Category: Fruit

Fructose

Evolution has played you relative to fructose.

Primordial man –this is, the human condition for much of the million years we have been around — was faced with frequent periods of starvation. So the body learned to store fat as a natural defense against this likely occurrence. Fructose was a major piece of this mechanism, as it is not metabolized by the body but instead is turned into fat by the liver. For much of human history, that mechanism with fructose in fruit was a good thing — as it protected us from the frequent periods of starvation, i.e., the body would have a reserve of stored fat in order to survive those periods.

Fast forward to today, when in the developed world food is so abundant and easily available, and the obesity rate is through the roof. Now, the fact that fructose isn’t metabolized but turned into fat becomes a significant liability. Here evolution has been stood on its head — what was once a benefit with fructose has become a serious shortcoming.

Sarcopenia

Fruit

I think my enjoyment and pleasure in eating fruit stems from a mild deprivation from my childhood. For some reason, we never seemed to have much variety in my home when I was a child. Oranges, bananas, and apples and that was about it. So now, all the other types of fruit available seem to me a kind of pleasant luxury that I can partake in, even though these other types are actually quite ordinary. Such is one of the gentle ironies in my life.

The thing about fruit is that, while it is comparatively high in sugar, it is also high in fiber, which mitigates the sugar issue to an extent. So a moderate amount of fruit in one’s diet, if one is a typical, non-diabetic individual, is excellent despite the high sugar content.

Carbs Not The Devil

Fruit?

How much fruit do you eat each day?  This was the fruit I ate today:

1 apple with cinnamon sprinkled on each half

1 orange

1 nectarine

1 banana

4 prunes

3 figs

1 small can (Doles) of crushed pineapple

blueberries covering the crushed pineapple

7 large strawberries

slices of cantaloupe

dried cranberries and goji berries sprinkled in a salad

This was a pretty typical kind of day for me fruit wise.  I might have 2 apples instead of 1 or 2 oranges.  But the above is typical for quantity and variety.  How about you?

My Story