Where Does Fruit Fit In?
This is a response to Tina Haupert’s article Why You Should Eat More Fruit.
We have been told our entire lives that fruit is good for us. In fact, the US Food Pyramid tells us to consume at least two servings of fruits every day. There is no denying that fruit can be considered to be one of the most healthy and natural foods in existence. There are a whole lot of varieties and they all have different vitamins, minerals and plant phytochemicals that help to benefit health. It is shown that eating whole fruits is the best way to gain the benefits of the vitamins and minerals than through taking supplements that provide them separately.
Ok, let me clarify my statement: “ There is no denying that fruit can be considered to be one of the most healthy and natural foods in existence.” Fruit isn’t really competing against very many players to begin with. We have fruits, vegetables, meat, nuts, grains, and what else…….fats maybe. That sounds like a decent crowd to be in anyway! So yeah, they can be considered natural and healthy.
Here are the concerns. Most Americans are too fat. Also, few people are training for marathons or other activities that allows the consumption of fruit to be instantly used as energy. When I, myself need answers, I have a team of experts I go to who I trust. I know a lot about things, but my specialization deals with helping people find their way to lose fat and regain their health. I asked Patrick Gamboa, MSS the question about people wanting to lose fat and if they should eat fruit. Here was his detailed response:
In general, any food eaten in excess can be stored as fat. That being said, we have not found one clinical study to validate that the body will digest, absorb and assimilate fructose from fruit sugar any differently alone or with other types of carbohydrates. The issue at hand for people wanting to lose fat is how our bodies use fruit sugar.
Our bodies can only absorb monosaccharides (glucose, galactose, or fructose), the single units of sugars and starches. Once absorbed through the small intestines into the portal vein, and then circulated into the bloodstream through the liver as blood glucose, our bodies can put glucose to work in three ways:
- It can burn the glucose immediately for energy if blood glucose levels are not at a stable level of 20 grams blood borne glucose circulating per hour.
- If it is not needed for energy immediately, then it is converted into glycogen in the liver or muscles. The liver has the capacity to store 100 grams of glycogen. The muscles have the capacity to store between 250-400 grams of glycogen, depending on muscle mass and physical condition. Liver glycogen supplies energy for the entire body. Muscle glycogen only supplies energy to muscles.
- If the body has an excess of glucose, and all of the glycogen stores are full, the surplus glucose is converted to fat by the liver and stored as adipose tissue (bodyfat) around the body. If needed, fatty acids can be burned as fuel (BUT the fat cannot be converted back to glucose).
Muscles only have the specific purpose of contraction and have a limited number of enzymes for glycogen synthesis. Muscle only has the necessary enzymes to convert glucose (and nothing else) into glycogen. The liver, however, is able to make glycogen from fructose, lactate, glycerol, alanine, and other three-carbon metabolites. Therefore, fruit sugar will help keep blood sugar levels stable by keeping liver glycogen stores full not muscle glycogen.
Wow! He sure is a smart guy! Is your head spinning? Let me give you a summary of his main points. Fruits have the same digestion ability as other carbohydrates. The concern is this, there is very little the body has to do in order to digest it. It is already very close to its monosaccharide state: fructose. Our bodies turn fructose into glucose in the liver so that it can be used immediately if we are exercising or at least creating enough movement to consume it. If we don’t need it immediately, we can send it to our muscles. If they are already filled with enough, it is then converted to fat to be burned when we needed. Fat in the body is like a super-concentrated source of energy. We should also realize that only the liver can convert fructose to glucose, not the muscles. Therefore, if the liver doesn’t need the fructose, then it will send it to be stored as fat.
Let’s turn to Phil Kaplan who always does a good job explaining things in simple terms.
The ingestion of fruit can result in the same insulin release as stuffing some brownies into your sugar craving mouth. To clarify the picture, yes carbohydrates do break down into sugars, and sugar from the blood, muscles, and liver are used as energy. The major difference between the ingestion of simple sugars and complex carbohydrates is the speed at which simple sugars enter the bloodstream. Complex carbohydrates are made up of chains of simple sugars which allows for gradual release into the bloodstream keeping insulin levels constant and eliminating all the described negative effects of simple sugars.
Insulin’s job is to regulate the amount of sugar in the blood system, meaning, it wants to keep it in normal ranges. If fruit can have the same insulin release as brownies, then we will probably not have enough storage room in our liver or muscles and it then gets stored as fat. Complex carbohydrates do not have this effect, especially when combined with lean proteins. Where do we find complex carbohydrates? We find them in vegetables and whole grains!
If you are a person who is constantly exercising say a dancer with 3% body fat on tour with a hip-hop superstar, you’ll need to consume lots of energy if you don’t you’ll lose your muscle. If you are a person in the middle of a training session for a marathon, then fruit or some sort of simple sugar can be used in order to keep energy levels high and maintain muscle. This is also assuming the runner is at their desired body fat percentage as well. Now that we have eliminated the exceptions, let’s talk about what most of the population needs to hear.
If you are a person who is wanting to lose fat, then eating fruit will not be something you will not want to consume very often. It’s that simple. Is there a compromise? I will try. Foods like bananas, peaches, and grapes are very high in sugar. Try to do more apples, pears, and berries if you must consume them. They are usually less sweet. And for heaven’s sake, eat them with some lean proteins!
Do you have a comment or concern about this topic? Feel free to comment. I’d like to know your thoughts.
Be Better,
Dexter
References
Gamboa, P. (2009, October 31). Fruit and fat storage. Message posted to https://www.issatrainer.com/question_board. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
Kaplan, P. (1997) Transform! The Ultimate Fitness Solution (1st ed.) Florida: Great Atlantic Publishing Group.
