sugar from fruit

Every thing in moderation... Personally, I agree with the 2 fruits a day approach (and from what I have had nutritionists tell me is that a serving size is the size of your fist (which sucks for me because I love fruit and my fists are small :ohwell:)).

Since your doctor has asked you to watch your carbs, you might benefit from using a lower-carb eating strategy. Many people, myself included, metabolize fasts in a much healthier fashion than we do carbs. Your doctor can do a full metabolic panel to help you figure this out, but it sounds like you may have already had one done if your doctor is telling you to watch your carb intake.

"Low carb" does not mean "no carb", and it does not even necessarily mean you must completely avoid sweets. There are several strategies to choose from depending upon your individual needs. Six days per week, I eat no fruit, no refined grains, no sugar, and no potatoes, and I STRICTLY limit my intake of root veggies, sugary veggies (like peppers), and whole grains. One day a week I eat whatever I want in any quantity I want, including sweets and junk food. Doing this, I have cut my carbs down to less than 25% of my intake, my blood sugar is rock solid, I am no longer hungry, and I am losing weight.

My point is not that you should follow my plan - my point is that lowering you carb intake can be done in a variety of ways, and it need not feel like you are depriving yourself in the process. Good luck in making whatever lifestyle change you choose!

According to a recent article in Parent's magazine, sugar from fruit is definitely better than sweets. There are other chemicals that occur naturally in the fruit that signal your body to know what to do with them, so in general they have less impact on blood sugar.

However, being borederline diabetic can throw that all off. Your body is forgetting what to do with the insulin carrying the sugars, so it stays in your blood rather than being absorbed into cells. So you want to get the majority of the sugar you do get from fruit and vegetables. You're going to really have to cut out sweets: cookies, candy, chocolate, cakes, ice cream, etc -- at least most of the time. Also make ALL your carbs count. Go for whole grains instead of refined - no more white bread, pasta or rice (go for wheat bread and pasta, and brown rice) and avoid white potatoes, including fries and chips. I have a relative who has type II diabetes and ignores this advise as much as she can get away with, and it is not a good situation for her. If you start the habits now, you might be able to avoid full diabetes, insulin shots, and all the other not-fun stuff that go with it.

Natrual sugars in fruit and vegetable, and other sources of foods are fine. Its important to read the ingredients and nutritional facts. Most products will say if there is sugar added or under the nutritional facts will say if its natural sugars.

I try and eat foods low in added sugars, but I do treat myself when I crave something.

omg @ the responses to her in this thread.

Get off of her butt. She ate cookies and a cupcake one day. OMG LET'S ALL GIVE HER CRAP FOR IT NOW!!!!!! OMG AND SHE'S EATING FRUIT?! Oh no... you're going to have to stop eating fruit. Fruit is so bad for you because it contains natural sugar. Just never eat fruit again. You're only allowed to have kale chips with almonds and water from now until forever.

*rolls eyes*

Please.


Honestly, even if I go the entire day without eating fruits, I pretty much always go over my allotted sugar. It's difficult to not go over your sugar unless you're on a low-carb diet... and you're not drinking milk.

I would love to see what some people say about not drinking milk because it has sugar in it. Especially when they say to eat cheese, which has basically the same amount of calories as an apple, but it has fat (apples don't,) high sodium (apples don't,) and cholesterol (apples don't.) I'll take the fiber, good carbs, fiber, and Vitamin C I get from the apple, rather than a piece of cheese.

God. These forums are so ridiculous sometimes. "I would never eat a cupcake," seriously? SMDH

You must not had read her question or looked at her food diary. If you check out her diary of recent it is more then one day, which is fine none of us our perfect and she only eats fruit once or twice a day it appears, and her question was directed to 'recent'. Everyone has given sound advice for her situation and question.

If you are borderline diabetic, you should eat no fruit, no sweets, etc.

I would say stay away from fruit with a high GI index. Fructose is still sugar, and if you're borderline diabetic you do want to keep your insulin under control, lows and highs are when damage is done. Stick to fruit with a low glycemic index - such as strawberries, cherries, blueberries, apples (they are quite high in sugar but the fibre makes up for it) and stay way clear of fruit like pineapple, bananas, watermelon, mango etc. Pears are medium and so are plums I think.

Fruit sugar is usually combined with fiber which slows down the insulin secretion that tells us to store fats. As other posters have suggested it is the processed sugars that causes problems. You might print out a couple of weeks of your food diary along with your blood sugars for those days and discuss them with your doctor or a nutritionist. Good luck.

cupcakes are so disguisting. I wouldnt eat one for 10$. maybe for 20$ id eat one.

Those sweets cause too much diabetes in north america. I am surprised corporations still make sweet foods even they know it hurts alot of people.

Sweets are fine. People sitting on their *kitten* all day watching Glee and American Idol isn't fine. Candy was common place all through the baby boomer generation growing up. The difference was that they were on their bikes or running all day long, playing outside, working in the garden, etc. Now it's sitting in a car in traffic, sitting in an office, sitting in a car in traffic again and then sitting in front of the tv watching crappy reality TV before bed.

Also, corporations make cupcakes because people buy them. People buy them because they taste good. Once in awhile I'll buy them and I'm very healthy. Hopefully, these corporations continue to make them so I can enjoy them from time to time.

I agree candy has been around for a very long time, but it was also made differently back then (with whole ingredients, not chemicals that are near impossible to pronounce). Our bodies are not made to process all these preservatives that are added to food.

I can only speak from my own personal experience. I, too, am considered borderline diabetic. In the last year my A1C results have fluctuated between 5.0 and 7.1 (with anything over 6 being of concern). It's good to know this number, especially if you are being tested every three months.

My last doctor's visit, he recommended I try South Beach. I am not advocating this plan here, but do find that the information about effects of fruit on insulin levels to be very helpful. I went through the rather painful two-week phase 1, with no fruit or grains at all, and am now eating only one serving of fruit each day. So far I've lost almost 19 pounds (since Jan. 20), which is very fast for me, but I can tell an enormous difference in how my body feels now that I am keeping a much closer eye on my overall carb balance.

Where I once would turn to eating an orange for a snack, I now choose string cheese or whole unsalted cashews. I'm also a big fan of Barney butter, which is an almond butter that's gluten free as well. If I eat an apple, I try to pair it with the nut butter.

Everyone has their own point of view about this kind of thing. With me, the conversation started with my doctor and me making an internal decision to follow his advice, even though I was very resistant to his South Beach recommendation. In the end, I'm glad I listened, but this is a lifelong struggle for me. You have to figure out what works best for you.