Fruit/Sugar

Check out this thread .... very informative on the topic. Very simple bottom line: sugar is sugar and should be kept to a minimum in your diet. Fruit should be a treat, not a consistent food item at each meal. Fructose is marginally better than sucrose, but in the long run has the same impact on glucose, insulin and fat storage as sucrose and carbs do unless you are talking about very moderate amounts of fruit.

Here's the thread to read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/607012-is-fruit-sugar-different-than-processed-sugar

While for example having 3 bananas in a day may be overdoing it, my nutritionist(quite well known and schooled) would totally disagree that fruit is sugar in the same way that the other junk is... She always told me to pair protein and fiber(including in the form of fruit) and that has worked well for me. For instance I had a banana and two hard boiled egg whites this morning.

Now to be my own devil's advocate I had a trainer(a bodybuilder) who saw all of it as sugar, plain and simple. But my nutritionist was also very educated on things like acid reflux and diabetes (which was a concern because when I first came to her I was pre-diabetic, and I am not now thanks to lifestyle changes and better habits.

Don't live on fruit, sure, but me personally fruit has been very helpful in at least partially avoiding the processed crap(for a sugar junkie like me that becomes important). The acid is something to watch for in some of the more acidic fruits though, like oranges, grapefruits etc..

Now of course there are other sources of fiber than fruit. Anyway I am pretty much in my goal range(lost 25 pounds between April and Sept 2012 and am still at that loss now) and I don't think the fruit is the culprit, but I have not seen just how much you are eating.

I also did not do this by eating fruit alone! Protein is what I look for and fruit has been a nice healthy snack for me.

Good luck! Interesting to see the different viewpoints.

*clap* TRUTH. Foods high in sugar (and carbs) spike your blood sugar which causes you to stay hungry and crave more carbs and sugar. Maybe go by it's rating on the glycemix index? what do you all think?

Per advice from my doctor, I use the following test for whether I should eat something. Take the total carbs, in grams, for the serving. Subtract the total fiber, in grams, for the serving from the carbs. If the net carbs are 5 grams, or less, eat and enjoy. If the net carbs are between 5 and 10 grams, it's a treat, but not to be eaten regularly at every meal. Over 10 grams net carbs in the serving, don't eat it. Add to that, if it is refined sugar in a processed food, don't eat it.

This basically means that I sometimes eat berries or grapefruit, I eat no pasta, breads, or cakes, and I eat a ton of green, leafy vegetables. Sweet potatoes, root vegetables and tomatoes are a 3-4 times a week thing. I've lost 25 lbs and got my blood sugar and insulin spikes under control.