START EATING FRUIT AGAIN
As you know, I feel pretty strongly that we should be cutting
added sugar—sweeteners added to processed foods, beverages, baked goods,
breakfast cereals, and other everyday staples—out of our diets as much as
possible. All that added sugar is a huge contributing factor to weight gain and
disease risk. But when I suggest staying away from sugar, I’m talking about the
sweeteners added to foods, not the natural sugars in whole, healthy foods such
as fruits.
Yes, I’m telling you to eat fruit.
I know I’m going to get some flack for this. Most of the diets
being promoted these days tell you to stay away from most fruit because of the
sugar it contains. They say you can’t lose weight or break your sugar addiction
if you keep eating fruit.
I heartily disagree with this line of thinking. Unless you have
poorly controlled diabetes and your doctor tells you not to, there’s simply no
reason to stop eating fruit.
Listen, I’m all about healthy weight loss and breaking sugar
addictions. But I simply don’t believe that cutting out an entire group of very
healthful foods—fruit—is a good idea. In fact, I think it’s a terrible idea.
As I’ve said before, the reason that two-thirds of Americans are
overweight or obese is not that we are eating too much fruit. It’s because we’re
eating too much of everything else.
Obesity researchers back this up. They have found no link
between fruit consumption and health problems. In fact, long-term studies
looking at the eating habits of large numbers of people find that eating fruit
is associated with lower body weight and a decreased risk of heart disease and
other weight-related health problems.
The nutritional benefits of fruit make it an excellent part of a
healthy diet. That’s why The Healthy Diet includes fruit every day.
I’m not telling you to go out and gorge on fruit—absolutely not.
You can’t eat it in unlimited quantities, or you won’t lose any weight at all.
But by including it in your meals in an intelligent, balanced way, you can get a
windfall of nutrients without any downside at all. And most fruit tastes great
to boot.
So, come on, let’s head out to the farmer’s market or grocery
store. It’s time to start eating fruit again.
WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT FRUIT?
Fruit contains a cornucopia of nutritional benefits. Here are
some of them:
FILL UP WITHOUT FILLING OUT
Fruits are high in dietary fiber (soluble and insoluble). Since
I’ve already explained this and I don’t want to get into too-much-information
territory here, suffice it to say that processed foods are digested quickly, but
fruit and other high-fiber food stays in the digestive tract long enough to
allow satiety hormones time to send your brain plenty of “I’m full” signals.
The fiber in fruit doesn’t just keep hunger pangs at bay:
studies show it helps lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
And it helps keep your bowels functioning normally. Unfortunately, fruit juice
has most of the fiber removed (more on this later), which is why I always
suggest eating whole fruit or blending whole fruit into a smoothie.
SWEET WITHOUT ADDING SUGAR
Fruit contains a natural sugar known as fructose. Although it is
a kind of sugar, the fructose in whole fruit does not raise your blood sugar the way added sugar in processed foods does.
The sugar in fruit is far different from processed cane sugar,
corn syrup, and other sweeteners added to soda, cookies, cakes, and just about
every other processed food out there.
When you eat candy, for example, you experience a rapid blood
sugar response as glucose is dumped into your bloodstream right away. But when
you eat a piece of fruit, the fructose within it takes awhile to have an effect
on blood sugar because it’s hidden away within the fruit’s dietary
fiber—basically a fibrous net of cell walls.
Because your body has to work hard to break down the dietary
fiber in fruit, eating it slows down digestion, giving you a feeling of fullness
that you are less likely to get from low-fiber foods. It also allows blood sugar
to rise gradually rather than rapidly, as it does when you eat candy or other
food with lots of added sugar.
GOOD FOR THE GUT
You may think of bacteria and other microbes as being “bad.”
Some are—for example, E. coli can be toxic and can make you very sick. But our
intestines are full of “good” bacteria and other microorganisms that assist in
digestion, boost our immune systems, keep us regular, and do lots of other good
things. Eating fruit helps keep your intestinal flora healthy.
A BITE OF GOOD HEALTH
The huge range of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in fruit
help lower the risk of a variety of diseases, including cancer and heart
disease. The potassium in certain fruits (including cantaloupe, papaya, bananas,
oranges, and berries) can help lower blood pressure and contribute to bone and
kidney health. The vitamin C in many fruits helps the immune system fight
disease and heal wounds. Other nutrients in fruit benefit your body pretty much
from head to toe, contributing to everything from brain fitness to the healthy
appearance of your skin, hair, and nails.
THE BERRY BEST FRUITS
Berries are an important part of The Healthy Diet. Blueberries,
blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries are fantastic sources of a variety
of antioxidants, which protect cells from damage and help fight disease. In
fact, they have higher antioxidant levels than any other fresh fruits. (Apples,
cherries, and plums also rank high on lists of foods with antioxidants.)
Antioxidants in berries are believed to help prevent some kinds
of cancers, as well as protect the health of the heart, brain, eyes, and immune
system. Berries are a great source of other nutrients as well—including fiber
and vitamin C.
Berries stand out for another reason: they
have less impact on blood sugar than most other fruits. If you have diabetes or
your doctor has told you to keep an eye on your blood sugar, berries are a great
choice because they have a low carbohydrate count and are low on the glycemic
index (again, meaning they are low in sugar).
Go ahead and mix berries into whole-grain cereal and stir them
into yogurt, but think out of the box as well—add them to salads, combine them
with whole grains such as quinoa for a tasty side dish, or mash them up with a
splash of olive oil, vinegar, and black pepper as a sweet-savory sauce for meat
and fish.
Fresh berries in season taste best, but it’s also fine to use
frozen or canned berries (as long as they have no added sugar). I always keep a
few bags of berries on hand in my freezer to toss into smoothies. You can also
enjoy munching on frozen raspberries right out of the bag—they taste like
raspberry sorbet!
FIXED ON FRUIT
So there you go. Not only do you have permission to start eating
apples and berries and cherries and melon and peaches and all kinds of other
fruit again. You have something even better than that: a prescription to start
including these delicious foods in your diet—not just because they taste great
and add valuable nutrients, but because they help with weight loss and can slash
your risk of disease. What’s not to love about that?
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