Today's thoughts on fruit and fructose
A lot of press is being given to the impact of fructose. Dr. Lustig's viral video on sugar should be required watching for all humans. Fructose is fruit sugar, so with all the data supporting fructose and insulin resistance, many are taking that message to mean stop eating fruit. Here are some quick thoughts:
1. If we could just eat the skins of the fruit, it would be gold. Very little nutrients (outside of fiber) live in the pulp.
2. The message of 9 servings of fruits/veggies often looks like 7 fruits and 2 veggies for most people. Reversing this is likely optimal.
3. Berries are a good focus fruit-wise.
4. Unfortunately I think the highly eaten fruits have been modified to increase their sweetness and their nutrient density has dropped. Bananas and grapes are at the top of the list. There is fiber to help slow the absorption of fructose, but for those with insulin resistance and obesity they are probably better off minimizing.
5. The fructose in fruit is infinitely better than anything mainlined without fiber/nutrient density like soda/processed foods. There is a slow absorption due to the fiber in the fruit, so its insulin impact is drastically lower.
6. Unfortunately in our society, fruit juice and V8 are truly regarded as fruits. There is no fiber, only fructose.
Eat more veggies!
Contributed by:
Dr. Jeffrey Gladd
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Dr. Jeffrey Gladd graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 2001. He then went on to train in family medicine...
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