ARE bananas dangerous for weight control?

Will apples make us overweight?

Will a kiwi fruit kill your diet?

These are all questions I am asked regularly.

Some people believe that fruit WILL make you fat.

It will not - and here’s why.

It’s true that fructose (the sugar in fruit) is a health risk.

It’s a weird sugar and the body has problems processing it.

We know this to be true, but people then extend this by saying therefore fruit itself is a health risk.

Here are the facts:

• Fruit contains fructose.

• When you eat fruit – the whole fruit and nothing but the fruit – you are also eating loads of fibre too. This slows down the rate at which the fructose is absorbed by your body. So, it’s a lot less likely to trigger an insulin response that will store it as fat. And its really good for your body.

• But if you consume fructose without the fibre – either fruit juice or refined foods and drinks – then it is a different animal. It enters your bloodstream super fast. And then it becomes even more dangerous than glucose. It can trigger calorie storage, appetite surges and blood sugar spikes. Generally, it makes you look and feel terrible if you do it often.

In summary

• Fruit is good. But you should eat fruit, and not drink fruit.

• You will NOT get fat eating fruit. Humans have probably eaten fruit and vegetables since before we were human. We are hard-wired to need the essential vitamins and minerals in the flesh and the skin. Our gut and digestive system loves the fibre that keeps our innards in tip-top shape. The cellulose cleans our teeth.

We tell our clients these 2 top tips:

• Eat fruit as a dessert.

• Eat fruit as a snack - but only if you feel hungry

• Fruit juice or smoothies are not quite so good. Minimise these. Put some of the fibre back in if you make your own juice or smoothies to slow the sugar release. And drinking them alongside fibre-filled products also helps. Yes, like fruit.

Hey, why not just eat the fruit?

• But... fructose becomes a huge villain when it’s added to refined products. The sweetened fizzy cans, the “fruit flavoured” drinks and sweets, and a whole load of sweets, cakes and pastries. Consume this stuff in quantity and you are headed for a health issue. Give this stuff to your children and you are literally risking their lives by creating in them a huge sugar addiction that they may never break free from – and which ultimately could kill them.

Can I say this any more strongly?

Eating fruit will NOT make you fat.

Have you found this helpful?

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Just email me for more information on noelle@noellewatsonfitness.co.uk