May 23, 2021: Fruit and Fructose
My weekly Get Your Stuff Together Sunday email series gives you one actionable focus for the week that will make your life a little easier.
{Did you miss last week’s GYSTS email? No prob! Go here and scroll to the bottom for a complete archive of all GYSTS emails}
Fruit contains a mix of carbohydrate types, such as simple sugars, starches, soluble and insoluble fiber. Simple sugars break down quickly in the body, while fiber slows digestion. Fruit has a small amount of fructose plus some other slower digesting carbohydrates types, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and fiber. It provides you with sustained energy and lots of other good stuff. This week, we’re going to talk about the reasons why you should enjoy more fruit.
Our bodies know what to do with fresh, whole, unprocessed fruit. When we eat fresh fruit slowly, mindfully, and in moderation, we generally feel satisfied. Fruit is often very satiating because of the fiber and water it contains as well as all of the chewing that goes into consuming it.
Fructose
As mentioned above, fruit contains fructose, and fructose is a simple sugar. High fructose corn syrup also contains fructose, but the difference is that fruit provides us other nutrients along with the fructose - high fructose corn syrup sure doesn’t. Excess fructose in processed foods and drinks, is just fertilizer for our fat cells. It tells the body to store fat and leaves us still hungry. This is especially true when we drink the fructose in fruit juices or sodas. We keep drinking or eating, but never get the “I’m full” signal from our brains.
If you eat whole, fresh, food in the right amounts, you don’t have to worry too much about fructose. You would have to eat a lot of fruit to match the fructose in one soda or fruit juice!
Fiber and Nutrients
Fresh fruit also contains fiber and nutrients, as well as vitamins, minerals, and a variety of antioxidants and phytonutrients. Fiber, especially soluble fiber, has many benefits. They include reduced cholesterol levels, slowed absorption of carbohydrates, and increased satiety. There is also evidence that soluble fiber can contribute to weight loss. Fruit contains several vitamins and minerals, and the most predominant are Vitamin C, Potassium, and Folate.
When You May Want to Avoid Fruit
Fruit is healthy for most people, but there are a few instances when you may want to avoid fruit or limit your intake to 1-2 servings per day.
In people who have a fructose intolerance, eating fruit can cause digestive symptoms. These symptoms include but are not limited to: bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, gas, heartburn, stomach pain, and nausea.
You are eating a low-carbohydrate diet/ketogenic diet. Typically this kind of nutrition plan calls for 50 grams or less of carbohydrates per day. Because a single piece of fruit can contain more than 20 grams of carbohydrates, fruit is not appropriate for this type of nutrition plan.
You have an unhealthy relationship with fruit. You may be asking, how can you have an unhealthy relationship with fruit? Well the truth is, you can have an unhealthy relationship with any food, healthy or not, if you overeat it.
The key is to eat fresh, whole, unprocessed fruit in moderation. Avoid processed food and drinks with fructose. Just about everyone would experience benefits by replacing some of the processed “junk” food that they are currently eating with a couple servings of fruit per day.
Next Sunday, we’ll talk about how gelatin’s uses go way beyond a bowl of Jell-O.
Want some expert help with reaching your health goals painlessly? Check out my programs! We’ll get everything taken care of in a way that fits into your current lifestyle so you never have to think about your health again.
Do you have a friend who could stand to G(her)ST? Feel free to forward this!
I hope you have a wonderful week,
Kelly
Kelly Morgan, Ph.D.
Tsirona - www.tsirona.com
My weekly GYSTS email give you one actionable thing to do for the week that will make you life a little easier. As "they" say, "Fail to plan; plan to fail." Get these emails (and more!) delivered right to your inbox by clicking HERE.