Fruit & sugary lies
Yes, fruit has sugar. Yes, you should still eat it.
Welcome to Forkful, a weekly nutrition newsletter encouraging you to break up with dieting—and pick up a fork. Subscribe for regular updates with exclusive recipes, interviews, Q&A’s, product recommendations, and much more!
Who’s mentally and emotionally scarred by dieting programs that told you to limit your fruit intake because of the sugar? I am! 🙋
Fruit does in fact contain fructose, a type of monosaccharide sugar that is found in many plant foods. Fruits obviously contain it, as well as some vegetables, honey, beets, and sugar cane. Numerous studies do show that eating fructose in excess can be harmful to your health, which is why many perpetrators of toxic diet culture would say fruit is bad for you.
This claim is made in order to make weight loss simple and even more effective—which we all know fast weight loss doesn’t result in long-term weight loss a majority of the time. What’s not being considered is how the body digests foods in different ways, and fruit is actually great for your body and for digestion.
Compared to other sugary foods that contain fructose, fruit also contains a lot of fiber. One medium apple contains almost five grams of fiber, and a cup of raspberries contains eight grams (which is 32% of your recommended Daily Value). Fiber helps to slow down digestion in the body, hitting your liver slowly and not causing crazy blood sugar spikes.
Blood sugar is another reason some weight loss programs may tell you to limit fruit. If you take a look at the glycemic index (GI)—a system used to measure how rapidly blood sugar will rise for carbohydrate foods—there are many fruits that are high on the list. To compare, watermelons have a 76 GI, and an iced cupcake has 73.
However, it seems the glycemic load numbers are somehow being ignored. The glycemic load (GL) gives an even clearer picture of how an individual food will raise your blood sugar, putting other nutrients into perspective—like fiber. While watermelons and cupcakes may be close in GI, an iced cupcake has a 19 GL, and watermelons only have 5.
This all leads back to the fiber in fruit. Research shows that consuming soluble fiber (a type of fiber found in fruit) does slow down blood sugar levels, and slows digestion and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. Which, to our benefit, helps us to feel full and satisfied for longer. Hence why eating a piece of fruit feels delicious and satisfying for hours to come.
Plus, let’s not forget: If you’re limiting fruits from your diet, you are also limiting some key micronutrients for your body that can so easily be obtained by simply peeling up an orange, or slicing up an apple. Not just the dietary fiber, but the boost in vitamin C, potassium, folate, and powerful disease-fighting antioxidants. For example, blueberries are packed with anthocyanins, an anti-inflammatory polyphenol that helps with cardiovascular risk, as well as lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And it gives the blueberry that gorgeous blue color.
Now, what about fruit juice? Because while some toxic dieting programs will tell you to cut out fruit, others say you should “detox” by juicing your fruits to slim down—which is a bunch of crap. While tasty, juicing your fruits does break down the fibers and the chewing consistency that helps with feeling full, and can cause higher blood sugar spikes. Drinking 100% fruit juice does provide you with some of those other nutrients, but it is important to keep it in mind when choosing between chewing fruit or sipping on juice.
All in all, enjoy that bowl of fruit this weekend, or an apple with peanut butter, and tell dieting culture to f*** off.
I ate so many boring sandwiches in grade school. I just got so sick of eating pretty much the same thing every day, and at some point, I stopped eating them altogether. I asked my mother to make small bowls of mac & cheese, or I would pack homemade “lunchables” with cheese and crackers just to have something different.
Needless to say, when I make a sandwich, I try to spice it up. I like to add unique spreads and I love to pile on the veggies to give it some color and crunch. I also reach for whole-grain bread because honestly, I think it tastes the best. I’m currently a fan of Dave’s Killer Bread.
So here’s a sandwich I made recently, served with some sliced red bell peppers on the side. Enjoy!
The Turkey Sammie Upgrade
Ingredients:
2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 Tbsp garlic hummus
1 slice provolone cheese
2-3 slices roasted turkey breast
A small handful of arugula
Salt & pepper
Instructions:
Toast up your bread.
Spread the garlic hummus on both slices of bread.
Add the slice of cheese on one side, and the turkey breast on the other.
Top the turkey side with a handful of arugula, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Smash those slices together and enjoy!
Maybe it doesn’t seem it at first, but grains are naturally sweet. The fibers in them can actually create a sweet taste when cooked and broken down, which is the thought process behind this clever oatmeal trick I recently learned.
If you’re making a small bowl of old-fashioned oats at home, I highly recommend heating up your oats in the pot before adding your liquid. Just for a minute or so, until the oatmeal becomes fragrant and almost smells sweet. Then mix in your liquid and proceed as normal (I usually cook mine with 1/2 cup of almond milk and 1/2 cup of water), cook for 3-5 minutes or until the oatmeal becomes soft and thick in texture, then pour into a bowl.
Then, of course, add all the toppings you desire. My go-to’s include pomegranate seeds, almond butter, pecans, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds.
Here are all of the random things that were on my plate this week.
Where I went: Beauty & Essex in the Lower East Side. Get the Tomato Soup Dumplings!
What I ate: Sheet Pan Lemon Chicken with Sweet Potatoes by Half Baked Harvest
What I watched: The Hating Game on Apple TV
What I’m reading: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
What I’m listening to: Futures by Jimmy Eat World