Sugars in fruit

13

Replies

  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.
  • Mama_CAEI
    Mama_CAEI Posts: 235
    count, it is still sugar. Too much fruit is no good for you because of the sugar. Too much and eventually it will be stored as fat, same as any other sugar really :)

    Please describe the metabolic pathway by which sugar is stored as fat. Thanks.

    Sugar-->Glucose-->Glycogen-->Fat

    This is, of course, simplistic.

    OMG, is that the Krebs cycle?? :noway:
  • Mama_CAEI
    Mama_CAEI Posts: 235
    Simplest answer: your body doesn't know if the sugar came from an apple or a donut. It's sugar and it will be processed as such. However, the fruit has more going for it nutritionally than the donut.
  • no way in hell Im giving up my bananas. :)

    Ha Ha! Good for you!
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.

    I totally agree with you that sugar from fruit is better than sugar from something like a donut or what-not. But just because sugar from fruit is more natural doesn't change the fact that it still has a negative effect on my weight loss efforts. Fruit can wait. I got the rest of my life, and extended one at that if I get the rest of the weight off, to eat it later.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.

    I totally agree with you that sugar from fruit is better than sugar from something like a donut or what-not. But just because sugar from fruit is more natural doesn't change the fact that it still has a negative effect on my weight loss efforts. Fruit can wait. I got the rest of my life, and extended one at that if I get the rest of the weight off, to eat it later.

    If you have a medical problem liked jacked up leptin levels (not really sure what that is) then the 'general' rules may not apply to you. But eating fruit won't make the average otherwise healthy person gain weight any more than any other food will. But you can gain weight from eating anything if you too much of it.
  • Mrs_ALM
    Mrs_ALM Posts: 39 Member
    I don't mean to offend, but people who think sugar = sugar should maybe do a little research or talk to a REAL nutritionist. Not your supplement or shake provider, not the person who helped stick you in a contract at the gym, but someone who has gone to school specifically for nutrition. Fat does not = fat and sugar does not = sugar. You must learn how the body uses them to digest and use as fuel or store to use later. Too much of anything is not good and too little of anything is not good also.

    Another tip is that if you load up on protein and not enough carbs, guess what your body starts using as fuel? Protein. And do you know where that comes from in your body? Your muscles. So basically while you are starving your body of what it really needs to fuel energy, you are fueling it by literally feeding it the muscle, thus losing muscle mass in the process.

    When you start eating ANY carbs again after avoiding them, your body is so starved for them, it stores them as fat because it expects to be starved again. That is where SOME fat comes from. It's a natural process that can be completely misdirected if your diet is not proper and all nutrients are not in moderation - that includes fats and sugars. Think about how bears eat to hibernate. They fatten up so they don't have to eat for a long period of time. That's all you are basically doing when you starve yourself of nutrients.
  • Mrs_ALM
    Mrs_ALM Posts: 39 Member

    funny-weight-loss-ads-0.jpg?w=499&h=320

    :laugh:
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    All sugars are not the same and are not all processed by the body the same way and do not have the same effect on your blood sugar levels and other bodily functions. For starters, ask someone with fructose or lactose intolerance.

    Pam
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.

    I totally agree with you that sugar from fruit is better than sugar from something like a donut or what-not. But just because sugar from fruit is more natural doesn't change the fact that it still has a negative effect on my weight loss efforts. Fruit can wait. I got the rest of my life, and extended one at that if I get the rest of the weight off, to eat it later.

    If you have a medical problem liked jacked up leptin levels (not really sure what that is) then the 'general' rules may not apply to you. But eating fruit won't make the average otherwise healthy person gain weight any more than any other food will. But you can gain weight from eating anything if you too much of it.

    Which I always talk about this from my experience and not as a general rule of thumb for everyone. Everyone is different and what applies to 1 million people might not apply to the next 100 people. So it is best not to make generalizations about anything concerning weight management.
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
    I don't mean to offend, but people who think sugar = sugar should maybe do a little research or talk to a REAL nutritionist. Not your supplement or shake provider, not the person who helped stick you in a contract at the gym, but someone who has gone to school specifically for nutrition. Fat does not = fat and sugar does not = sugar. You must learn how the body uses them to digest and use as fuel or store to use later. Too much of anything is not good and too little of anything is not good also.

    Another tip is that if you load up on protein and not enough carbs, guess what your body starts using as fuel? Protein. And do you know where that comes from in your body? Your muscles. So basically while you are starving your body of what it really needs to fuel energy, you are fueling it by literally feeding it the muscle, thus losing muscle mass in the process.

    When you start eating ANY carbs again after avoiding them, your body is so starved for them, it stores them as fat because it expects to be starved again. That is where SOME fat comes from. It's a natural process that can be completely misdirected if your diet is not proper and all nutrients are not in moderation - that includes fats and sugars. Think about how bears eat to hibernate. They fatten up so they don't have to eat for a long period of time. That's all you are basically doing when you starve yourself of nutrients.

    I am going by the advise of a nutritionist... He recommended Bryon Richards book called Mastering Leptin... You might like to check it out. If you cut back on carbs and have a slightly higher protein count your body will pull from your fat stores to make energy.
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    All sugars are not the same and are not all processed by the body the same way and do not have the same effect on your blood sugar levels and other bodily functions. For starters, ask someone with fructose or lactose intolerance.

    Pam

    This is like saying "don't eat meat cause I am allergic to duck."

    No, if someone said "there is absolutely no difference between chicken eggs and duck eggs", I would refer you to someone with a chicken egg allergy to emphasize the fact that they have different protein structures and different people may have different experiences with them.

    The fact is that while glucose can be used by the body immediately, disaccharides like fructose and lactose need to be managed differently by the body. Glucose doesn't have to be processed by the liver, fructose does. Because of this, not only do they have different effects on your blood sugar level, they also make different demands on the body. If you are diabetic, you may hear people encouraging you to use higher fructose sweeteners (like agave) because it doesn't spike your blood sugar as quickly. If you are fructose intolerant, you may find that high-fructose foods lower your blood sugar so much they cause fainting spells. It may give you intestinal gas, pain, diarrhea, etc. There have been suggestions that fructose could cause fatty liver or other problems when eaten in large amounts.

    All sugars are not processed the same way by the body. They may have the same number of calories, but they do not have the same effect on the body.

    Pam
  • Mrs_ALM
    Mrs_ALM Posts: 39 Member

    I am going by the advise of a nutritionist... He recommended Bryon Richards book called Mastering Leptin... You might like to check it out. If you cut back on carbs and have a slightly higher protein count your body will pull from your fat stores to make energy.

    Thanks. I've really always used the "eat less and exercise more" approach to not myself crazy. I want to be healthy AND happy, and for me personally, obsessing over one piece of fruit or any other food might make me unhappy. I know what not to do...like indulge on a huge piece of cake and then expect to stay at the same weight. I know that if I eat less saturated fat and drink more water, it improves my health and I notice results. I know a few friends who get completely miserable and end up falling off the wagon because they are counting every increment of food.

    I am also not suggesting the log isn't good at all either...don't take me the wrong way on that. I love MFP...it makes me realize what I need to eat less of and what I should eat more of. I find when I over-think about what I'm eating, I just lose control and start eating everything in sight.
  • Actually many times of sugars, Sucrose, Fructose, Lactose, Glucose and so many more. All we need to know is that Fructose has been said to be the worst for weight loss. They use is specifically in pig farms to fatten up pigs before the slaughter. We shouldn't be eating that stuff at all.

    Ryan Parker
    Rock-Abs.net - How I Finally Lost my Belly Fat
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member

    I am going by the advise of a nutritionist... He recommended Bryon Richards book called Mastering Leptin... You might like to check it out. If you cut back on carbs and have a slightly higher protein count your body will pull from your fat stores to make energy.

    Thanks. I've really always used the "eat less and exercise more" approach to not myself crazy. I want to be healthy AND happy, and for me personally, obsessing over one piece of fruit or any other food might make me unhappy. I know what not to do...like indulge on a huge piece of cake and then expect to stay at the same weight. I know that if I eat less saturated fat and drink more water, it improves my health and I notice results. I know a few friends who get completely miserable and end up falling off the wagon because they are counting every increment of food.

    I am also not suggesting the log isn't good at all either...don't take me the wrong way on that. I love MFP...it makes me realize what I need to eat less of and what I should eat more of. I find when I over-think about what I'm eating, I just lose control and start eating everything in sight.

    Nah, I get what you are saying. It's all good. Just things work differently for others. I don't obsess about fruit... I just don't eat it unless I workout.....Which is none right now since the knee surgery. LOL... There are other carbs they have me avoiding because of how they breakdown into sugars... At first I had to really follow the avoid list. Now I don't have to. Just a new way of life for me. When I get the last 50-60 lbs off then I won't have to worry about it as much and I will mainly watch portions. If I see weight creeping back on I will cut those foods out again until I am back where I need to be.
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
    I don't mean to offend, but people who think sugar = sugar should maybe do a little research or talk to a REAL nutritionist. Not your supplement or shake provider, not the person who helped stick you in a contract at the gym, but someone who has gone to school specifically for nutrition. Fat does not = fat and sugar does not = sugar. You must learn how the body uses them to digest and use as fuel or store to use later. Too much of anything is not good and too little of anything is not good also.

    Another tip is that if you load up on protein and not enough carbs, guess what your body starts using as fuel? Protein. And do you know where that comes from in your body? Your muscles. So basically while you are starving your body of what it really needs to fuel energy, you are fueling it by literally feeding it the muscle, thus losing muscle mass in the process.

    When you start eating ANY carbs again after avoiding them, your body is so starved for them, it stores them as fat because it expects to be starved again. That is where SOME fat comes from. It's a natural process that can be completely misdirected if your diet is not proper and all nutrients are not in moderation - that includes fats and sugars. Think about how bears eat to hibernate. They fatten up so they don't have to eat for a long period of time. That's all you are basically doing when you starve yourself of nutrients.

    I am going by the advise of a nutritionist... He recommended Bryon Richards book called Mastering Leptin... You might like to check it out. If you cut back on carbs and have a slightly higher protein count your body will pull from your fat stores to make energy.

    I am with you on most of what you're saying. The thing about lowering your carbs, calories are units of energy as probably know. From a weight loss perspective it doesn't matter. Well i guess if you lose water weight, but from a fat loss perspective it doesn't matter. Assuming you had a high carb diet, compared to a low carb diet. The high carb diet will convert the glucose to glycogen to be stored in the muscle if the muscles are depleted of glycogen, if they're not, then it will store it as fat. Lets say the same thing happens with a high protein diet, your amino acid pools are full they get converted to glycogen and if glycogen stores are full it gets stored as fat(right where you started). It takes energy to metabolize, break molecular bonds in the body, activate chemical processes, breathing, everything takes energy. How much energy do you have? You have the amount of energy that's in your body. Energy can't be created or destroyed. From a weight loss perspective a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

    You opinion is welcome. However, I will stick with what a nutritionist told me that has helped me lost the last 81lbs. Lower carbs than proteins and cutting out stuff that breaks down into mostly sugar. It has worked wonders for me. I have energy to spare and I feel great. Just goes to show. There is no cookie cutter mold for everyone to follow.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.

    I totally agree with you that sugar from fruit is better than sugar from something like a donut or what-not. But just because sugar from fruit is more natural doesn't change the fact that it still has a negative effect on my weight loss efforts. Fruit can wait. I got the rest of my life, and extended one at that if I get the rest of the weight off, to eat it later.

    If you have a medical problem liked jacked up leptin levels (not really sure what that is) then the 'general' rules may not apply to you. But eating fruit won't make the average otherwise healthy person gain weight any more than any other food will. But you can gain weight from eating anything if you too much of it.

    Which I always talk about this from my experience and not as a general rule of thumb for everyone. Everyone is different and what applies to 1 million people might not apply to the next 100 people. So it is best not to make generalizations about anything concerning weight management.

    I disagree. Any adult that has a disease, syndrome, or other healthy issue should be intelligent enough to realize that "general" rules may not apply to them and they should check with their doctor. But that does not mean that general rules should not be shared.
  • Nobody has addressed the insulin activities for different sugars. Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar (sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose. By itself, fructose breaks down more slowly in the body; sugar and insulin levels remain relatively constant. In contrast, sucrose is processed extremely quickly, causing a “spike” in insulin levels—rather like a power surge followed by a rapid return to baseline levels—that is stressful for the body. Eating fruit does not lead to the spikes in insulin, as does processed sugar. Go for the fruits with the lower glycemic index numbers.
  • ShrinkingNinja
    ShrinkingNinja Posts: 460 Member
    Sugar is sugar is true to a point, but you have to look at the package that comes with the sugar. Fruit has fiber and that helps slow down digestion, which will not cause the same jump in blood sugar that comes from drinking a sugary drink. Plus, sugar has many vital nutrients that your body needs.

    Fruit is good for you. Eat it.

    I totally agree with you that sugar from fruit is better than sugar from something like a donut or what-not. But just because sugar from fruit is more natural doesn't change the fact that it still has a negative effect on my weight loss efforts. Fruit can wait. I got the rest of my life, and extended one at that if I get the rest of the weight off, to eat it later.

    If you have a medical problem liked jacked up leptin levels (not really sure what that is) then the 'general' rules may not apply to you. But eating fruit won't make the average otherwise healthy person gain weight any more than any other food will. But you can gain weight from eating anything if you too much of it.

    Which I always talk about this from my experience and not as a general rule of thumb for everyone. Everyone is different and what applies to 1 million people might not apply to the next 100 people. So it is best not to make generalizations about anything concerning weight management.

    I disagree. Any adult that has a disease, syndrome, or other healthy issue should be intelligent enough to realize that "general" rules may not apply to them and they should check with their doctor. But that does not mean that general rules should not be shared.

    Nothing wrong with SHARING the general rules of thumb... It becomes a whole new ball game when sharing becomes CLAIMING it is the only way that things work for everyone.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,267 Member
    Not true. Fruits will have varible %'s of fructose, but not all fructose, ever.
    Nobody has addressed the insulin activities for different sugars. Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose
  • That's all right. My wife never lets me be right either.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,267 Member
    lol, if you were right I wouldn't have commented......can't say why your wife thinks your wrong though. j/k
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    Whoa! All fruits have a combination of fructose, glucose, and sucrose, not just fructose. Most fruits have about the same amount of fructose as they do glucose. However, the sweeter fruits - apples, pears, grapes, etc. - have a lot more fructose than glucose. If you have fructose sensitivity, you will notice that your body reacts far differently to, say, apples vs. berries. There is no point in me eating just an apple when I am hungry, because the amount of fructose "overload" in it will tank my blood sugar and make me more hungry.

    Pam
    Nobody has addressed the insulin activities for different sugars. Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar (sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose. By itself, fructose breaks down more slowly in the body; sugar and insulin levels remain relatively constant. In contrast, sucrose is processed extremely quickly, causing a “spike” in insulin levels—rather like a power surge followed by a rapid return to baseline levels—that is stressful for the body. Eating fruit does not lead to the spikes in insulin, as does processed sugar. Go for the fruits with the lower glycemic index numbers.
  • sheesh...I'm sorry already. I'm not a fructologist, I just repeated what was told to me by a nutritionist (Isabel De Los Rios) on the diet program that helped me lose all of my weight (that picture ain't me).
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    Well then we'll just blame her. Maybe a letter-writing campaign!

    :tongue:

    Pam
    sheesh...I'm sorry already. I'm not a fructologist, I just repeated what was told to me by a nutritionist (Isabel De Los Rios) on the diet program that helped me lose all of my weight (that picture ain't me).
  • I just jumped over to her forum and threw it back at her. I hope you guys are right...or I'm about to lose a lot of friends lol.
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
  • Kind of interesting...all of the questions around mine are getting answered by consultants, but not mine. I will post the response if I get one.
  • This sentence " Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar (sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose." was quoted verbatim (actually cut and pasted) from the manual. I gave her the page and paragraph and am visualizing the squirming.
  • pdworkman
    pdworkman Posts: 1,342 Member
    Wow, that's pretty scary coming from a nutritionist. Mind you, I've also had nutritionists tell me that people cannot be healthy on a vegetarian diet. Or that white bread doesn't contain gluten. My personal trainer who had my calories set too low is supposed to be a nutritionist. But sheesh . . . this stuff is pretty darn basic . . .

    Pam

    This sentence " Fruit contains sugar, but solely in the form of fructose, whereas processed sugar (sucrose) is made up of both glucose and fructose." was quoted verbatim (actually cut and pasted) from the manual. I gave her the page and paragraph and am visualizing the squirming.
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