Is Natural Sugar In Fruit Bad For You

How Many Servings Of Fruit Should You Eat Per Day

Is natural sugar from fruit just as bad as added sugar?

Smith usually recommends getting in 2-3 servings of fruit per day, and keeping it to a serving at a time.

And yes, that goes for smoothies as well. “Smoothies can be large whacks of carbs and sugar, especially if there’s no protein or healthy fat that acts similarly to fiber to slow digestion and prevent blood sugar from spiking,” she says.

As far as sugary fruits go? You can still eat the exceptionally sweet ones, but Smith recommends you eat these in smaller portions and pair them with extra fiber, a healthy fat like peanut butter, or protein such as a scoop of plant-based protein powder or Greek yogurt to slow digestion and blunt the sugar spike.

Total Sugar: 1 cup, chopped, 29.3 gFiber: 5.2 g

While you may only know this sweet fruit from its inclusion in the famous Fig Newton cookies, you’ll have to eat the fruit rawand without the coating of sugar and flourto best reap the health-protective benefits such as its high fiber, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, E, and K contents. Figs also contain prebiotics, which help support the pre-existing good bacteria in the gut, improving digestive wellness. But because of their high sugar content, be sure to enjoy by eating only one or two whole ones at a time. Try wrapping figs in prosciutto and adding a dollop of goat cheese. Both the meat and the cheese have extra protein to help fill you up so you don’t feel the need to keep munching.

Total Sugar: 1 cup, 23.4 gFiber: 1.4 g

Total Sugar: 1 cup, 14.7 gFiber: 3.6 g

Fruits Contain Vitamins Minerals And Antioxidants

Of course, fruits contain much more than just fiber and fructose.

They also have lots of nutrients that are important for health, including vitamins, minerals, and a plethora of antioxidants and other plant compounds.

Whats more, fruits tend to be high in several vitamins and minerals that many people dont get enough of, including vitamin C, potassium, and folate.

Of course, fruit is an entire food group. There are thousands of different edible fruits found in nature, and their nutrient composition can vary greatly.

So, if you want to maximize the health effects of fruit, focus on super fruits that are rich in nutrients. There are healthy fruits to suit all tastes, from apples and strawberries to plums and papayas.

The skin of fruits is usually rich in antioxidants and fiber. Berries, which have more skin, gram for gram, than other fruits, are often considered part of a healthy diet .

Its also a good idea to switch things up and eat a variety of fruits because different fruits contain different nutrients.

Summary

Fruits contain large amounts of important nutrients, including fiber, vitamins, minerals, and various antioxidants and plant compounds.

Multiple observational studies have shown that people who eat more fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of various diseases.

Are Fruits Bad For You Is Fruit Sugar Bad For You

9 References

Fruit and sugar from fruit have become a little controversial lately. People ask me all of the time if eating fruit is healthy, or is fruit sugar bad for you? There is SO MUCH misinformation about food groups and whether they are good or bad for you. Let us be clear. As a dietitian who has spent several years studying nutrition, the answer to this question is a flat and resounding no! Eating fruit or sugar from fruit is not bad for you. Fruit contains so many different vitamins and minerals as well as fiber necessary for a balanced nutrient-dense diet.

If youre worried about sugar content, dont! Just dont.

Should I say this louder for the people in the back?

Dont worry about the sugar in fruit!

Fruits often have less sugar than processed foods because they have naturally occurring sugars instead of added sugars. There are also studies that indicate that even though there are natural sugars in fruit, they are SLOWLY metabolized which reduces spikes in blood glucose levels after eating. This is a pretty significant point in this discussion and if youre curious, we will get into it in this blog post. If not, skip to the bottom and read the bottom line.

Read Also: How To Lose Blood Sugar Fast

How Much Fruit Is Too Much

Taub-Dix: “The amount of fruit you should eat each day depends on your weight and your blood sugar levels. If you’re aiming for nine servings of fruit and vegetables per day and making half your plate produce, I always think it’s better to have a greater ratio of vegetables to fruit.

I’ve seen people eat way too much fruit â like 1,500 calories’ worth of fruit. That’s because they buy containers of fruit already cut up or they’re drinking a lot of juice. If you think you’re a fruit over-doer, then try to eat fruit that takes longer to eat â something you can bite into or cut with a knife and eat pieces of instead of drinking juice and buying pre-cut fruit.”

Largeman-Roth: “Most people are not eating enough fruits or vegetables. So, the question of how much fruit is too much is one that, I’d say, most people shouldn’t even be considering. I suppose if you were only eating fruit, and eating it all day long, it may take up space other nutrients would be filling. You should get vegetables as well as dairy, lean protein sources, nuts and grains. I don’t really see eating too much fruit as a problem.”

White: “About 75 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough fruits and vegetables at the end of the day. I always say shoot for two to three fruits per day. I always recommend that if people don’t eat fruit, they need to eat a large number of vegetables to get the proper nutrients. But there’s a huge place in your diet for fruit.”

What Fruits Are Highest And Lowest In Sugar

Sugar In Fruit: Is It Bad For You? in 2020

Osinga says that berries such as raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are lowest in natural sugar, while the highest are dried fruits, bananas, and mangoes. Fruit juice also tends to be high in sugar, and its easy to drink too much of it because it doesnt require the same digestive process as a whole fruit.

So, how much fruit should you eat a day? What is usually recommended is up to three servings of fruit a day, Fleming says, noting that moderation is key.

What Makes Fruit So Special

Fruits contain natural sugars, meaning the sugar was never added and occurs in nature. Fruit also contains valuable nutrients that we WANT to consume and that are necessary for supporting proper health. Despite the fact that fruits have naturally occurring sugar, our bodies thrive when we eat fruit. The key is that fruits contain fiber. Fiber is another type of carbohydrate that is not broken down, but instead adds to stool bulk and slows digestion. Even though fruits contain sugar fiber slows digestion, makes us feel full and prevents blood sugar spikes. If you remove the fiber, however you lose many of those benefits. So while fruit juices contain the same natural sugars, we want to limit those because they lack the fiber to prevent blood sugar spikes and slow digestion.

Fruit Juices And Dried Fruits Should Be Limited

Whole fruits are very healthy for most people, but its best to avoid replacing fruits with fruit juice or dried fruit.

Even if you get 100% real fruit juice, keep your intake moderate. Fruit juice has a lot of sugar about as much as a sugar-sweetened beverage.

Because juice has no fiber and does not require chewing resistance to slow down consumption, its easy to take in a large amount of sugar in a short time.

In general, dried fruits are low in water and can be very concentrated. Because theyre small, its often easy to eat large amounts of them more than you would if you were eating the fresh version. But dried fruit is a portable food that keeps well, and its better than no fruit at all.

Fruit smoothies can be healthy since they typically include whole fruit, but the overall nutritional value depends on what else you add. Blending pieces of whole fruit with water or ice may be a great fiber-filled alternative to drinking store-bought fruit juice.

Summary

Fruit juice and dried fruits can be part of a healthy diet, but they arent the same as whole fruit. You may want to be mindful of portion sizes, as its easy to consume lots of these foods quickly.

Also Check: Who Makes Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

Where Is Natural Sugar Found

While refined sugar is usually extracted from sugar cane or sugar beets and is pretty bereft of any effective health benefits, natural sugar is primarily found in two distinct places. According to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, natural sugar comes as fructose in fruits, and as lactose in dairy products.

Is Natural Sugar Bad For You

Is Natural Sugar in Fruit Bad for Weight Loss?

Eating too much sugar of any kind can result in weight gain and tooth decay, and has been linked to serious health conditions such as diabetes. However, these conditions typically arise when folks eat too many products containing free sugars like soft drinks or snack foods. According to evidence gathered by the World Health Organization, the negative effects of consuming too much sugar are rarely the result of eating too many fruits or dairy products.

According to The Conversation, the fructose found in fruits is only harmful if it is consumed in large amounts, but that typically does not mean eating too many apples. In general, nearly all of the negative effects of sugar can be attributed to foods and beverages that are oversaturated with refined sugars and sugary additives such as high-fructose corn syrup.

What Are The Different Types Of Sugar In Fruits

There are several types of sugar found in both food and drinks, including the single molecule substances glucose and fructose, and the more complex structures sucrose and lactose. Fruit is rich in whats known as natural sugars a combination of sucrose, fructose and glucose.

These same sugars are refined and removed from their naturally occurring products to create free sugars. These free sugars are then added to food and drink products, with this type of sugar considered bad for us. But how can the same sugar molecules be fine in one form and harmful in another?

Should You Avoid Sugars In Fruit And Milk For Weight Loss

Recently, my 13-year old sons friend spent the weekend with us. We have known this boy since he and my son were in 2nd grade together.

His family isn’t shy about sharing their dieting journeys. Their latest weight loss endeavor is pretty drastic. It involves avoiding all sugar including the sugar found in milk and fruit.

I find this worrisome especially for their teenage son. But, this concept of avoiding sugar and all its sources, including healthy ones like milk and fruit, is trending amongst todays dieters. But should it?

Added sugars VS natural sugars

Americans, on average, eat way too much sugar about 17 extra teaspoons beyond the recommended limit. Most of that sugar comes from processed food sources including cookies, candy, sodas, sweetened ready-to-eat cereals, ice cream, and also condiments, bread and sweetened yogurts. But these foods are made sweet due to added sugars.

There are some foods that are sweet because they have natural sugars, like fruit and milk. These naturally sweet foods also have beneficial things like vitamins, minerals and fiber that the body loves and is necessary for good health.

The fiber in these foods also helps slow down their digestibility which helps slow the release of sugars into the bloodstream. They don’t create the spike in insulin levels that happens when we eat foods with lots of added sugars that flood into the bloodstream quickly.

Is sugar all sugar bad?

It quickly adds up!

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Can Too Much Fruit Be Bad For You

From an apple a day to the mantra of 5-a-day, we often hear that eating fruit is good for us. However, recent claims challenge this long-held idea, because fruit has a high sugar content and its well known that too much sugar is bad for us.

So how much fruit is too much?

Fruit is nutritionally rich, giving us both sugar for energy, and crucial vitamins and minerals.

When it comes to the vitamins and minerals in fruit, our bodies cannot store very much of these nutrients from one day to the next. So if we eat more than we need, there is no nutritional benefit or significant harm, as any excess is passed out in our urine.

But what your body will hold onto is the sugar in fruit. If you take in more sugar than you need, you risk becoming overweight which can lead to serious health problems.

Fruit contains more sugar than you might think. Typically, a regular-sized full-sugar soft-drink contains about 7-8 teaspoons of sugar. A large apple may contain 3-4 teaspoons of sugar. So two apples can contain as much sugar as a can of soft drink.

Contrary to popular belief, the sugar from fruit is no healthier than that found in sugary junk foods. It contains two forms:

glucose your bodys preferred source of energy, which goes straight into your bloodstream fructose, which is taken to your liver and if not needed for energy is turned into fat.

These are chemically identical to the sugars found in junk food, and, taken in excess, can cause the same health problems.

Can Diabetic Eat Brown Sugar

Is Natural Sugar In Fruit Good Or Bad For Your Health

Despite slight differences in taste, brown and white sugar have a very similar nutrient profile and effect on blood sugar levels. Therefore, brown sugar does not provide any benefits to people with diabetes. Everyone but especially people with this condition should moderate their sugar intake for optimal health.

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Labels On The Front Of Packaging

There are labels containing nutrition information on the front of some food packaging.

This includes labels that use red, amber and green colour coding, and advice on reference intakes of some nutrients, which can include sugar.

Labels that include colour coding allow you to see at a glance if the food has a high, medium or low amount of sugars:

red = high
amber = medium
green = low

Some labels on the front of packaging will display the amount of sugar in the food as a percentage of the RI.

RIs are guidelines for the approximate amount of particular nutrients and energy required in a day for a healthy diet.

The reference intake for total sugars is 90g a day, which includes 30g of “free sugars”.

For more information, see Food labels.

Is The Sugar In Fruit As Bad For You As Refined Sugar

The sugar detox bandwagon continues to pick up more and more passengers, and the health problems associated with added sugar are clearer than ever. Natural sugars, on the other hand, are still pretty mystifying.

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After all, fruit is supposed to be good for you. But fruit has sugar, which is not good for you. So does the natural sugar in fruit “count”?

For our Ask the RDs series, we asked readers to send us their biggest nutrition questions and then posed the 12 most common to a panel of registered dietitians. Turns out we weren’t the only ones who had questions about sugar in fruit! Here’s what the experts had to say about natural sugars and whether or not you can really eat too much fruit.

“It all depends on what your personal needs are. For example, if you have diabetes or a condition where you really need to monitor your carb and sugar intake, then even the sugar in fruit may need to be accounted for a little more carefully.

But if you don’t have a medical condition, remember that the sugar in fruit comes with a lot of good company, like fiber, phytonutrients and vitamins and minerals, whereas sugar in a sugar bowl is not going to do you any good. The goodness of fruit can’t even be compared with the sugar that’s in a sugar bowl.”

“If you’re someone who’s more focused on eating a natural, whole-food diet, then yes, you’d prefer the sugar in fruit.”

Types Of Sugar In Food

Sugar in food and drinks comes in various forms. Sugar molecules are classified as monosaccharides and disaccharides .

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.

Its much easier to consume excess sugar from foods and drinks that contain free sugars.

Free sugars include these same sugars , but in this case they have been removed from their naturally occurring source . This includes sugar that is added to food and drinks by food companies, cooks or consumers.