHING can be bad for you.0 -
I enjoyed this. Thanks!0
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I watched a VERY technical presentation from Dr. Robert Lustig last night on the dangers of fructose and how it affects your insulin and leptin sensitivity. It was very informative.......but most of it was over my head.
Anyway......here is a good interview that is MUCH less technical and easier to follow talking about the dangers of sugar
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiesyn_dr-robert-lustig-talks-to-cnn-about-toxicity-of-sugar_lifestyle0 -
According to Body Ecology:
It’s always best to eat fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
Fruits don’t take a lot of time to digest. Normally, they leave your stomach within 30 minutes and move along into your small intestine.
When you eat fruits with proteins or starches, which take several hours to digest, the fruit is held up in your stomach and begins to ferment.
Fermentation in the stomach not only causes poor assimilation of nutrients from the other foods you eat, but worse, the process of fermentation itself creates a sugar feast for pathogenic yeast like candida in your gut to feed off of.
Fruits like lemons, limes, or unsweetened juices from cranberries, pomegranates, noni, acai, and black currants are very low in sugar, and therefore are safe to eat because they don’t encourage yeast overgrowth.Other fruits are too sweet and feed the pathogenic yeast like candida that thrive on sugar, crowding out the beneficial microflora in your inner ecosystem.
Other low sugar fruits are kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and berries.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/principle-food-combining-pt2-fruitful-advice.php0 -
Great advice. I've switched my 2 apples a day to 2 cheeseburgers a day. Less sugar, and protein to boot!0
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The issue with fruit is not the amount of calories that we get from it, but the quality of them. The sugars (fructose) found in fruits convert almost immediately into simple sugar within the body. This translates into elevated levels of insulin within the body which many of us know puts our body into fat storing mode rather than the fat burning we are looking for.
in terms of body composition, the quality of calories don't mean all that much, total caloric intake does.0 -
If your making a calorie defiecit, eating fruit will definately not be the reason your stuck. There are numerous studies to show no matter what you do eat, if you eat a calorie deficit you will lose weight. There was a doctor who ate freakin twinkies only for weeks, maintaining a calorie deficit. Guess what? He lost weight. Generally There are two reasons why people get stuck in a plateau.
One is that they are not estimating their TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) properly , or they are not weighing foods and just going by packacking and making poor estimates on calories in.
Granted what you put in to you body will make a difference in body composiion, overall general well being, and performance. It will not however stagger your weight loss given you are creating a proper caloric deficit. I think I may go have a piece of fruit now.. my 2 nd piece today...0 -
According to Body Ecology:
It’s always best to eat fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
Fruits don’t take a lot of time to digest. Normally, they leave your stomach within 30 minutes and move along into your small intestine.
When you eat fruits with proteins or starches, which take several hours to digest, the fruit is held up in your stomach and begins to ferment.
Fermentation in the stomach not only causes poor assimilation of nutrients from the other foods you eat, but worse, the process of fermentation itself creates a sugar feast for pathogenic yeast like candida in your gut to feed off of.
Fruits like lemons, limes, or unsweetened juices from cranberries, pomegranates, noni, acai, and black currants are very low in sugar, and therefore are safe to eat because they don’t encourage yeast overgrowth.Other fruits must be strictly avoided because they are too sweet and feed the pathogenic yeast like candida that thrive on sugar, crowding out the beneficial microflora in your inner ecosystem.
Other low sugar fruits are kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and berries.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/principle-food-combining-pt2-fruitful-advice.php
^^ this. We should all be aware of how long specific foods take to digest... not just for the nutrient content but for the gastric issues that eating some foods together cause. Google Food Combination Chart and you will find many articles on this subject. Here's one site: http://www.alderbrooke.com/chart.php.
I just started subbing more fruit snacks (whole fruit) for quite a few of the processed (bar) snacks I was eating and I dropped 2x my expected weight this week (3 pounds!) ... I'm not cutting down on fruit.0 -
According to Body Ecology:
It’s always best to eat fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
Fruits don’t take a lot of time to digest. Normally, they leave your stomach within 30 minutes and move along into your small intestine.
When you eat fruits with proteins or starches, which take several hours to digest, the fruit is held up in your stomach and begins to ferment.
Fermentation in the stomach not only causes poor assimilation of nutrients from the other foods you eat, but worse, the process of fermentation itself creates a sugar feast for pathogenic yeast like candida in your gut to feed off of.
Fruits like lemons, limes, or unsweetened juices from cranberries, pomegranates, noni, acai, and black currants are very low in sugar, and therefore are safe to eat because they don’t encourage yeast overgrowth.Other fruits must be strictly avoided because they are too sweet and feed the pathogenic yeast like candida that thrive on sugar, crowding out the beneficial microflora in your inner ecosystem.
Other low sugar fruits are kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and berries.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/principle-food-combining-pt2-fruitful-advice.php
^^ this. We should all be aware of how long specific foods take to digest... not just for the nutrient content but for the gastric issues that eating some foods together cause. Google Food Combination Chart and you will find many articles on this subject. Here's one site: http://www.alderbrooke.com/chart.php.
I just started subbing more fruit snacks (whole fruit) for quite a few of the processed (bar) snacks I was eating and I dropped 2x my expected weight this week (3 pounds!) ... I'm not cutting down on fruit.
That's great about your weight loss! I followed food combining for a week and lost 4 lbs but it was too restrictive for me. I do still try not to combine fruit with anything but occasionally can't help it. I also love ALL fruit, so I don't restrict any from my diet. Just thought I'd share the info. I do believe I have a candida problem- I read about it in the Body Ecology book and I know I could clear it up with that diet...I'm just not good with diets. This inspires me to try again after remembering all I had learned.0 -
According to Body Ecology:
It’s always best to eat fruits alone and on an empty stomach.
Fruits don’t take a lot of time to digest. Normally, they leave your stomach within 30 minutes and move along into your small intestine.
When you eat fruits with proteins or starches, which take several hours to digest, the fruit is held up in your stomach and begins to ferment.
Fermentation in the stomach not only causes poor assimilation of nutrients from the other foods you eat, but worse, the process of fermentation itself creates a sugar feast for pathogenic yeast like candida in your gut to feed off of.
Fruits like lemons, limes, or unsweetened juices from cranberries, pomegranates, noni, acai, and black currants are very low in sugar, and therefore are safe to eat because they don’t encourage yeast overgrowth.Other fruits must be strictly avoided because they are too sweet and feed the pathogenic yeast like candida that thrive on sugar, crowding out the beneficial microflora in your inner ecosystem.
Other low sugar fruits are kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and berries.
http://bodyecology.com/articles/principle-food-combining-pt2-fruitful-advice.php
^^ this. We should all be aware of how long specific foods take to digest... not just for the nutrient content but for the gastric issues that eating some foods together cause. Google Food Combination Chart and you will find many articles on this subject. Here's one site: http://www.alderbrooke.com/chart.php.
I just started subbing more fruit snacks (whole fruit) for quite a few of the processed (bar) snacks I was eating and I dropped 2x my expected weight this week (3 pounds!) ... I'm not cutting down on fruit.
Fruit is fermennting in my stomach? Oh no.... My preworkout snack is Apple , oatmeal, protein,
This is another topic like eggs give you high cholesterol.0
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