Question about fruit sugars...

CSU2012 · September 2013

If I eat one apple (orange, grapes, etc.), and it causes me to go over my sugar limit, does it not really count because it's fruit?

CyberEd312 · September 2013

I turned off the sugar tracker for that reason. Sugar is a subset of carbohydrates so I track Carbs, Proteins, and Fats (sometime fiber) and enjoy my Bananas, Oranges, and berries.... Best of Luck

lindwalt1229 · September 2013

I'm no where near an expert, but i have seen and heard, that while the sugar in fruits are high it's not the same as eating granulate sugars because your body has to break down the fiber in order for your body to use the sugar. So essentially sugar in fruit is time released. This does not apply; however, to fruit juices because the process of juicing breaks down the fiber so you might as well be drinking soda.

megbee617 · September 2013

Bump, this is a great question I have wondered about as well

pastryari · September 2013

BeachIron · September 2013

Bump, this is a great question I have wondered about as well

Check out the search function. There are at least 5 different active threads on this subject alone.

No, OP. Find something useful to track in addition to your macros, like fiber or micronutrients.

dllewis7 · September 2013

This is a GREAT question. I mean, I struggled with it and had to come to my own conclusion. 50 pounds ago and terribly addicted to processed sugar as opposed to the natural fructose and glucose AND fiber found in much real fruit, I had to make what I thought was a choice against two evils: donut or watermelon? cake or apple?

Many so-called experts had confused me terribly before but now I was trying to lose weight and I had a headache most of the time. Hence, I started choosing fruit instead of nothing and the headaches went away. An additional benefit that I didn't count on was that I lost about a pound extra a week doing that!!! That was then, though, 50 lbs ago, when I was still in the Morbidly Obese range.

Also, there's the insanity of the idea that the sugars in fruit are someone unhealthy for you. Think about it - cupcakes made me fat NOT apples.

To maintain that 50 lbs loss I can continue to enjoy watermelon other really high natural sugars/low fiber fruits. But now that I am in the Obese range and bearing down on just Overweight, to continue to lose excess pounds though - which comes off slower now and I have about 50 more to go - I had to eliminate temporarily those high-glycemic fruits. I still eat my 2 to 3 servings of fresh fruit as the FDA recommends but they must be apples and berries. Once the last of this excess is off, like certainly by next summer season, I'm back on watermelon baby!

I also discovered that a cup of raw blueberries gives me energy for the entire day. Three months ago, I needed a nap each afternoon by 3pm. Once I started eating a cup of raw blueberries in the morning, I can go strong and hard until bedtime.

So if you are just getting started and in Morbid BMI range, by all means, eat whatever natural fruit you want 3 or 4 times a day! Once you lose, though, be prepared to modify your choices of fruit and cut back to no more than 3x a day until you reach your otpimal healthy weight.

Hope this helps. It's only my experience but I found the question you asked in my own life to be very important.

-Debra

CSU2012 · September 2013

Adini,
Wow! I should have done that first. Next time, I will know to do that. Thanks for providing all of those links.

CSU2012 · September 2013

Dllewis,
This was a great explainaton. Thank you so much. I think, once I've lost the bulk of my weight, I will have to google to find a list of the fruits in order of how much sugar they have in them.

JanaY125 · September 2013

I'm a diabetic and I love fruit, its the natural way to have something sweet and not have your blood sugar spike.

dllewis7 · September 2013

Dllewis,
This was a great explainaton. Thank you so much. I think, once I've lost the bulk of my weight, I will have to google to find a list of the fruits in order of how much sugar they have in them.

btw, I don't track the sugars in my fruits or veggies, or the carbs. To me that is ridiculous. You NEED those nutrients in those foods but they can throw off your goals. If I were you, I would go with the simple rule of eat one raw fruit and raw veggie with EACH meal EACH day and don't track them. Just track the other food. The raw fruits and veggies are too important for you.

-
Debra

scottkjar · January 2014

btw, I don't track the sugars in my fruits or veggies, or the carbs. To me that is ridiculous. You NEED those nutrients in those foods but they can throw off your goals. If I were you, I would go with the simple rule of eat one raw fruit and raw veggie with EACH meal EACH day and don't track them. Just track the other food. The raw fruits and veggies are too important for you.

-
Debra

I have to disagree, Debra. If you eat one raw fruit and one raw veggie with each meal every day and don't track them, you are getting 150-200 calories more than you record every day. That's up to 73,000 calories in a year. You just gained 20 pounds!

Track everything. TRACK EVERYTHING. Track everything.

Reset your goals if you think you can take more sugar. But don't ignore it. Don't fail to record it. Don't skip tracking it.

Track everything. Always. No exception.

Question about fruit sugars...

Replies

Categories