Fruit Myth... Fact or fiction.

Theres loads of sugar in fruit if you blend them to make smoothies! Otherwise its just natural sugar which is better for you than normal sugar

Strawberries help the metalobism, but you can just live on fruit and veg on your diet! Jeeesh! It will be called 's.hit yourself slim'

Does the process of making a smoothie magically make the fruit have more sugar? Other than possibly removing the fiber, I don't think blending fruit is going to do anything like that.

And how is natural sugar in fruit (fructose and glucose, for the most part) different from the fructose and glucose in "normal" sugar (by which I guess you mean sucrose (which is made of fructose and glucose) or HFCS (which is also fructose and glucose))?

Exactly -- there is no difference between fruit blended in a smoothie, sugar in fruit or added sugar. It is the same fructose, glucose, sucrose and all have the same effect on your body.

Your diet should include enough fruits and vegetables to provide your body with nutrients. Cooking often does reduce nutritional value (particularly boiling, unless you also drink the water that vegetables were boiled in), but there is no need to stick to only raw fruits and vegetables.

Everything in moderation... and not too much of that!

There are pros and cons to both sides:

Cooking food also diminishes the natural life energy, and destroys much of the natural enzymes (your body can also create enzymes, but can only do so much) in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. Eating raw eliminates this problem.
There is reason to believe that you may sleep better and have more energu and mental clarity, and errr has digestive benefits too...
This is how your body was orriginally designed to eat, so there are serious health benefits to this.

However, although oyur bodies have no idea that the year is 2014 it has evolved a little more since caveman times and some people argue that cooked foods are a necessity, note that you may need to take supplements on this diet, as we certainly cannot eat raw meat etc on this diet, and foods like Quorn and soy meat often need to be cooked. Many people (including my friend who did this for a year) also find that the very second they start to go back to a normal way of eating they gain weight like crazy, and after a while they (or in this instance, my friend) found that the taste of cooked foods or more processed foods were too filling and unenjoyable, but not in that positive way that you feel like when you have been dieting and allow yourself a treat from your favourite restaurant, only to discover that you cannot eat the whole portion/the meal was too filling etc.

My advice? try Ketogenic or paleo diet, its better designed for 'todays' bodies if you want to be a bit more natural.;

how is "paleo" better designed for today's body when it is supposed to be based on a style of eating from 25,000 years ago?

I would also love to hear the explanation as to how Keto is "better" for todays bodies, as opposed to any other method out there?

Thank you! I was wondering about that comment. :explode:

I have a raw vegan diet (allergies, I'm not a "vegan" in all aspects of the term) and I eat about 75% fruit, 20% vegetables and 5% nuts and seeds. I have insulin issues (among a whole host of other things) and eating that much fruit has drastically improved the situation believe it or not! Fruit is so easy to digest that it has taken all the strain off of my digestive system and my pancreas is kicking out normal insulin levels on the diet.

Honestly, there are MUCH better ways of losing weight if that is your goal. I wouldn't be on this diet if it wasn't the only way I could function. I also think that undertaking any 'extreme' (and it is extreme) diet should be discussed with your GP and or dietitian first. The major vitamins are all highly easy to achieve on a fruit based diet, but lots of the micro nutrients aren't so easy and it requires careful balancing for long term health.

Sugar in fruit isn't bad, it doesn't make you fat unless you over eat. In fact NOTHING makes you fat unless you over eat. The thing with my diet is that everything is obviously low calorie so I have to consume a staggering volume to make sure I get enough calories.

I will say though, banana "ice-cream" totally rocks!

So my vegan friend has been trying to convince me that an all raw fruit and veg lifestyle is the way to go but then other people say how the sugar in fruit is sooooo bad for you.
I don't know what to believe. I love fruit but if it is not going to help me lose weight then I need to avoid it right?
Is it the case that people with higher metabolisms process the 'sugars' in fruit and turn them into energy and people with slower metabolisms turn the 'sugars' in fruit into fat?

HELP

I can put this thing to rest. I am eating a raw food diet and I eat lots of fruit everyday. I have type II diabetes and all medical advice says to pretty much stay away from fruit, particularly bananas and a few others. I read an article about fat being a bigger factor in diabetes than was originally thought. If you reduce your fat intake to less than 10%, fruit and whole grains will not cause high blood glucose level (BGL). I decided to try it and if things were worse I could just stop. Within 48 hrs I saw my BGL start to drop. By the end of the first week, every check of my BGL dropped below 140, which is what the medical community says the diabetics should be doing. Within 2-3 weeks my BGL dropped down to 100-110, which doctors get ecstatic about. Now I am at day 38 and the last week my BGL levels have dropped down to 80-85, a few times a little lower and a couple times in the low 90s. The healthiest adults without diabetes has a fasting level (like after a full nights sleep) is 75-80 and 2 hrs after meals is about 80-90. Mine is on the upper end of that level.

I eat anywhere from 4-10 bananas a day. I add in apples, mangos, berries, kiwi, spinach, broccoli, kale, lettuce and dates. I go by an 80/10/10 diet. That's 80% carbs, 10% protein and 10% fat. When I started whole grains were still spiking my BGL. Last night I did a vegetable stir fry with short grain brown rice. I used probably too much olive oil and my fat level jumped to 36% for the day. 2 hours after the meal my BGL was 95. Up a little, but still very good. I won't have that meal often, but I feel comfortable allowing a meal like that every once in a while. The other week it was my son's birthday and I allowed myself to have a small piece of cake and 1 scoop of ice cream. My BGL didn't go up at all.

My view is if you keep you fat consumption low, the fructose in fruits have no ill effect, even when having lots of fruit.

There are pros and cons to both sides:

Cooking food also diminishes the natural life energy, and destroys much of the natural enzymes (your body can also create enzymes, but can only do so much) in your food that are needed to break down nutrients. Eating raw eliminates this problem.
There is reason to believe that you may sleep better and have more energu and mental clarity, and errr has digestive benefits too...
This is how your body was orriginally designed to eat, so there are serious health benefits to this.

However, although oyur bodies have no idea that the year is 2014 it has evolved a little more since caveman times and some people argue that cooked foods are a necessity, note that you may need to take supplements on this diet, as we certainly cannot eat raw meat etc on this diet, and foods like Quorn and soy meat often need to be cooked. Many people (including my friend who did this for a year) also find that the very second they start to go back to a normal way of eating they gain weight like crazy, and after a while they (or in this instance, my friend) found that the taste of cooked foods or more processed foods were too filling and unenjoyable, but not in that positive way that you feel like when you have been dieting and allow yourself a treat from your favourite restaurant, only to discover that you cannot eat the whole portion/the meal was too filling etc.

My advice? try Ketogenic or paleo diet, its better designed for 'todays' bodies if you want to be a bit more natural.;

how is "paleo" better designed for today's body when it is supposed to be based on a style of eating from 25,000 years ago?

I would also love to hear the explanation as to how Keto is "better" for todays bodies, as opposed to any other method out there?

AND how sugar from fruit is better than sugar from non-natural sources!

AND GO!

Did you hear about that guy who died from eating fruit and vegetables? Nah me either. Probably because fruits and vegetables with a variety of nuts are a flawless diet.

Pre-Med - Future PA

Medical Assistant

Nutritionist

I love education

Flawless eh...I disagree...I can a lot of flaws in it especially for me.....first one being no bacon now there is a flaw.

I can put this thing to rest. I am eating a raw food diet and I eat lots of fruit everyday. I have type II diabetes and all medical advice says to pretty much stay away from fruit, particularly bananas and a few others. I read an article about fat being a bigger factor in diabetes than was originally thought. If you reduce your fat intake to less than 10%, fruit and whole grains will not cause high blood glucose level (BGL). I decided to try it and if things were worse I could just stop. Within 48 hrs I saw my BGL start to drop. By the end of the first week, every check of my BGL dropped below 140, which is what the medical community says the diabetics should be doing. Within 2-3 weeks my BGL dropped down to 100-110, which doctors get ecstatic about. Now I am at day 38 and the last week my BGL levels have dropped down to 80-85, a few times a little lower and a couple times in the low 90s. The healthiest adults without diabetes has a fasting level (like after a full nights sleep) is 75-80 and 2 hrs after meals is about 80-90. Mine is on the upper end of that level.

I eat anywhere from 4-10 bananas a day. I add in apples, mangos, berries, kiwi, spinach, broccoli, kale, lettuce and dates. I go by an 80/10/10 diet. That's 80% carbs, 10% protein and 10% fat. When I started whole grains were still spiking my BGL. Last night I did a vegetable stir fry with short grain brown rice. I used probably too much olive oil and my fat level jumped to 36% for the day. 2 hours after the meal my BGL was 95. Up a little, but still very good. I won't have that meal often, but I feel comfortable allowing a meal like that every once in a while. The other week it was my son's birthday and I allowed myself to have a small piece of cake and 1 scoop of ice cream. My BGL didn't go up at all.

My view is if you keep you fat consumption low, the fructose in fruits have no ill effect, even when having lots of fruit.

Probably different bodies react differently. I've had the exact opposite experience. Before I started losing weight I was borderline diabetic fasting blood sugar measuring at around 110. After losing a considerable amount of weight I am now borderline normal blood sugar around 85.

For the past couple of weeks I have been upholding the eastern orthodox fast where most of the days are raw vegan no oil allowed. My meals consist of a lot of fruits and raw vegetables and my fasting blood sugar has been gradually climbing (106 today). My usual diet is in no way low carb. I'm guessing it's the stress of things being harder because I tend to relapse during stressful days, but who knows.

Bloom72. Thanks for sharing. It is interesting to hear from someone who follows the 80/10/10 diet.

AND how sugar from fruit is better than sugar from non-natural sources!

AND GO!

Because it comes as part of a complete package. Fruit comes with fiber, water, micro-nutrients, anti-oxidants, phyto-chemicals, amino acids.

Sugar is just one micro-nutrient removed from a plant, and then eaten in concentrations not found in the whole foods we have evolved eating.

Did you hear about that guy who died from eating fruit and vegetables? Nah me either. Probably because fruits and vegetables with a variety of nuts are a flawless diet.

Pre-Med - Future PA

Medical Assistant

Nutritionist

I love education

1 banana pushes my blood sugar sky high. Not flawless for me ;-)

In fact, I take issue with the whole concept of a "flawless diet". Humans are omnivorous. Any "diet" can be done wrong, and I don't think that any one diet is going to fill the needs and resources of any one population. Flexibility, taste, culture, traditions, availability etc etc all have to be factored in.