A look at the chart in the previous post made quite an impact on a number of people. Who knew that some fruit contained THAT much sugar. However, you would never eat 4-5 oreos instead of an apple and think it’s the same thing.
Having foods that taste ‘sweet’ in our diet is natural which is why mother nature made fruit for us to eat. The Chinese classify our tastes buds into five categories- salty, sweet, bitter, spicy and sour and a healthy diet is meant to include all of these tastes.
Although the sugars found in fruit are the same as those in refined sugar, their absorption depends on their chemical and plant structures, food processing and food preparation. As a result, fruit and refined sugar have very different effects in the body.
Refined sugar is the sugar found in biscuits, baking, candy etc and is broken down very quickly in the body thereby increasing insulin and glucose spikes. Refined sugar contributes to obesity and chronic diseases due to its fast rate of metabolism, lack of healthy nutrients and inability to make you feel full.
Fruit on the other hand contains many benefits compared to refined sugar. Besides being rich in antioxidants, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals, fruit is an excellent source of fibre. The presence of fibre (and starch from the plant cell walls) slows down the breakdown of sugar as well as expanding in your gut to give you that’ full’ feeling. The bacteria in the large intestine also breaks down fibre thereby helpiing to improve metabolism and bowel movements
We each can consume a certain amount of calories per day to give us the nutrition we need. We have to make those calories count! (ie/ contribute towards a good state of health!)
Make healthy choices and if you do have problems with sugar meatbolism such as insulin resistance then yes, it is recommended to have no refined sugar as well as limit your fruit intake.
Yours in health,
Natasha Martin, ND