16 Apr Is Sugar In Fruit Bad For You?
It’s no secret that eating too much sugar can cause numerous health problems. It promotes weight gain, diabetes, cancer and skin ageing to name just a few. But if sugar is bad, what about fruit? Fruit contains sugar, does that mean you should cut it out of your diet completely?
Whether it’s sugar from a cake or sugar from fruit, sugar is sugar. Once it’s been digested the body can’t tell the difference. However, as with many aspects of nutrition, the answer to whether or not you should eat fruit is not a simple yes or no.
IF IT CONTAINS SUGAR, SHOULD YOU EAT FRUIT?
Unlike most sources of sugar like cake, chocolate, biscuits and sweets, fruits contain many nutrients that are beneficial for health. Most fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre. They are also amongst the best sources of antioxidants, nutrients known to protecting cells from damaging free radicals.
As a team of nutritionists, we are all for encouraging consumption of fresh, natural and unprocessed foods. Therefore, most healthy people can enjoy a moderate amount of fruit as part of a healthy diet.
IS FRUIT FOR YOU?
We are all different and when it comes to optimising your nutrition, there is no one size fits all. When we are working with clients in clinic, there are circumstances where we may advise a client to cut fruit out of their diet completely.
The two most common reasons are:
For Weight loss. For some (but not all) of our weight loss clients, we recommend cutting out fruit temporarily while we focus on a ketogenic (very low carbohydrate) diet. This can be a very effective way to focus the body on using our stored fat as a main source which in turn accelerates weight loss. Fruit can be reintroduced into the diet as part of a maintenance plan once the desired weight has been achieved.
To manage type 2 diabetes. When we work with type 2 diabetics we will typically recommend cutting out fruit. Type 2 diabetics have become unable to effectively regulate their sugar levels. Therefore minimising them in the diet, in any form, is an important part of their dietary strategy.
If you aren’t sure whether or not fruit should be included in your diet, it’s worth getting advice from an expert. You can schedule a complimentary 25 minute call with us and find out how we can support you in improving your health, diet and lifestyle to lose weight and optimise your health.
HOW MUCH SUGAR IS IN FRUIT?
Some fruits contain significantly more sugar than others. For example, 100g grapes contains the equivalent to nearly four teaspoons of sugar whilst the same amount of raspberries contains the equivalent to just one teaspoon. Other considerations to take into account are that when you eat fruit and what your eat it with can have a significant impact on how it affects your blood sugar levels. Here’s a guide to working out how much sugar is in food.
6 RULES OF HEALTHY FRUIT EATING
- Choose fruits lower in sugar such as berries, coconut and grapefruit.
- Only eat bananas, grapes and mangoes occasionally as they are fairly high in sugar.
- Avoid eating dried fruits and drinking fruit juices due to their particularly high sugar content.
- Limit fruit to a maximum of two portions per day. A portion is one medium sized fruit or 80g.
- Have fruit with your meal – eating it with a combination of protein and fat will slow the absorption of sugars.
- Eating fruit after your workout is a good idea. Your body is likely to use the sugar to replenish the sugar stores in your muscles (known as glycogen).
Unless it’s been advised that you do not consume fruit for health reasons, or because you are on a carbohydrate controlled weight loss plan, moderate amounts of fruit can and should form part of a healthy diet. Just make sure you limit your intake, choose lower sugar fruits and eat fruit alongside other food.
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