Fruit is an element of our diet that is often misunderstood.

It has a pretty unassailable healthy aura around it that I believe some of us should be wary of, especially if we have excess weight to lose or blood sugar to keep stable to help ward off diabetes.

Do you have the right amount or type of fruit, for you, in your diet?

Fruit is one of our ‘5 a day’

We are all familiar with the 5 fruit and veg a day messaging, which is a great piece of marketing. I do however wish we didn’t lump all fruit and vegetables together, indiscriminately, as for some people there is a big difference in the impact they have on our bodies.

For thousands of years we would have eaten fruit infrequently, when we came across a fruit tree or bush in full fruit bloom. Fruit tastes delicious to encourage us to gorge, helping spread the pips and seeds of the fruit plants ensuring their survival. Having taken our fill we would save the energy from the sugar as body fat, for those days when we didn’t find much to eat... It was a tough environment being a hunter gatherer and our bodies evolved to survive in this environment.

Today many of us eat a lot of fruit on a daily basis, as it is always available and we think it is good for us, and this can contribute to an excess of body fat. Especially as we also don’t lack for food in general in today’s environment.

Fruit is essentially sugar

I like to think of fruit as being nature’s sweets and it is primarily made of water with sugars. Yes, fruit has some vitamins and a little fibre, but other foods also do a good job at delivering these to us, without the sugar!

Did you know kale has twice as much vitamin C (per 100g) than oranges? But it comes without the sugar hit.

Take a look at these graphics from the Public Health Collaboration (PHC) charity showing the sugar equivalent, in teaspoons of sugar, of some popular fruits and vegetables. You can find more of these really easy to understand charts on their website: https://phcuk.org/sugar/

Tropical fruits like bananas are very high in sugar, as are dried fruits, and eating these on a frequent basis can contribute to weight gain by increasing blood sugar.

Fruit can drive blood sugar spikes

If you are overweight, especially round your middle, prediabetic or diabetic then minimising blood sugar spikes can be a good thing to aim for.

Too much sugar in our blood is toxic to our body so when it spikes our body will work to reduce this, through the hormone insulin, which facilitates the removal of the excess sugar from the blood stream turning it into fat.

Eating fruit that spikes blood sugar can lead to more body fat being created, storing the energy for use at a later date when we aren’t eating. We really don’t need another dose of fruit (or food!) coming along a few hours later, that will add more to our fat stores.

See this example from my own CGM (continuous glucose monitor) data showing the impact on my blood sugar of a handful of grapes mindlessly snacked upon one afternoon in the office.

These grapes created an unnecessary blood sugar spike that would have stopped my body using it’s existing body fat for fuel and contributed to my fat stores.

What I really need to be doing for my health and to avoid weight gain is eating nutritious meals that provide the protein, fat and vitamins/minerals I need without creating blood sugar spikes. These spikes will add to my fat stores and can cause a blood sugar crash or cravings a couple of hours later.

Most people won’t need to avoid fruit all the time but it is worth considering if you are currently eating too much, too often. Using a CGM for a couple of weeks can help you identify how your own body responds and figure out the right amount of fruit for you. Plus how often, what type and how to eat it.

Not all fruit is equal

I have created a handout that takes the sugar content of fruit per 100g and codes the different fruits into high/medium/low, based on a typical portion size, to make it easy to choose the healthier options.

Bananas are one of the sweetest fruits with 23g of sugar per 100g typically – that is almost a quarter of the fruit! Other tropical fruits such as pineapple and mango are also high in sugar.

Berries such as blackberries, raspberries and strawberries are much lower in sugar at around 5g of sugar per 100g and make a much better choice.

When I share this with clients there is often a few surprises and ‘aha!’ moments!

Smoothies and juices

It is also important to mention that eating fruit in the form of smoothies or juices can amplify the blood sugar response as the sugar is more immediately accessible. Our gut does not need to wade through the fibre and fruit structure when it is in liquid form to get to the sugar – it goes straight into our blood stream!

Stewed, cooked or dried fruit can also have the same effect. And all of these forms of fruit will ensure we are taking in a much higher quantity than if we had eaten the fruit in it’s natural form. A small (300ml) glass of orange juice contains around 4 oranges, which we wouldn’t eat in one sitting.

Stick to eating fruit in it’s natural whole form and you will minimise your blood sugar response. Even better add some full fat Greek yoghurt or double cream to further dampen down the response 😋

Watch Your Waist coaching can help you lose excess weight, prevent or manage Type 2 prediabetes/ diabetes and improve your health by making sustainable dietary change, based on facts not myths, that fits with your lifestyle. Get in touch if you would like a free chat to pick up a couple of personalised tips and discuss how I could help you.