Fresh Fruit.....good or bad!!

I cannot imagine any healthy lifestyle or eating plan which would encourage you to cut down on your fruits and vegatables and replace with something else :P If you are concerned about high levels of glucose, perhaps stick to the two pieces of fruit per day and go with veggies the rest of the time. (I am sure you know all about getting protein with the rest of your diet, etc)

I love my fresh fruit. Can't live without it. Even the new "My Plate" guidelines recommend half of your plate for each meal to be fruits and veggies. Think a quarter of each meal to be fresh fruit.

I don't consider fruit sugar to be in the same category as refined sugar. I pretty much live on fruit over the summer and I lost 15 lbs since June. Here is what I normally bring home to the office for the day (last couple of weeks/fruit changes depending on the seaseon):

Spinach salad with red pepper and feta cheese
1 cup of blueberries
1-2 plums
1 pear
1-2 nectarines

We also usually have fruit at home after dinner, which my kids consider a dessert.

My doctor said its almost always better to get nutrients from actual real food. Just make sure to keep track and exercise. I have heard that small amounts of exercise after eating help keep blood sugar lower.

yeah id like to know this too, like how much fruit is too much? a fruit salad and a yogurt for brekkie-surely that makes me go over my sugar allowance.

Hi all - I try to eat lots of fresh fruit and veg for their nutritional value but am worried about the level of sugar in them. I don't eat a huge amount (for example I have had an apple and a banana today) and its normal for me to have 2 pieces of fruit a day and 3+ of vegetables but even this is taking me well over the sugar levels in MFP.

I am curious as to what others do to counteract this as I do not want to stop eating fruit as this change for me is a lifestyle change not a 'diet' that I am following for a few months to loose a few extra lbs and therefore cutting fruit out altogether seems to be an unhealthy solution.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!! Vicki xx

Just for a bit more info if you're interested in exactly how it all works.

Its down to differences in how they're processed.

You have Sucrose (Normal sugar) & Fructose (Found in fruit).


Sucrose is a 50-50 combination of Glucose & Fructose. Glucose is what our bodies run on, your brain, muscles etc everything is converted into that in the end. The problem is, Glucose is absorbed very quickly into the blood stream. When the level of glucose in our blood stream rises to quickly our bodies reaction is for our pancreas to release a hormone called insulin & mop it all up where it will then store it in our muscles and Liver for energy to use later.

When our blood sugar level rises to quickly though, our body overeacts. It sends out to much insulin & mops up to much sugar from our blood. To little sugar in the blood = hunger very quickly.

So the problem with Normal sugar is simply the fact that it makes people to hungry. People dont feel satisfied after they eat it...so they eat more..and more..= to many calories & their bodies dont really need the energy. Its just overeacting because of getting to much at one time.


Fructose however is different. Because our bodies do not run on Fructose, it has to be converted into Glucose in the liver before we can use it. That way the speed its released into the blood stream (If its needed) is much more controlled...the pancreas wont overeact...it wont release to much insulin & you wont get hungry straight away.