News If Sugar Is so Bad for Us, Why Is the Sugar in Fruit Ok?

[Madmick]

Just another clever ruse by @TidWell to get us to talk about fruits.

 

[CyberRubberDuck]

Whole fruits are a great source of nutrients like fiber and hardly have enough fructose to do any harm.

We hear regularly from health organisations and experts that we should eat less sugar. But we’re also told we should eat more fruit.

All types of sugar will give us the same amount of calories, whether they are from fruit or soft drink. But the health risks of eating sugar are related to consuming too many “free sugars” in the diet, not from eating sugars that are naturally present in fruits or milk.

Types of Sugar in Food
Sugar in food and drinks comes in various forms. Sugar molecules are classified as monosaccharides (single sugar molecules such as glucose and fructose) and disaccharides (more complex structures such as sucrose and lactose).

Fruit contains natural sugars, which are a mix of sucrose, fructose and glucose. Many people have heard that sugar is bad, and think that this must also therefore apply to fruits.

But fructose is only harmful in excess amounts, and not when it comes from fruit. It would be incredibly difficult to consume excessive amounts of fructose by eating whole fruits.

It’s much easier to consume excess sugar from foods and drinks that contain “free sugars”.

Free sugars include these same sugars (fructose, glucose, sucrose), but in this case they have been removed from their naturally occurring source (rather than being eaten as natural parts of fruits, dairy products, and some vegetables and grains). This includes sugar that is added to food and drinks by food companies, cooks or consumers.

Health Risks Come From Free Sugars, Not Fruits
Evidence shows that the health risks from sugars, such as tooth decay and unhealthy weight gain, are related to consuming too many free sugars in the diet, not from eating sugars that are naturally present in fruits or milk.

For this reason it is recommended that no more than 10 percent of your daily calories come from free sugars. For the average adult, this is about 50g or only slightly more than the amount of sugar in a can of regular soft drink or soda. It’s estimated that Australians get around 60 percent (65g) of their sugar intake from free sugars.

Foods that are sources of free sugars, such as juices, soft drinks, biscuits and lollies, are often high in calories and have little other nutritional value. It is often easy to consume more of them compared with fresh fruit and they also may be replacing other nutritious foods in the diet.

Consider a bottle of fruit juice – you would have to eat six whole oranges to get the same amount of sugar you consume in the juice. And because the fruit is in juice form, it counts towards your daily limit of free sugars.

Calories from drinks that contain sugar often become an addition to the calories you are eating from food, which may lead to weight gain over time.

Eating large amounts of dried fruit is also not a good idea if you are limiting your sugar intake. Through the process of removing water from the fruit, nutrients are concentrated, such that dried apricots, for example, contain about six times as much sugar (40g per 100g) as fresh apricots (6g per 100g).

We Need to Eat Fruit
Unlike many foods that are high in free sugars, fruits are packaged with lots of nutrients that help provide us with a balanced diet for good health.

For starters, fruit is an excellent source of fibre. An average banana will provide 20-25 percent (6g) of your recommended daily fibre intake. Getting enough fibre in the diet is important for protecting against bowel cancer. There is clear room for improvement in our fibre intake – adults in many countries consume only about half of the recommended amount each day (25g for Aussie women and 30g for Aussie men).

The fibre in fruit, which is often absent in many foods and drinks with free sugars, may also help to fill you up, which means you eat less overall at a meal. It’s not clear exactly why this is, but it could be related to the volume of the food (especially compared with liquids) and the chewing involved.

Fruit is also a good source of other nutrients such as potassium, which can help lower blood pressure, and flavonoids, which may reduce your risk of heart disease.

There is evidence that eating whole fruits (alone and in combination with vegetables) reduces your chances of dying from cancer, obesity and heart disease.

Despite this, only about 50 percent of Australians eat at least two pieces of fruit per day.

Most national dietary guidelines encourage eating fruits and vegetables, with an emphasis on the vegetables. To try and eat your recommended two pieces of fruit per day remember that a piece could be a banana, apple or orange, or two smaller fruits like plums or apricots, or a cup of grapes or berries.

When it comes to other sources of sugars, try to choose foods that have little or no sugar listed in the ingredient list, and drink water instead of sugary beverages when you are thirsty.

Kacie Dickinson is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian and a Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Flinders University.

Jodi Bernstein is a PhD Candidate in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/...he-sugar-in-fruit-ok?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Wow, that is some post.
Didnt read past the opening title but who told you sugar in fruit isn't bad? First time I've heard that claim.

 

[TidWell]

Wow, that is some post.
Didnt read past the opening title but who told you sugar in fruit isn't bad? First time I've heard that claim.

You should read it, who told you sugar in fruit is bad? one of those fad diet or health nuts type people?

 

[hohner]

If you eat too much fruit you get diarrhea and poop out all the extra sugar so no big deal imo

 

[TribalDrumz]

I’m starting to think steroids are good for you “

I found it in an article.

 

[General_Speckz]

Fruit = vegetable + sugar

/thread

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

It's because fiber

 

[BB in Crazy!!!!]

Isn't the sugar in fruits different than the sugar you buy over the counter? Like doesn't your body break it down differently or something I think I read that somewhere.

Fructose from fruits breaks down in your liver. Guess what makes high fructose corn syrup sweet. Yeah, we already get waaay to much fructose unnaturally. Sugar isn’t bad, we need it to live and function. Problem is how damn much we get.

 

[TestosterOWN]

I’ve had an apple, orange, and banana every day for like a year. Love fruit.

 

[Loking]

1 word

organicmegetronoptimuspirmusasdogfihjasg

 

[ithinktheymad]

I learned in my high school health class that your brain uses it to function. Like, for immediate fuel. That's why people feel an altered level of consciousness when their blood sugar is low ie diabetics.

Edit: How could I forget. ATP is converted from glucose and you need ATP. Human beings always looking for the ONE boogie man. It's a delicate balance and you need it all. How long until we're back to anti-fat lol

 

[sissypunch]

Fruit hates you and is trying to kill you.

 

[Clear Winner]

@TidWell,
You're in the Berry.

Errybody is a fruit in here. And errybody here eats fruits. Cannibals, in other words.

Welcome to the Club!

 

[TidWell]

I learned in my high school health class that your brain uses it to function. Like, for immediate fuel. That's why people feel an altered level of consciousness when their blood sugar is low ie diabetics.

Edit: How could I forget. ATP is converted from glucose and you need ATP. Human beings always looking for the ONE boogie man. It's a delicate balance and you need it all. How long until we're back to anti-fat lol

too many insane extreme diets bro

You got the ones with the HIGH fat diet, the ones who eat only fruits, the ones who eat only fish, the ones only meat etc.

balance is key

you still banging out porn stars or you settled down bro?

 

[ithinktheymad]

too many insane extreme diets bro

You got the ones with the HIGH fat diet, the ones who eat only fruits, the ones who eat only fish, the ones only meat etc.

balance is key

you still banging out porn stars or you settled down bro?

I'm just joining the dirty 30 club and I never had kids or got married so even worse than the prior decades. Quite frankly it's gotten kind of dark.

 

[Mamba Mentality]

I’m starting to think steroids are good for you “

I found it in an article.

Wow you are terribly unfunny and ignorant. Steroids with the right dosage and cycle can most definitely be good for you.

 

[BornOnMonday]

Fruit fuckin blows. Nature's arrogant attempt to compete with manmade candy.

 

[ClubFoot]

My favourite fruit is George Takei.

 

[ScarfaceJr]

I've personally never heard someone say that they don't eat fruit because the sugar is the same as other sugar. But I'm pretty sure I'd look at them as if they were dumb as fuck.

 

[boingyman]