What About Dried Fruit
Taub-Dix: “Dried fruit could be higher in sugar and calories, and there’s a tendency to eat more because it’s smaller than fresh fruit. But dried fruit is also higher in iron and is a good source of fiber.”
Largeman-Roth: “Dried fruit can also be healthy, but you want to pick dried fruit without added sugars. For many consumers, that can be a little tricky. You have to look at the nutrition facts label and the ingredient list. If your dried fruit of choice is raisins, you want the ingredient list to just say ‘grapes’ or ‘raisins.’ Same thing with prunes. They’re super sweet, and people think that they’re sweetened, but they’re not â that’s just the naturally occurring sugar.
But because dried fruit does not have the water content that fresh fruit does, it’s sometimes not as filling. People might not be as satisfied with one prune and may want to eat more. Just keep the calories and serving sizes in mind.”
The Takeaway
Fruit does have natural sugar , but it also has nutrients that are key to a balanced diet, such as fiber, potassium and vitamin C. For most people, the nutritional benefits of fruit far outweigh the sugar content. Eat a variety of fruit and pair them with protein to lessen their effect on your blood sugar levels . For a lower-sugar, higher-fiber option, choose berries. You can also enjoy dried fruit, but watch your portion sizes.
Confused about nutrition? Get answers to more common questions in our Ask the RDs series.
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.
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May Be The Sugar In Fruit As Not A Good Idea As Refined Sugar
Have you heard that you need to avoid certain fruits, vegetables, and other plants because of their high content of sugar?Many people claim that fruit leads to weight gain and health complications, despite there being no evidence whatsoever to support this. In fact, its quite the opposite. Consuming plants specifically fruit is consistently associated with lower rates of diseases like diabetes and obesity..But if fruit has sugar and excess sugar can lead to health problems, shouldnt we limit our fruit intake? Im explaining the answer to this in todays video!For more info, and to get references to the studies mentioned in the video, visit my blog Whitney E. RD: https://www.whitneyerd.com/2020/02/sugar-in-fruit.html.Want to learn more about the sugars you should avoid? Check out my video on Artificial Sweeteners!https://www.whitneyerd.com/2019/09/artificial-sweeteners-bad.html.Interested in switching to a more plant-based eating pattern? DOWNLOAD MY FREE 7-DAY PPB MEAL PLAN HERE: http://eepurl.com/c8gE6X.And if you like the video please SUBSCRIBE to my channel!FOLLOW ME on social for more evidence-based nutrition information, healthy recipes, and exercise ideas:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitneyerd.
Video taken from the channel: Whitney E. RD
Video taken from the channel: Dr. Nick Zyrowski
Video taken from the channel: Rawsomehealthy
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Fruit Juice And The War On Sugar
With holiday season approaching, sugar-filled foods are more tempting than ever. We know sugar is no good for us, but, are naturally sweet fruits and veggies just as bad? To help you make the right health choices, heres what you need to know about sugar.
Sugar has made its way into just about every consumable food product in the supermarket even places where it shouldnt be, like condiments, breads, peanut butter, and savory sauces.
As the sugar in our food supply increases, the health of our nation plummets. The consumption of refined sugar has been linked to a variety of health concerns, including weight gain and obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, which are all on the rise.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 69% of the U.S. population is now overweight or obese, and diabetes rates have practically doubled in the past 20 yearsfrom 5.5% in 1994 to 9.3% in 2012. Heart Disease is the number one killer, not only in America, but globally.
With the latest research all pointing a finger at refined sugar, doctors and researchers are now urging us to curtail our consumption. Currently, the average American adult consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day, while the average child consumes 32 teaspoons .
But what about fruit and fruit juices? These foods do contain sugar too, so should we ditch them??
The Truth About Sugar in Fruit
What About Juice?
With juice, the answer is a little trickier.
What About Natural Sugar in Fresh Pressed Juice?
What About Artificial Sweeteners And Sugar Substitutes
Before you rip open a packet of artificial sweetener in lieu of spooning sugar into your coffee or tea, pause. While artificial sweeteners are generally viewed as harmless, says Voltolina, the scientific community is still not in agreement about how safe they are.
Sugar substitutes are categorized as natural, like Stevia and monk fruit extract, or synthetic, which can include aspartame, saccharin, acesulfame, neotame, and sucralose as FDA-approved artificial sweeteners, previous research notes.
While people often choose artificial sweeteners to lose weight and cut down on calorie intake, earlier research found that artificial sweeteners may enhance sugar cravings and stimulate your appetite. Simply replacing your sugary beverages with diet versions may not give you the positive health outcomes youre looking to achieve. One observational study found that diet soda consumption was associated with a 36 percent greater risk of metabolic syndrome and 67 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
At the same time, some research on Stevia suggests it may play a role in protecting against some cancers. Separately, Stevia may improve some biochemical parameters like fasting blood sugar in people with chronic kidney disease, suggests a study published in August 2018 in Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications.
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Natural Sugar From Fruit
The sugar you get from fruit breaks down into glucose, but fruit contains a host of beneficial nutrients. When you eat a piece of fruit youre getting a rich supply of antioxidants, which reduce inflammation and lower your risk for the very diseases that added sugar contributes to. Fruit is also rich in minerals, vitamins and other compounds that contribute to health. The fiber in fruit helps slow the rate at which your body absorbs sugar. These reasons are why a diet rich in fruits and vegetables contributes to health and lowers your risk for disease.
Basic Steps Of Metabolism
The digestion of carbohydrates begins in our mouths. When we chew, our teeth mechanically break up the food and coat it with saliva. Then, enzymes in our saliva, such as amylase, begin the chemical digestion process by breaking down the bonds between carbohydrate molecules.
Next, our stomach finishes the mechanical digestion by turning the food matter into a liquid called- chyme to pass into the small intestine. Once in the small intestine, enzymes are released by the pancreas to break down the bonds between carbohydrate molecules.
At the end of this process, there are only singular carbohydrate molecules at the end of this process, only singular carbohydrate molecules remain. These simple sugars will be absorbed into the bloodstream as galactose, glucose, and fructose and transferred to cells. There they are used for energy. .
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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!
Low Sugar Fruits And High Sugar Fruits
Another issue with fruit is that not all fruits are created equal. Some are naturally lower in sugar than others. If your goal is to lose weight, you want to pick fruits that are low in sugar and avoid high sugar varieties.
Low sugar fruits include berries, particularly strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Lemons and limes are also low sugar fruits, as are honeydew melon, cantaloupe, grapefruit, and peaches.
Oranges are in the mid-range, but as long as you limit your intake and eat the whole fruit, rather than drinking the juice, you may find that they work in your diet.
High sugar fruits to limit or avoid include bananas, grapes, mangoes, apples, pears, and any dried fruit, including dates, raisins, and prunes.
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Many Negative Health Effects
Sugars like table sugar and HFCS are added to various foods, including many that you would not suspect contain sugar. Thus, they may sneak into your diet, promoting a range of detrimental health effects.
For instance, consuming large amounts of refined sugar, especially in the form of sugary beverages, has consistently been linked to obesity and excess belly fat, a risk factor for conditions like diabetes and heart disease (
Summary
Refined sugars may increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Theyre also linked to a higher likelihood of depression, dementia, liver disease, and certain types of cancer.
For several reasons, refined sugars are generally worse for your health than natural sugars.
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.
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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?
What Fruit Has The Lowest Amount Of Sugar
Low-sugar fruits include:
Whats the difference between added sugar and refined sugar?
This type of refined sugar is commonly used in baking and cooking and regularly sold in bags at the grocery store. Added sugar is the term they use to describe sugar sources that alter a food or beverage. Then there are some types of sugars that arent considered added sugars, because they come from natural sources like fruits and vegetables.
Whats the difference between natural and processed sugars?
Refined sugars are the same as processed sugars these are sugars are manufactured. Lastly, added sugars are any sugars added to food when the food is prepared, made, or manufactured. More on natural sugars There are many types of natural sugars, such as lactose, glucose, and fructose, to name a few.
Which is better for you cane sugar or natural sugar?
But there are also naturally occurring types that come from fruits and milk. Sugars like cane sugar are refined sugars, whereas milk and fruit contain the natural, unprocessed variety. Refined carbohydrates, like those found in whole grains or potatoes, are better for you than white bread or pastries.
Which is healthier refined sugar or pure sugar?
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Fruit Versus Sugar A Sweet Benefit
Laura Anderson, Michigan State University Extension, and Thoa Trans, dietetics intern -November 24, 2021
Research suggests that the body can distinguish between different types of sugar.
Current scientific findings suggest that the overall quality of a person’s diet matters more than the limitation of any specific nutrient, such as sugar. However, it is still questionable whether natural sugars from fruits are healthier than refined sugars from processed foods and drinks.
Past studies have shown that the body can distinguish the difference between added sugars like high fructose corn syrup, and the nutrient-dense, natural sugar from fruit however, recent research has discovered another side to the story.
A decade ago, research showed that the body can distinguish between added sugars and sugar from fruits. Since then, nutrition experts have been recommending that avoiding added sugars from the diet would improve health. Meanwhile, studies also showed that refined sugars produce a rapid and high rise in blood glucose, whereas sugar from most whole fruits produces a gradual rise in blood glucose with the presence of soluble fiber. More recent studies have failed to collect data that supports a causal relationship between negative health and consumption of added sugar. As such, dietitians and nutritionists are starting to question the actual benefit of omitting added sugars while still consuming excessive amounts of other nutrients, such as fat.
Added Sugars And Refined Sugars
Added sugars, on the other hand, refer to sugars that have been added to a food during processing. Even if the type of sugar added is a naturally occurring sugar, such as honey or maple syrup, the fact it is added to a food classifies it as added sugar.
Refined sugar or processed sugar simply refers to sugar that has been produced and processed from naturally occurring sources such as turning brown rice into brown rice syrup. We would then refer to this brown rice syrup as an added sugar when used as an ingredient in a food product.
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Consume Fruit When Ripe And Not Before:
You wouldn’t eat a tomato before it was ripe, so don’t eat a banana before it’s ripe either! I use this example because bananas are a very cheap, versatile, and satiating fruit to begin incorporating into your diet, so it’s important to know when they are best to eat. Many people eat them before they are ripe, when they are still green, which can lead to stomach upset, indigestion, bloating, and gas. A banana is actually ripe when it’s covered in leopard spots! This means that the starches have fully converted into sugars, which your body can then use for energy and fuel!
What I like to do when I buy bananas is stagger themI’ll buy some green, some yellow, and some almost completely spotted . The reason grocery stores don’t sell them already ripe is because they bruise too easily.