Is fruit nature’s fast food? Convenient, healthy, portable, low calorie + high fiber. Or is fruit loaded with too much sugar + carbs? Will eating fruit cause you to gain weight and send your blood sugar skyrocketing? What do you think? Should we all just quit eating fruit? If you have ever wondered if you should be eating fruit, you have come to the right place!
Tara’s Tuesday Tips:
Should You Be Eating Fruit?
My official apologies are going out to every banana, apple, orange, grape, beautiful pineapples and all of the members of the fruit family.
Wherever we turn there is another buzz word in the health world. Another fad diet in the headlines, fast track to weight loss, quick fix, or as I like to call it – diet culture trap. Sugar + carbs seem to still be having their moment. That being said, I apologize to all of the beautiful, colorful, flavorful fruits that have been demonized by the low carb craze.
I’ve got a new headline: fruit falsely accused of causing weight gain.
It is now officially safe to eat fruit + here’s why:
Fruits ARE NOT loaded with excess sugars!
No matter where the sugar comes from, ALL sugars from ALL sources have calories but remember, ALL FOODS have calories. So, sugar from a soda + sugar from grapes both have calories. BUT WAIT! The sugar in fruit is from fructose. The fructose in fruit is encased in fiber + water making it very difficult to eat too much fructose when you consume whole fruits.
Think of it this way, you would need to eat six oranges to get the same amount of sugar in one bottle of orange juice. Eating the fruit in its whole form makes it harder to take in excess amounts of sugar. Drinking liquified sugar in its free state minus the fiber (with concentrated amounts of fructose) makes it VERY easy to consume excess sugar. See the difference?
Fruits ARE full of FIBER!
I talk about fiber too much here on this blog. For good reason! We need fiber for so many things! Weight control, appetite control, gut health, preventing constipation + cancers. Fruit has LOTS of fiber! Eat fruit = eat less food. The fiber in fruit fills you up! The chewing makes your mind sense fullness at the same time your stomach feels full from the water + fiber leading you to eat less! Not getting that drinking a bottle of OJ.
Your liver on fructose
Picture this. You drink one cup of soda or juice or bottle of your favorite sweetened beverage. The large amount of fructose in that drink hits your liver quickly. If you do this too much + too often, it can be as bad for your liver as alcohol. The liver turns the excess fructose into fat. If this happens too much your liver gets overwhelmed and just starts depositing the fat in the liver itself leading to fatty liver.
Alternatively, when you eat a piece of fruit, the fructose hits your liver in small amounts slowly allowing your body to digest + adapt + properly use the fructose for energy + bodily functions.
So, even if you eat a lot of fruit at one time, you are still getting slow released fructose + it is not nearly as harmful as the sugar from high fructose corn syrup, sugary foods + drinks.
Fruit + diabetes
A 2016 study (read the full study here) found that eating fruits high in complex carbohydrates actually LOWERS our risk of developing type 2 diabetes! LOWERS! More fruit = lower risk? YES, you heard correctly. Don’t be afraid of the fruit! Flavonoids, fiber, antioxidants + polyphenols are all in fruit helping our bodies combat oxidative stress and guess what? These things actually protect our bodies! Can’t get that on a keto diet!
Side note for diabetics: if you struggle with deciding what fruit to choose, how much fruit is too much for you, reach out to a dietician specializing in diabetes for help!
Fruit is special
When you grocery shop, are you intrigued by the label that says: no added sugar? I am. Breaking news: every piece of fruit has that label. The sugar in fruit is not the added kind. Added sugars are the sugars that are not naturally found in the food in its original form (candy, baked goods, juice, soda, sugar cereals). So guess what? No added sugars + fiber naturally found in fruit = slower digestion = feel full longer = less blood sugar spike = better weight control.
Food For Thought
You read all of that to hear my one sentence that answers if you should be eating fruit or not:
The benefits of eating a few pieces of fruit every day far outweighs any risk (or concern of risk) associated with the sugar content of fruit.
Overanalyzing one food or nutrient instead of focusing on the big picture is where we get into trouble with fruit. Humans + animals have been eating fruit for a very long time! In today’s world, we should be worrying about not getting enough fruits + vegetables instead of worrying about demonizing an apple because it has a few grams of sugar!
If you follow a “diet” that tells you to cut out an entire group of foods packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, you might want to think twice about that “diet”. If you are into low carb, ask yourself why.
I’m going to say this REALLY LOUD for the people in the back of the room: fruit is not the reason you have not achieved your weight loss or nutritional goal! Restriction is NEVER the answer, especially of an entire beautiful food group!
All foods have calories. Some calories are simply wrapped in wonderfulness. That is how I see fruit. Calories wrapped in a bunch of things that keep me full, fight disease, help me control my weight + appetite. If you are still asking yourself if you should be eating fruit, call me 💚.
A few other tips that might help!
- Calorie Density 101: How to Lose Weight Eating More Food
- How To Improve Your Health With Fiber
- 10 Things On My Grocery List Every Week
- What Is Plant-Forward Eating?
- How To Eat To Prevent Diabetes
- How to Lower Your Cholesterol
- How To Eat For Heart Health
⭐Did you learn if you should be eating fruit? Leave a comment below!
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