Nowadays, there seems to be a big debate about the health benefits of fruit. So what could be bad? As with all things in nature, moderation is key – and too much, or too little consumption of fruit can each pose problems. Weight Watchers (WW) recently proclaimed fruit a “free food,” while Atkins and other “low-carb” diet plans strictly limit fruit intake.
Replacing a slice of apple pie with an apple, saves your about 300 calories – a great idea. However, munching on 4 extra apples a day (that’s about 400 calories), in addition to your daily food intake might be healthy, but can impair your weight loss effort. Even healthy calories count when it comes to weight loss!
And don’t confuse diabetic requirements with those of healthy people. Diabetics need to limit dietary sugars of all types, include that found in fruit, so the balance of fruit and vegetables is different, with some limitation (but not exclusion) of fruit.
The best health advice is to aim for a mixture of at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. But that’s hard for many people. If you’re way below that number, take a small step – and just add one serving a day. When it comes to fruit, some is better than none!
And don’t forget to always eat your fruit and not drink it!. Even 100% juice is lacking many of the natural benefits of fruit, especially the fiber.
What are your thoughts on fruit?
Have you ever tried eating 4 apples a day on a consistent basis? It's hard. I'm going to take an educated guess that no one has ever gained to much weight by eating to many apples.
ReplyDeleteMaybe too much fruit is not a problem for you, but it is for many people - and it comes as a big surprise! Healthy eating and low calorie eating are not always the same thing - you'd be surprised at how much confusion there is over this concept. Don't confuse the reference to extra fruit - using the example of 4 apples - with extra calories from ALL sources of fruit. A large banana, cup of grapes, 4 dried apricot halves, and a pear total up to close to 500 calories. That's about one-third of the TOTAL number of calories (1500) recommended for most people to achieve moderate weight loss. Fruit is the perfect addition to a calorie-controlled diet, but as with all foods, everything in moderation.
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