Is Sugar From Fruit Bad For You?

When it’s hot out, eating a slice of sweet watermelon can hydrate you, cool you and provide benefits for your body. So why is the sugar from fruit considered healthy, yet other types of sugar not healthy. Even honey, which is natural and far better than refined sugar, can negatively affect your body by increasing inflammation, is high in calories, can lead to insulin resistance, liver and heart disease.

Fruit has more sugar than other types of food.

The sugar in fruit is a mixture of sucrose, glucose and fructose. Sucrose is part fructose and part glucose, which metabolize differently. The glucose is first digested, then absorbed where it goes to the lever, then the bloodstream. Fructose, on the other hand, goes to the liver immediately and is processed there. Natural fructose is good for you, unlike processed fructose, HFCS—high fructose corn syrup. That type of sugar has far higher amounts of fructose than you’d find in fresh fruits and vegetables, which by comparison is minimal. Those high amounts can lead to metabolic disorders. It overloads the liver, which causes the liver to turn it into fat. It’s the amount of fructose that makes the difference and that amount is minimal in fruit.

The fiber in fruit slows the absorption of sugar.

The fiber in fruit slows digestion and, in the process, makes overloading the liver less possible. Fruit contains two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. The soluble fiber becomes a gel-like substance when mixes with water, which slows digestion. It also contains insoluble fiber, which adds bulk, also slowing digestion and preventing an overload of fructose in the liver. While lipogenesis, an overloading of fructose in the liver, can occur with food that has HFCS, it doesn’t occur with fruit.

High water content in fruit makes them more filling.

Since fruit has a high water content, you fill up faster. Therefore, you eat less and ingest less fructose. It’s one reason eating a whole fruit fills you more than eating that same fruit in dehydrated form. Again, you’ll eat less and ingest less fructose in the process. Pineapple, for instance, is 80% water, so when you remove the water, it shrinks in size. In fact, ¼ cup of dried pineapple comes from a full cup of fresh pineapple, which is far more filling. Taking out the water also reduces the water-soluble vitamins like B and C.

• Food with added sugar doesn’t require as much chewing as fruit. That means you can’t eat it as quickly. It provides chewing resistance, so you have to eat it slower and end up eating less. You can’t take big bites and swallow, like you might with sugary man made snacks.
• Not only does fruit contain fructose, it contains vitamins, phytochemicals, minerals and fiber to keep your body healthy. It can lower the risk of obesity and other serious conditions.
• The fiber in fruit doesn’t just slow digestion, it feeds beneficial microbes, helps control blood sugar levels, helps you lose weight and prevents constipation.
• Eating too much fruit isn’t good either, especially if you have a fructose intolerance. It can cause bloating and diarrhea. You should eat the whole fruit, rather than juices, to get the most benefit.

For more information, contact us today at Prime Fitness Studio