Monday, October 3, 2016

Fruit Eating

I do not always find myself in agreement with the postings of Frederik Patenaude, and when I do, some of his comments may not be in accord with my own personal beliefs. And of course this is to be expected, and bearing this in mind, I am posting the following article by Frederic.


ENDING THE FEAR OF FRUIT

MONDAY OCT 3, 2016 | BY  | 
|No Comments
Woman Comparing Unhealthy Donut And Orange Fruit
Even though fruit has universally been a symbol of healthy eating, many health theories now vilify it.
“Don’t eat too much fruit!”
“Fruit is fine as long as you stick to apples, grapefruit, berries and other fruits with a lower sugar content.”
This way of thinking started with the dangerous low-carb diet, which would like you to believe that eating slabs of butter on top of grilled meat is healthier than eating the natural “sugar” in fruit.
The unscientific anti-fruit trend has also been picked up by some raw food advocates, many of which go to the extreme of saying that eating lots of sweet fruit is unnatural and unhealthy.
Even the Hippocrates Health Institute launched a fear campaign on eating fruit, claiming that fruit eating is responsible for the common health problems experienced by the majority of raw foodists.
So let’s take a look at the most common statements made about fruit, and bust them once and for all.

1- Eating too much fruit will cause blood sugar problems.

Many people think that whenever they eat a lot of sweet fruit, their blood sugar “goes out of wack.” Their interpretation of what is happening to them is often “getting sudden energy, followed by a blood sugar crash.”
In other words, they compare their body’s response to eating fruit to response to stimulants such as alcohol or caffeine: a sudden stimulation followed by a depressed, “recovery” state.
In reality, in a healthy individual, blood sugar will remain stable even if he or she eats a lot of fruit. I have tested this using a blood sugar monitoring device, and I found that it didn’t matter how many bananas I ate, my blood sugar remained normal throughout the day.
Even when I eat more than ten bananas in a day (which I regularly do), my blood sugar stays normal.
Steve Pavlina, a personal development author, did a 30-day trial of a 100%, low-fat, fruit-based raw food diet. During these 30 days, he recorded every single meal he ate. He also monitored his blood sugar, weight, blood pressure and other health stats. Here’s what he has to say about the effects of eating fruit on his blood sugar:
I monitored my blood sugar using a blood sugar testing device; the same kind diabetics may use. It showed no discernible spikes in blood sugar throughout the trial whatsoever — absolutely none. In fact, my blood sugar remained incredibly steady throughout the trial. My highest blood sugar reading of the trial was 94, which is still medium-low. All that sweet fruit in my diet simply did not have any adverse effect on my blood sugar.
Eating this way gave my blood sugar more consistency than ever. I couldn’t spike my blood sugar on this diet if I tried. Even eating 19 bananas in one day made no difference.
The reason that whole fruit does not spike blood sugar in the same way that refined sugar does is that it contains fiber. In addition to fiber, the natural sugars in fruit are in the form of fructose, sucrose, and glucose. Your body will absorb each type sugar at a different speed. Because the various sugars are combined with fiber, even the highest-sugar fruit will release its sugar very slowly.
It’s still possible for some people to experience an adverse reaction from eating sweet fruit. In this case, it’s not the fruit that’s to blame in this case, but their overall diet, which is too high in fat. Dr. Neal Barnard explains the situation in his book “Breaking the Food Seduction.”
“It may surprise you to know that you can actually change your body’s response to any food so that you are better able to handle whatever sugars it might contain. (…)
Marjorie was one of our research volunteers. In a laboratory test, we asked her to drink a syrup containing 75 grams of pure sugar. Taking blood samples over the next two hours, we saw what happened to her blood sugar. (…) It peaked at about thirty minutes, then quickly cascaded downward. That’s a pretty typical pattern. If your blood sugar falls too precipitously, you may be set up for another binge, which is your body’s way of bringing your blood sugar back up again.
Here’s the problem: insulin is the hormone that escorts sugar from your blood stream into the cells of the body. It is like a doorman who turns the knob on the door to each cell, helps sugar go inside, and then closes the door. (…)
But everything changes when you eat fatty foods, or when you gain a significant amount of weight. Insulin can’t work in an oil slick. When there is too much fat in the bloodstream, insulin’s hand slips on the knob. Unable to open the door to the cells, insulin lets sugar build up in the blood. Your body responds by making more and more insulin and eventually it will get the sugar into the cells.
(…) Cutting fat from your meals improves what is called insulin sensitivity, meaning that insulin efficiently escorts sugar into the cells of the body. (…)
With our guidance, Marjorie adjusted her diet to scrupulously cut fat and boost fiber. A few weeks later we repeated the test. She again drank exactly the same sugar solution, but the changes in her blood sugar were very different. Because the low-fat diet had tuned up her insulin, the blood sugar was more muted, the peak was lower, and the fall was gentler than before. (…) In our clinical studies, we have found that simple diet changes alone boost insulin sensitivity by an average of 24 percent, and it can increase even more if you also exercise.”

2- When eating bananas, you risk a potassium “overdose.”

It’s important to make the difference between artificial, supplemental potassium (K), and the naturally occurring potassium in fruits. The FDA does not allow a supplement to contain more than 99 mg. of potassium. But three bananas contain up to 1,200 mg of natural potassium, which will not cause any negative symptoms.
There’s no point to fear any potassium “overdose” even when eating a fair number of bananas.
Research done on wild monkeys showed that they eat over 6500 milligrams of potassium per day. It would take you over 15 bananas to eat as much potassium as they do.
The current RDAs for potassium are to get a minimum of 4500 mg. a day. Less than 2% of Americans even get the recommended minimum adequate intake of 4,700 a day.
Even eating ten bananas provides slightly LESS than this RDA!
bananas-rda
I light of this; I do not understand the fear of potassium in bananas.
In reality, bananas don’t even make the top 50 sources of foods highest in potassium. The idea that bananas are one of the richest sources of potassium is an urban legend.

3- Fruit sugar feeds cancer.

The theory tossed around by some health authors is that since cancer cells feed on sugar, cancer patients should avoid fruit to make sure those cells don’t grow out of control.
However, the overwhelming evidence finds fruit eating associated with a reduced incidence of cancer. The American Cancer Society also recommends increasing fruit consumption.
Eating fruit doesn’t “feed” cancer more than it causes it. There’s not a single scientific study that has linked sweet fruit consumption to an increased incidence or growth of cancer.
All that the research might suggest is that eating glucose and fructose in the form of refined sugar or high-fructose syrup is unhealthy and could even contribute to cancer growth. This has nothing to do with eating fruit.

4 — Today’s fruits are too hybridized and contain too much sugar.

We often hear the claim that “modern” fruit contains too much sugar, as opposed to the low-sugar wild fruits.The critics of fruit tend to view the cultivars and varieties that are available today as “unnatural.” Their claim is that the artificial hybridization of fruit creates an inferior product that is too high in sugar and too low in minerals.
It’s entirely possible that on average, cultivated fruits contain more sugar than wild fruits.
As we moved away from a hunter-gatherer type of lifestyle to a more agricultural one, we have selected the varieties that we preferred. Many wild fruits, left on their own, didn’t evolve with the qualities that we naturally seek (such as sweetness).
However, not to say that all wild fruit is sour and low in sugar. I have tasted various types of completely unknown fruits in my travels. Many of them were quite sweet and tasty. For example, in Brazil, I tried at least five different fruits that I had never seen before — all of which grew 100% wild. The sweetness was comparable to a sweet white peach.
But even if it were true that commercial fruits contain more sugar than wild ones, the real question is: does it contain too much?
One author points out that “hybridized” fruit acts like processed sugar in the body. This author does not explain how but says that over-consumption of such fruits can lead to dehydration and a slightly diabetic situation.
All of the symptoms that many people blame on hybridized, sweet fruit are clearly attributable to the very high-fat diet that is so common in the raw food world.
As for the issue of hybridization, I find it funny that many of these authors would like us to stop eating “hybridized” bananas, carrots and grapes while recommending avocados, sweet potatoes, and kale — all of which are equally hybridized.
The truth is that almost every commonly available fruit OR vegetable is unrecognizable from its wild counterpart.
A complete return to the wild would mean eating bitter celery, ridiculously sour oranges and mushy and tasteless watermelon. You would have to forgo eating almonds, avocados, and practically any other food on your table!

5 — Tropical fruits are too high on the glycemic index

Another strange recommendation is to avoid certain fruits because they are too high on the glycemic index. The culprits are the high-sugar, tropic fruits such as bananas and mangoes.
What is the glycemic index? It’s a table which describes the average response in blood sugar after the ingestion of a fixed portion of carbohydrate.
Now how is this average created? By averaging the data collected by a certain number of human subjects.
Therefore, this index is unreliable because the blood sugar response to food eaten will vary tremendously from one individual to the next, and even from day to day.
Many factors will influence your blood sugar response from any particular food, including general fitness levels, physical activity on any given day, insulin sensitivity, age, body fat levels, and more.
By the way, even on this index, almost every fruit is listed as “low” to “moderate” on the index.

6 — Fruit Causes Dental Decay

It’s legitimate to worry about the possible effects of a diet high in sweet fruit on your dental health. To answer this question, we have to first understand the cause of dental decay: a proliferation of certain types of bacteria in the oral environment. As we know, these bacteria will feed on carbohydrates and produce acid by-products, which will eat into the enamel, causing decay.
In a healthy individual, sweet fresh fruits such as oranges, bananas and peaches will not cause decay because of the fiber and water in the fruit, which will naturally cleanse the teeth. On the other hand, dried fruits and nuts can be a disaster on the teeth because they tend to form a sticky paste that is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
But if someone a history of dental problems (even just one cavity), there can be potential dangers to introducing greater quantities of carbohydrates in the diet.
The solution is obviously to deal with the problem at its root by stopping the proliferation of the bacteria. To know more about this, please consult my eBook “How to Heal and Prevent Dental Disasters,” available here.
If you pay attention to some simple dental hygiene rules, the consumption of fresh fruit will not result in dental decay, as long as you avoid dried fruits such as figs and dates or immediately brush your teeth after eating them.
As for the acidity in fruit and its effects on the enamel, I have a few tips:
Only eat acid fruits once a day, and not every day. Acidic fruits include oranges, grapefruits, kiwis, and pineapples.
If you eat more than one fruit meal per day, make one of those meal of fruit with little or no acidity, such as bananas, figs or persimmons.
Rinse your mouth with water after eating acidic fruits.

7 — Eating only fruits will lead to dangerous deficiencies

If you were to eat fruit only, and stay within the guidelines of a low-fat diet, you would not develop any deficiencies as long as you consumed enough to meet your caloric needs. You could maintain this diet for months or years and stay in perfect health during that time.
Fruits don’t contain any vitamin B12 and vitamin D, so you would have to include those as supplements. The body can produce vitamin D through sun exposure, but most people don’t get enough that way — and there are some drawbacks to spending too much time in the sun.
It is possible that a complete fruitarian diet will lack minerals that are more abundant in vegetables. But very few people follow a pure fruitarian diet. Most will include vegetables, nuts, seeds, and some cooked foods.
But what about the sugar in fruit?
The thinking is that because sweet fruit contains simple sugars those sugars should be limited in the same way we should limit refined sugar.
First of all, most of the diseases that people associate with sugar consumption are caused or exacerbated by a high-fat diet. For example, conditions such as candida, hypoglycemia and diabetes would not occur if on a low-fat diet, even if your diet contained some refined sugar.
Secondly, the natural sugar found in fruit is not exactly comparable to the refined sugar found in a cake. It’s in a form that’s readily digestible, but also comes in a complete package which includes water, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and more.
Finally, you might be wondering “how much fruit sugar is too much?”
The answer to this question is simple: it depends on how many calories you need.
20 bananas a day might sound like too much for an inactive person — and indeed it is. But to a trained athlete burning 5000 calories a day, 20 bananas only represents 40% of their caloric needs!
If you fill up on fruit on top of eating a standard diet, you might be eating “too much fruit” because you are consuming too many calories. The solution to this would not be to cut down on fruit, but rather to eat the fruit first, so you are less hungry and less likely to eat other foods, which are fattening and less healthy.
Another concern is the amount of fructose in fruit.
In a recent article published in the New York Times entitled “Making the Case for Eating Fruit,” some recent research on fruit eating is quoted. From the article:
Dr. David Ludwig, the director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital, said that sugar consumed in fruit is not linked to any adverse health effects, no matter how much you eat. In a recent perspective piece in The Journal of the American Medical Association, he cited observational studies that showed that increased fruit consumption is tied to lower body weight and a lower risk of obesity-associated diseases.
Fiber provides “its greatest benefit when the cell walls that contain it remain intact,” he said. Sugars are effectively sequestered in the fruit’s cells, he explained, and it takes time for the digestive tract to break down those cells. The sugars therefore enter the bloodstream slowly, giving the liver more time to metabolize them. Four apples may contain the same amount of sugar as 24 ounces of soda, but the slow rate of absorption minimizes any surge in blood sugar. Repeated surges in blood sugar make the pancreas work harder and can contribute to insulin resistance, thereby increasing the risk for Type 2 diabetes.
“If we take a nutrient-centric approach, just looking at sugar grams on the label, none of this is evident,” Dr. Ludwig said. “So it really requires a whole foods view.”
Fruit can also help keep us from overeating, Dr. Ludwig said, by making us feel fuller.
Another nutrition expert, Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, who has called sugar “toxic” at high doses and fructose the most “actionable” problem in our diet, is still a fan of fruit. “As far as I’m concerned, fiber is the reason to eat fruit,” since it promotes satiety and the slow release of sugar. He adds a third benefit from fiber: it changes our “intestinal flora,” or microbiome, by helping different species of healthy bacteria thrive.

The Fiber in Fruit

I wholeheartedly agree with the conclusions from the NYT article on fruit. Fruit sugar is NOT like white sugar or refined fructose because it is bound with fiber. Not only that, but fresh fruit contains many types of sugar (fructose, sucrose, etc.) and two types of fiber (soluble and insoluble). This combination is the reason why fruit sugar is absorbed slowly and doesn’t cause a “rush of sugar to the brain.” In addition to fiber, fruit contains many micronutrients — vitamins and minerals — but also phytochemicals (plant chemicals that may fight disease).
Let’s take a look to see how many grams of fiber you get from 100 calories of various foods:
Mango 3 g
Apple 4.65 g
Pear 5.31 g
Blueberries 4.21 g
Banana 2.95 g
Dates 0.86 g
Grapes 1 g
Watermelon 1.29 g
Oranges 4.49 g
Bread, Whole Wheat 2.74 g
Bread, White 0.90 g
Avocado 4.08 g
Spinach 10.15 g
Chickpeas 3.71 g
Spaghetti 1.13 g
Chicken, Beef, Eggs, and Animal Foods 0 g
Olive oil: 0 g
Fruit compares favorably with whole grains and beans when it comes to fiber. Although vegetables do contain more fiber per calorie, we also tend to eat smaller amounts (when measured in calories).

The Advantages of Eating a Fruit Based Diet

You have to get the bulk of your calories somewhere. Health-minded vegans will fill up on starch, such as potatoes, whole grains, and beans — for those calories.
Low-carbers, such as those going along the lines of a “Paleo” eating pattern will get most of their calories from high-fat foods, such as avocados, olive oil, etc. The lean proteins they consume are not a significant source of calories. Finally, most people eat in a pattern where they get half of their calories from fat and half from carbohydrates (with protein providing only 15% of total calories).
Viewed in this way, getting most of your calories from fruit is not that controversial. You will still consume other foods that provide a balance of nutrients — but the bulk of your calories will come from fruit.
This way of eating can provide several advantages.
  • Fruit is easier to digest than starch, and therefore your energy levels will be higher. After a meal of fruit, you will not feel tired and drowsy, as you could with a meal of cooked starches. Your mental clarity will improve.
  • Fruit can be enjoyed without condiments, and without salt. On a fruit-based diet, your sodium intake for the day will be much lower, reducing your blood pressure and improving your health.
  • Fruit is easy to prepare, reducing the time necessary for food prep and cleanup. You’ll have more time to enjoy your day.
  • Your body will produce less mucus. For some reason, fruit doesn’t seem to be mucogenic. Your sinus passages will open up, and you’ll be able to breathe better.
  • Fruits don’t require cooking. Therefore you will save on electricity. Blending only takes a few seconds and hardly any energy use.
  • Fruits are free of carcinogens. New molecules are produced through Maillard reactions while cooking carbohydrates, and more so animal proteins. These new compounds are not necessarily carcinogenic, but some research suggests that they could be. In any case, on a fruit based diet, you’ll experience less body odor, which could due to the lower concentration of Maillard molecules in the body.
  • A fruit based diet is easy to follow while traveling, as long as you avoid restaurants. You can find bananas practically everywhere.
  • Many people find an improvement in endurance and stamina on a fruit-based diet. For this reason, many athletes follow this diet.
  • Your anti-oxidant intake will be higher. Fruits are more nutrient-dense, by calorie or volume than any other food besides non-starchy vegetables.
Most people I have known on a fruit based diet are very lean. Some people prone to weight gain can still fail to lose weight or even gain weight on a fruit-based diet, just like they would eating any other meal plan. They will have to exercise more and watch their caloric intake, even from fruits.

The Drawbacks of a Fruit-Based Diet

The primary problem with this diet is that it’s difficult to follow and requires an enormous level commitment. Social activities may become difficult unless you organize your entire life around the diet. However, those are issues for people trying to follow it 100% and can be solved by not going all the way and include a percentage of cooked foods in your diet. One way some people get around this issue is to eat only fruit until dinner, at which point you could eat other foods.
In my experience, though, the more fruit you eat, the more sensitive your body becomes to other foods. You can get extremely sick when “cheating” on seemingly harmless foods, as Steve Pavlina found out when eating a streak of 30 days on a fruit-based, all raw diet. But my observation is that this is more a problem if you eat all-raw for weeks at a time. If you follow a program where you regularly eat some cooked foods, you will not experience this reaction. We could explain this bizarre problem by the fact that fruit is so easy to digest that the body “unlearns” to digest other foods.
Dental problems can be an issue for many because of the acidity and sugar in fruit. Those issues can be resolved by keeping acidic fruit intake to a minimum, regularly brushing and flossing, and using fluoride-containing toothpaste and mouthwash.
Finally, a fruit-based diet is more expensive than a starch-based diet. Choosing a cheaper staple, like bananas, can reduce costs.

Living on Fruit Exclusively?

In my years of exploring the raw food diet, I have met a few individuals who have lived on fruit only for years on end. They may consume some green vegetables occasionally, but don’t make a point of doing it, so their vegetable consumption is negligible.

No comments: