Fruit and Sugar?

If you come to the end of the day and your slightly over in sugar, but all you've eaten is fruit, then don't worry about it. Alot of people will tell you otherwise and they may even be right in certain situations. However, overall, you would be eating healthy and that is the goal. I eat tons of fruit during the day and I'm usually a few grams over in sugar... and I've lost about 10 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks. I work out approx 4 days a week at an avg of 300 cals burned during workouts (I under-estimate my calorie burn during workouts).

Fruit/Starches/Milk are all carbohydrates and all breakdown into glucose...which then is pair with insulin in order to be absorbed into your cells. These "sugars" are natural and the foods they are found in are healthy for you. Your body needs carbs/sugar/glucose...it's your brains #1 source of fuel! Even if you where unable to do anything but lay in bed....your body needs 130g of carbs a day just to function....add in walking/talking/exercise ect... you need more carbs.

Lets say you are on a 1800kcal diet...you would need about 15 carb servings in your day or 225g carbs. For every 100kcal less you would take off 1/2 a carb serving....so lets say you follow a 1600kcal meal plan....you would need about 14 carb servings or 210g carbohydrates. These carbs should be divided up into at least 3 daily servings and 3 fruit servings with the remaining being starches. 1 serving of dairy, starch or fruit/fruit juice are all equal to 15g carbohydrates.

And fruit is fruit...apples, oranges, grapes ect....1 serving of each will contain the SAME amount of carbohydrate....15grams. So what you need to figure out is what is a serving size of fruit. For example 17 grapes, 1.25 cups of watermelon, a small (4oz) apple, 3/4c blueberries, 1/2 banana, 1 kiwi, 1cup raspberries, 1 (6oz) peaches. A serving of fruit is equal to 15g carbs/60 calories.

As a registered dietitian I always encourage clients to eat everything in moderation....eat well balanced meals and incorporate all food groups!

I'd recommend combining your fruits with protein and fats when you consume them. While they still break down to fructose and are sent to the liver to be converted to glucose for use in the body, the additional work of breaking down the protein and fat at the same time will slow the process so you don't get a blood sugar spike from eating it. Yes, sugar is sugar is sugar, but the vitamins and minerals in your fruits are at their best for working in the body when they come from fruits instead of supplements, so I say to eat the fruit. Just watch your blood sugar levels and work on keeping the glycemic load down with combinations of foods. IE: Eat your apples with some peanut butter. (Yes, there are some carbs and protein in peanut butter, but it is primarily a high fat food so it will lower the glycemic load of other carbs.)

Hiya, cheers for the recommendations, I have peanut butter in my cupboard, but just thought it was fattening.

Anything can be fattening if eaten in excess. But with balance and moderation all foods can be a part of a healthy diet. The hard part is finding the right balance for the individual needs of each person. For someone with diabetes who is trying to control blood sugar, I recommend higher fat so they can use it to control the spikes in blood sugar from carbs. For someone with heart disease, I recommend lower fat to prevent some clot formation and decrease their risk of another cardiovascular incident. That's why I don't classify anything as completely a "bad" food, because depending on the circumstances, it may need to be a staple in someone else's plan because of their individual health needs.