I get this question all of the time when doing nutrition consultations.

It goes something like this, I’ll prepare a meal plan for someone to follow and during the review, the client will look in horror and see that there is fruit in the diet.

The usually say something like this: “I can eat fruit? I thought fruit is bad for me because of all the sugar.”

I then say something like this:

“Well, fruit is all sugar.”

They recoil in horror again and say something like:

“Won’t all that sugar make me fat?”

At this point I go on to explain that ALL carbohydrates are forms of sugar.

Again, a look of total horror is on their faces.

I now need to explain further that carbs and sugar are not the enemy. Carbohydrates are an essential part of a balanced diet, and fat loss plan.

Eating the wrong kinds of carbs (sugar) at the wrong time is your enemy, no different than eating the wrong kind of fat.

No!

Fruit is comprised of simple sugar which isn’t a bad thing.

The simple sugars in fruit are good because they are unprocessed, natural sugar.

The simple sugars that people are generally afraid of, and rightfully so, are found in items containing processed sugar. Processed sugar is found in canned fruits, soda, candy, juice and most prepared foods.

Most of these foods contain high-fructose corn syrup, which is terrible for you.

So when we say to eat fruit, we mean real fruit. Apples, oranges, bananas, pomegranates, all kinds of berries and any other kind of fresh, whole fruit that you enjoy. We don’t want you to eat canned or processed fruit. Frozen fruit is fine as long as it is just fruit. Nothing packed in syrup or in “its own juices” is good for you.

Just eat plain old fruit.

Fruit has many other benefits, such as tons if vitamins and minerals, fiber and a high water content. Watermelon, for example, is on outstanding source of vitamin C and lycopene.

Strawberries are another excellent source of vitamin C and manganese. They also contain a ton of antioxidants that prevent free-radical damage to your cells.

Pomegranates are a super fruit that contain high amounts of vitamin C, potassium, ellagic acids and other nutrients to prevent free radical damage.

These are but a few examples of why you should not recoil in horror at the thought of eating all of the sugar in fruit. Fruit is good for you, it tastes great and adds a ton of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that help your body stay healthy.

Add a wide variety of fruit to your diet. It will keep your taste buds happy and help your body to perform at its peak. I’m going to have an apple right now.

 

originally published on totalperformancesports.com  October 5, 2015