SUGAR IN FRUIT.....Good or Bad

susieQ79
susieQ79 Posts: 12
in Food and Nutrition
I always go over my sugar intake beacause I eat a lot of fruit......So is that good or bad......hope someone can help me figure it out :huh:
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Replies

  • Arizona_JR
    Arizona_JR Posts: 275
    Everything I've ever read says fruit sugar is good and refined sugar is bad.
  • Kirsty_UK
    Kirsty_UK Posts: 964 Member
    if you do a forum search for "fruit sugar" you'll find various views on it
  • mgreen10
    mgreen10 Posts: 229 Member
    Good! Fruit is natural and alive. They are live cells....you need sugar as well. Don't worry about it if you are getting it from fruit.
  • Ladydi1982
    Ladydi1982 Posts: 218 Member
    I have heard that because fruit is high in sugar, we should eat more veggies than fruit during the day (i.e. 3 servings of fruit & 5-7 servings of veggies). However, since it is a natural source, the sugar in fruit is so much better than what you get from any processed foods.

    Hope this makes sense :flowerforyou:
  • amyradelle
    amyradelle Posts: 20
    Well I know that sugar in fruit is technically good for you. And by all means great job for grabbing an apple instead of a candy bar!! But you should really try to not got over. And try to keep the fruits near the beginning half of your day. Maybe switch your abundance of fruit with some veggies?
  • brattyworm
    brattyworm Posts: 2,137 Member
    from what my trainer/nutrionist told me when i worked out with him. fruit sugar is good for you. however, lay off the sugary fruits close to bed time as they can pack on the pounds at that time just like the refined sugars. but your body does process the fruit sugars more effeciently.

    there are some days i wish we still lived close to that trainer as he was amazing and i haven't looked for another as i'm afraid i would be terribly disappointed in whoever comes after him.
  • coolcatcan
    coolcatcan Posts: 133 Member
    I was confused about this too. As I understand it, natural sugar is good...added sugar is what you need to watch out for. MFP doesn't differentiate between the two which is a bummer! I was watching Dr. Oz and he states you should not have more than 24g or 6 tsp (100 calories) of added sugar a day (refined, sodas, candy, etc....). Fruit is unlimited and it also has antioxidants that fight off free radicals which is very important. So have as much fruit as you like! I love green apples and peanut butter!
  • ladybug1620
    ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
    I'd say it's better than refined sugar, but I still cut out most fruit because I like to keep sugars and carbs low if I can. I was eating around 3 servings of fruit per day (among other carbs) and my weight loss was stalling, so I cut them out. If you find it's not hurting you then eat away.
  • AtomicDarling
    AtomicDarling Posts: 42
    I would like to see these answers also...

    As far as I understand it there are two kinds of sugar in the world: good sugar and bad sugar.

    Good sugar, like the sugar in fruit, is supposedly easier to burn off again than bad sugar (donuts, etc.).

    That's all I know so far though.
  • Bootzey
    Bootzey Posts: 274 Member
    Good
  • Buckeyt
    Buckeyt Posts: 473 Member
    You should research the difference between Fructose,the primary sugar in fruit. It's also the primary sugar in honey as well. The basic issue with it is this. Fructose goes directly to your liver to be processed. It can only store so much about 100g, the excess is converted to fat, triglycerides i nthe blood not a good thing.

    Table sugar on the other hand is sucrose, made up a one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. Glucose goes direxctly to your muscles to be burned as fuel.

    I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are treated differently by the body.
  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
    Oh my... I seriously had a mental breakdown over this issue because I have read some stupid crap on the internet about sugar in fruit/fruit in general. It got to the point where I wasn't eating an apple because it had sugar in it. That was stupid of me because I would avoid sugar so much that I ended up having blackouts/dizzy spells upon standing, which were directly related to my lack of sugar.

    I don't know, maybe it's bad for people with diabetes and major health issue, but fruit is better for you than eating cookies, chips, candy, etc...

    I freaked out bad enough that I scheduled an appointment with both my doctor and a nutritionist because I just couldn't believe that people are saying fruit is bad for you. Turns out........ it's not. My doctor told me I should never feel guilty about eating fruit because of the sugar content and that it's considered "free" food. Same with veggies. Yes, I agree that vegetables are probably better for you than fruit, but both of them are extremely good for you.

    If you feel guilty about eating an apple... eat it. I can't tell you how much that mindset helped me. At first, I was afraid I would gain weight by "ignoring" fruit and vegetable calories/sugar, but it's been over three months since I started my fruit kick, and I've still been losing weight.

    Here's my fruit/veg count for an average day:
    1 pint of blueberries (~165cal)
    1 cup of raspberries (~65cal)
    3 apples (~240cal)
    10oz of watermelon (~90cal)
    6-8oz of broccoli (~60-80cal)
    3-6oz of baby carrots (~35-70cal)
    Spinach (~4cal)

    And I probably eat more than that...

    Hope that helps.

    ps- that is the one thing I don't like about MFP. It is literally impossible NOT to go over your daily sugar if you log in fruits/veggies. I go back and forth between logging them and not, but I just ignore sugar all together. I just try to avoid eating anything with more than 10g of sugar per serving, though I do enjoy the occasional clif bar :) I also do not drink any type of fruit juice that has added sugar in it, same goes for dried fruit.
  • susieQ79
    susieQ79 Posts: 12
    wow thank you so much this info has helped me a lot
  • brown_eyed_girl_06
    brown_eyed_girl_06 Posts: 107
    I am so glad that you asked this question because I do the same.....and I am looking for the answer! Thanks! :)
  • TK421NotAtPost
    TK421NotAtPost Posts: 512 Member
    You should research the difference between Fructose,the primary sugar in fruit. It's also the primary sugar in honey as well. The basic issue with it is this. Fructose goes directly to your liver to be processed. It can only store so much about 100g, the excess is converted to fat, triglycerides i nthe blood not a good thing.

    Table sugar on the other hand is sucrose, made up a one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. Glucose goes direxctly to your muscles to be burned as fuel.

    I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are treated differently by the body.

    Fruit is approximately 7% fructose. It would take a LOT of fruit before you started to see the conversion to triglycerides.

    Also, the good thing about liver glycogen is that it has a satiating effect.
  • shelly511
    shelly511 Posts: 3
    I have the same problem!
  • wondaboi
    wondaboi Posts: 1
    The American Heart Association recommends that men get no more than 150 calories a day from these sugars, women no more than 100 calories

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/522701-is-sugar-from-fruit-good-or-bad-for-the-liver/#ixzz22OFJIzUB
  • jad54
    jad54 Posts: 192
    If eating too much fruit is wrong, I don't want to be right. I "juice" in the mornings 3-4 days a week. My average concoction consists of:

    15-20 grapes
    7-8 strawberries
    1/2 cup blueberries
    1/2 cup raspberries
    1 banana
    3-4 kale leaves
    handful of spinach
    1/2 cup green beans
    1/2 broccoli
    1 celery stalk
    small piece of ginger
  • mandylooo
    mandylooo Posts: 456 Member
    You should research the difference between Fructose,the primary sugar in fruit. It's also the primary sugar in honey as well. The basic issue with it is this. Fructose goes directly to your liver to be processed. It can only store so much about 100g, the excess is converted to fat, triglycerides i nthe blood not a good thing.

    Table sugar on the other hand is sucrose, made up a one molecule of fructose and one molecule of glucose. Glucose goes direxctly to your muscles to be burned as fuel.

    I'm not saying one is better than the other, but they are treated differently by the body.

    Yup, it's the compounds themselves which you need to think about, not whether it comes from fruit or processed food. So whilst we do process fructose and glucose differently, eat too much of either and your weight will increase. You cannot eat fruit freely just because it is naturally occurring - you need to consider how it fits into the rest of your calorie intake. That said, fruit is lower energy density than sweets.
  • Bumdrahp
    Bumdrahp Posts: 1,314 Member
    You will get SO FAT if you keep eating fruits!!


    I kid.
  • Bumdrahp
    Bumdrahp Posts: 1,314 Member
    If eating too much fruit is wrong, I don't want to be right. I "juice" in the mornings 3-4 days a week. My average concoction consists of:

    15-20 grapes
    7-8 strawberries
    1/2 cup blueberries
    1/2 cup raspberries
    1 banana
    3-4 kale leaves
    handful of spinach
    1/2 cup green beans
    1/2 broccoli
    1 celery stalk
    small piece of ginger

    YUM!

    I have never done a smoothie with Kale?! I'll have to try it out.
  • SPNLuver83
    SPNLuver83 Posts: 2,050 Member
    It's fine. I always use the "no sugar count" fruit options when available so i dont even stress it.
  • ChrisRS87
    ChrisRS87 Posts: 781 Member
    MODERATION
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
    fruit sugar=is fine, watch overall calories
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
    The sugar in fruit is fructose. It is the same as any other fructose. The primary difference with eating fruit vs. candy that has fructose is that the fruit comes with fiber and more nutrients.
  • Silver_Star
    Silver_Star Posts: 1,351 Member
    i personally ate TONS of tree ripened fruits when i was in Asia for two months and i lost weight in spite of it....

    now if i had chowed down on TONS of candy, processed sugar goodies....i might have had the opposite effect.

    fruits are nature's candy. they are SO full of vitamins and fiber.

    so i say go for it . count your sugar cals but ignore the ones that come from fresh fruit.
  • hdsqrl
    hdsqrl Posts: 420 Member
    I had a similar conversation with my chiro (who specializes in holistic medicine, too) - he pointed to a jar of Jolly Ranchers that sat on the receptionist's desk and asked me what the difference was between eating one of those and eating an apple (aside from the obvious that they're two different things, heh.)

    He went on to say that when you eat an apple, your body can process the entire thing - it knows what to do with every bit of the apple, and none of it is wasted. When you eat a Jolly Rancher (or any other empty sugary treat), your body is pretty much like, "Dude, WTF??" and hasn't a clue what to do with the extraneous sugar, colorings, etc.

    Lesson: Don't be afraid to eat the fruit. Your body is made for it! :)
  • stephaniecrg
    stephaniecrg Posts: 13 Member
    I did a LOT of research on this topic because I was having a huge freakout over my sugar intake. I hated that two pieces of fruit shot my sugar intake through the roof!! What I found out is that. basically, sugar is sugar. Whether refined or natural, your body is going to turn it into fat. HOWEVER, unless you're hitting a plateau or are having problems with your blood sugar (like diabetes, etc.) by no means shuold you eliminate fruit from your diet based on sugar alone. The nutriets you get from fruit is so essential that it trumps going over your reccommended sugar intake by a few grams. That being said, if you find yourself hitting a plateau even though your exercise schedule and calorie intake is in order, try substituting vegetables for some of the fruits in your diet and see if sugar (even though it's natural sugar) is the reason you can't lose weight. But until that happens, have some fruit! (In moderation, of course. ;D)
  • GermanicKnight
    GermanicKnight Posts: 445
    It is hard to overeat fruit, you would have to ingest a ton. You will just need to be neat a toilet if that is all you consumed.

    I limit my fruit intake as it stalls out my weight loss. If I plateau, I stop eating fruits and I start to lose again. Then I will wean myself back on fruits again.


    Fruits are amazing for you and some are considered superfoods. Eat fruit, just don't go crazy.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
    As long as you don't eat 30 bananas in one sitting or a case of dates...you are fine. Yup at one crazy time I was a fruitarian! Gained 30 lbs. Now that I eat fruit like a regular person-no problem. Yes you can get fat eating fruit. The 30 banana a day website is a joke. The reason people like durianrider on that website can eat that much is because he does extreme cardio. .

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