Fresh fruits are healthy, nutritious foods that are good sources of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and fiber. Plus, they're instrumental in maintaining a net alkaline-yielding diet. So should you worry about the sugar content in your fruit?
Generally, the answer is no. Fruit contains a good amount of fiber and seeds that lower the glycemic load. As a result, eating whole fruit helps keep blood sugar normalized.
However, it's important to note that the common fruits we eat today have little resemblance to their wild ancestors. Domesticated fruits are almost always larger, sweeter, and contain less fiber than their wild counterparts. Compare a Golden Delicious apple to a crab apple, and you get the idea!
Should I limit fruit if I'm overweight?
Dr. Cordain’s recommendation to eat fresh fruits as your appetite dictates still holds for most people. However, if you are overweight or insulin-resistant, he recommends that you initially limit your consumption of high-sugar fruits, like grapes, bananas, mangos, sweet cherries, apples, pineapples, pears, and kiwis.
If you are overweight, a good rule of thumb is to avoid eating fruits with high sugar content until your weight starts to normalize and your health improves. Instead, try to eat more vegetables.
Note that some fruits, like avocados, lemons, and limes, are very low in total sugar and don't need to be restricted.
What if I'm insulin resistant?
If you're insulin-resistant, eating fructose may be particularly problematic.
Take a look at the table below. It's important to know that in the gut, table sugar (or sucrose) is split into two parts before it enters the bloodstream: fructose and glucose. That's why sucrose’s contribution to the total dietary fructose load must be considered.
Beware of dried fruits!
You'll also want to take note of the high levels of sugar dried fruits contain. As you can see from the table below, you can see they more closely resemble commercial candy than their fresh counterparts.
For example, Zante currents have 70 grams of sugar, while Milk Duds contain only 50 grams!
Most fresh fruits fall way below those numbers, as you can see below.
