FRUIT HELP!

mcohan

Eating too much fruit can be bad for your health:

Eating Too Much Fruit Can Be Bad For Your Health
By Dr. Ben Kim on July 31, 2004 Health Warnings Healthy Eating Resources
Many of us have come to believe that eating healthier means eating lots of fruits and vegetables. While fruits and vegetables are much better for you than refined foods like cookies and chips, my experiences and research have led me to believe that too much fruit can be harmful to your health.

A lot of the fruit that is grown today is much higher in sugar than they would be in a natural environment. Have you ever tasted a wild blueberry? How about a wild apple? On their own, they are delicious, but you may be surprised to discover that they aren't nearly as sweet as modern day varieties. Over thousands of years, humans have been able to make fruits larger and sweeter than their wild predecessors through hybridization.

But sugar from fruit is natural, so you should be able to eat as much as you want, right? This question is best asked of fruitarians - people who eat nothing but raw fruits. It is not uncommon for a strict fruitarian to eat five bananas and five dates for breakfast, one large canteloupe for lunch, and five large peaches for dinner.

Some fruitarians take a more balanced approach and eat lots of less sweet, seed-bearing fruits like tomatoes and zuchinni. They also eat plenty of greens like romaine lettuce.

Regardless of which approach is taken, I have not met a single strict fruitarian of more than two years who didn't have significant health challenges. The most common challenges are dental decay, osteoporosis, wasting of muscle tissue, inability to maintain a healthy weight, chronic fatigue, skin problems, thinning hair, weakening nails, and excessive irritability.

Some of these problems are the result of nutritional deficiencies. The most common deficiencies that I know of in this population are vitamins B12, A*, D, zinc, and certain essential fatty acids.

Another problem with a high fruit diet is that it can lead to problems involving the hormones that regulate your blood sugar; insulin, glucagon, and growth hormone. A chronic imbalance of these hormones is a sure way to develop cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The encouraging news is that when you eat fruits in moderation, they can contribute to excellent overall health and fitness. Here is a list of some of my favorite, healthy fruits:

1. Berries - Be sure that they are wild or organic, as commercially grown berries are heavily coated with pesticides. Berries tend to put less stress on your blood sugar - regulating mechanisms than other fruits, and provide loads of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals which protect you against disease. Frozen wild blueberries are available year-round in almost any grocery store.

2. Avocado - An excellent source of raw fat, which is essential for healing and maintenance of health. Avocados are also an excellent source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The fatty acids found in avocados provide excellent fuel for energy. A good avocado has a rich, creamy texture and a rich green color towards the outer part of its flesh.

3. Figs - If you haven't tried a fresh black or green fig, you are missing out on one of the most minerally dense fruits there is. Fresh figs are superior to dried figs, as the drying process creates an unhealthy concentration of the natural sugars in figs. If you are going to eat dried figs, strive to eat only a few per day. Figs are particularly high in potassium, calcium, and iron.

4. Pomegranates - If you could choose only one fruit to get into your blood and provide super protection against free radical damage and chronic disease, pomegranates would be a great choice. By weight, they have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants among all fruits.

5. Apples - Like all of the fruits listed above, apples are high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. From a practical viewpoint, apples are one of the most affordable healthy fruits to eat on a regular basis.

If you want to eat super sweet fruits like bananas, grapes, and ripe persimmons, you may want to eat them with some dark green lettuce, celery sticks, and avocado, as the mineral density in these green foods will help to dampen the unhealthy effect that super sweet fruits have on your insulin levels.

I recommend staying away from fruit juices most of the time, as their concentrated sugars contribute to health problems related to too much insulin production.

* While it is true that vitamin A can be made from beta carotene, which is found in lots of fruits and vegetables, many people are unable to make enough vitamin A for their daily needs from beta carotene alone. Effective conversion of beta carotene to vitamin A depends on a number of factors, like a healthy gall bladder, sufficient dietary fat, and a healthy thyroid gland. Sufficient intake and absorption of vitamin A is essential to a number of processes, including building and maintaining healthy mucosal linings throughout your body, enhancing your immune system, and supporting your vision.

eating too much of anything can be bad for you.... i think fruit should be the least of our worries.

hasiangirl

.....ummmm i like fruit? :ohwell: :blushing: :huh: :laugh: :smooched:

Lil_Leah

we're all just a bunch of know it all's arent we? :laugh:

plums are my fave! :drinker:

mcohan

we're all just a bunch of know it all's arent we? :laugh:

plums are my fave! :drinker:

no you are all wrong, i know it all! haha

hasiangirl

we're all just a bunch of know it all's arent we? :laugh:

plums are my fave! :drinker:

lol in my world i know everything even when i say something that doesnt quite make sense (even to myself) lol :laugh:
and i still
like fruit .......:grumble: i dont care what anyone says....i am not going to die from eating an endless amount of fruit :grumble: although i dont.....but im not going die even if i did ...atleast i hope not:ohwell: ok there i go not making sense again...i'll stick to my prior statement
ummm....i like fruit......:laugh:

foxyforce

we're all just a bunch of know it all's arent we? :laugh:

plums are my fave! :drinker:

no you are all wrong, i know it all! haha

my article was out of irony, and cause im cranky, and irony can be eye opening.

July24Lioness

I just ate a peach and I could eat my weight in grapes! Don't know the sugar content on either, but I have been eating lots of fruit and I am still losing weight consistently. I'm kind of wondering what the big fuss is lately over too much sugar...I'm losing weight, an I'm not diabetic, so is it a big deal that I'm eating a bunch of natural (fruit) sugars?

i agree! i think people should be more concerned with the processed (junk food) sugars. having a bunch of fruit a day instead of a peice of cake is definitely not the way people get fat!

You can get fat from eating too much fruit...............

Can fruit make you fat? Natural sugar in fruit is 'fuelling the nation's obesity epidemic'

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 4:19 PM on 04th July 2008

Gone fruity: A natural sugar found in fruits could lead to obesity if it is used to sweeten foods
A natural sugar found in fruit is fuelling the obesity epidemic, scientists say.
A study has shown that fructose - which is used to sweeten soft drinks and junk food - might be more harmful than other types of sugar.
In tests, fat people given large doses of fructose were more likely to put on weight around the stomach than those given glucose.
Doctors say this 'intra-abdominal fat' is the most harmful type and is linked to diabetes and heart disease.
Pure fructose is found in fresh fruit, fruit juice and jam.
However, it also sneaks into our diet through the high-fructose corn syrup used in food manufacturing.
Concerns about fructose and high-fructose corn syrup have been growing.

Some experts believe they play a major role in the obesity crisis sweeping Britain and the U.S.
Scientists at the University of California put 33 overweight adults on a diet comprising 30 per cent fat, 55 per cent complex carbohydrates such as bread and rice, and 15 per cent protein for a fortnight.
For a further ten weeks they were moved to a diet in which a quarter of their energy came from either fructose or glucose, New Scientist reports today.
Both groups put on the same amount of weight - 1.5kg or 3.3 pounds.

However, volunteers on the fruit sugar diet put on more intra-abdominal fat, which wraps around their internal organs and causes pot bellies.
Those eating fructose also had higher levels of cholesterol.
The study, led by Dr Peter Havel, looked only at pure fructose - not high-fructose corn syrup. However the syrup breaks down into fructose and glucose in the body.
Dr Havel said: 'The question is what is the amount of high-fructose corn syrup or normal sugar you need to consume to get these effects?'

The finding suggests that the number of calories in food might not be as important as the type of sugar it contains.
A cake made with fructose could do more harm than one made with glucose.
A spokesman for PepsiCo, which sponsored Dr Havel's work, said: 'This is a very interesting and important study. But it does not reflect a real-world situation nor is it applicable to PepsiCo since pure fructose is not an ingredient in any of our food and beverage products.'
In a separate study, Dr Havel's researchers compared the immediate effects of consuming a meal in which 25 per cent of the energy came from either high-fructose corn syrup, sucrose, fructose or glucose.
The level of triglycerides - or fats - in the blood were all elevated to a similar level 24 hours after consuming fructose, sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup, but not glucose, according to the findings published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Sucrose breaks down into fructose and glucose in the body.
Dr Francine Kaufman, of the Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, said: 'It adds to what we have known for a long time.

'It's probably not a good idea to consume too much sugar.'

courtney_love2001

Yeah I agree that eating too much of anything could be bad...I eat 1-2 servings a day. I figure this won't make me gain, although if ate like 8 servings a day there might be a problem. Always good info, Lioness, keeps us on our toes and considering new things!

hasiangirl

i dont know...i think it also depends on what other foods are in your diet.....because when i hit a plateau atleast for ME personally...i switch onto a fruit, veggie, and nut diet for 3 days and it gets me right through the plateau...i tend to eat about 5-7 servings of fruit a day sometimes a little more and about 5-7 servings of veggies with 2 servings of nuts and maybe a protien shake ...

Sapporo

Thankfully, I'm not diabetic either and can eat 2-3 fruit servings per day. hasiangirl, we know we aren't fat from eating fruit, it's all good. :happy:

hasiangirl

Thankfully, I'm not diabetic either and can eat 2-3 fruit servings per day. hasiangirl, we know we aren't fat from eating fruit, it's all good. :happy:

lol i'm just putting in my two cents.....lioness do not get upset but i dont agree with your statement "You can get fat from fruit" natural fruit is good for u and there are many people who have based their diets off of nothing but fruits, veggies, and nuts

Sapporo

I know that fruit can be an issue for some people, and it may contribute to their weight problems (like white bread, sometimes sugary fruits can set people off on a binge, increasing their overall calorie intake). There's all that insulin stuff I don't have to worry about.
I wasn't trying to dig at Lioness, I was just saying people are different and not everyone is in the same situation.

Thankfully, I'm not diabetic either and can eat 2-3 fruit servings per day. hasiangirl, we know we aren't fat from eating fruit, it's all good. :happy:

lol i'm just putting in my two cents.....lioness do not get upset but i dont agree with your statement "You can get fat from fruit" natural fruit is good for u and there are many people who have based their diets off of nothing but fruits, veggies, and nuts

hasiangirl

I know that fruit can be an issue for some people, and it may contribute to their weight problems (like white bread, sometimes sugary fruits can set people off on a binge, increasing their overall calorie intake). There's all that insulin stuff I don't have to worry about.
I wasn't trying to dig at Lioness, I was just saying people are different and not everyone is in the same situation.

Thankfully, I'm not diabetic either and can eat 2-3 fruit servings per day. hasiangirl, we know we aren't fat from eating fruit, it's all good. :happy:

lol i'm just putting in my two cents.....lioness do not get upset but i dont agree with your statement "You can get fat from fruit" natural fruit is good for u and there are many people who have based their diets off of nothing but fruits, veggies, and nuts

thats why in my comment i also wrote for "ME" personally i understand everyone's different, but i dont believe its the fruit itself that causes weight gain its exactly what u said if it triggers sweet tooth problems and then binge after than its the food after...

leavinglasvegas

GRAPEFRUIT!!!!!!!!! I eat one every day! It took some getting used to, but I peal it and eat it like an orange, rather than cutting it in half and smothering it in sugar the way my mom taught me.

Health Benefits

Grapefruit is an excellent source of vitamin C. Pink and red grapefruit are good sources of disease-fighting beta-carotene. If you peel and eat a grapefruit like you would an orange, you get a good dose of cholesterol-lowering pectin from the membranes -- the same soluble fiber that fills you up by dissolving in water and creating gels. As a member of the citrus family, grapefruit is also a storehouse of powerful phytochemicals such as flavonoids, terpenes, and limonoids. These naturally occurring substances may have cancer-preventing properties.

Nutritional Values
Grapefruit, Pink or Red
Serving Size: 1/2 fruit
Calories: 52
Fat: <1 g
Saturated: Fat 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 13 g
Protein: 1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Sodium: 0 mg
Vitamin A: 1,414 IU
Niacin: <1 mg
Vitamin C: 38 mg
Potassium: 166 mg
Carotenoids: 2,589 mcg

Pink grapefruit contain a carotenoid called lycopene. Lycopene helps protect cell membranes and may suppress tumor growth, especially prostate tumors.

kelly_a

i LOVE most fruits, and all of them have nutrional values that we need, in it's most natural form. my fav fruit is banana's and i lost 25 + lbs eating one every day!