Healthy Eating Means Eat Fruit, Right?

On many health charts or diagrams, fruits and vegetables are often used to show “good health” while meats and starches are used for “bad health”. (See highlighted paragraph for simplified answer.)

Fig. 1 Four Healthy Foods to Never Eat. Image from www.healthandfitnessnow.info.

Fig. 2 Healthy-Foods. Image from www.goeshealth.com.

Fig. 3 Healthy Foods for Healthy Skin. Image from www.thenewyoulifestyle.com.

So, according to these pictures, if the majority of my diet is fruit, that makes me healthy. The first picture shows a bunch of home-made fruit juices, as if they are healthy drinks, better than soda or even water? The second picture shows a woman trying to pick which foods to eat. Notice that one dish is a pie covered in fruit while on the "healthy" side, there is just a plate full of fruit? The last picture is the most frustrating for me to look at because it seems as if the only thing this damn girl eats is fruits and she's skinny like a model with a measuring tape over her belly and smiling like a little devil. So if I only eat fruit, I'll have a body like that?

In my eyes, fruit only brings three good things, two of them being completely situational. The best benefit to fruit is that the citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, grapes) all provide antioxidants which boosts our immune system. The second benefit, which is completely situational, is the use I had for fruit sugars and honey sugars while doing sports – a little bit before a workout to fill the body’s fast-acting energy reserves for burst sprinting and a little bit after a workout to refill those reserves of quick-energy (sugar). The third benefit, and not as necessary since we have supplements now, is for Vitamin C which is Ascorbic acid that helps repair tissues in the body.

Well, there are some benefits to fruit, so why is it bad?

Whole fruit is not bad. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), children should have one cup of fruit a day, and adults should have 2 cups of fruit a day. This is a very small amount. This ensures you get all the benefits from fruit without the harms of fruit.

So tell me what these harms are already!

Although the sugar in fruits is natural and better for you than white sugar, it is still sugar. Most fruits (varies between them) are 40-55% fructose (Dubost Joy, nutritionist, YouBeauty.com). That means about half of that apple you are eating is sugar, and just about the entire other half is water. Fruit juices are so over processed that you miss out on the big vitamin benefits from eating fruit and the sugar is much more concentrated! Some “healthy” orange juices have as much sugar as an equal serving of ginger ale! Even raisins can do as much damage as an equal serving of jelly beans (Reinagel Monica, Nutrition Diva, 2010).

 

Don’t make the same mistake I did by drinking an entire liter bottle of fruit juice every two days thinking that you’re getting tons of healthy vitamins and minerals. After learning that those excessive amounts of fruit juice can cause Type 2 Diabetes, I stopped immediately.

So the “real deal” with fruit is eat about two cups of whole fruit a day. If you really like fruit, have three or four cups of it, but do not eat half a diet or pound down gallons of fruit juice thinking that it will make you healthy. Have a controlled amount and enjoy it! Have a little extra on your cheat days, but just be wary of how it is affecting your body.

That’s all everyone! Remember, you can do whatever the hell you want! I am just here to educate you with what I learn about healthier life styles! Fruit is very healthy in small portions!

Blog Question:

Have you ever eaten massive quantities of a food thinking it was good for you and then finding out it is not healthy in that quantity at all?

Links about fruits:
Vitamin C
Is Fruit Good For You?
What CDC has to say about it!
Sugar while Working Out
Fruit Sugar Contents vs. White Sugar