Does Sugar Make Fruit Unhealthy?

Good morning!

I know that you probably knew it already, but in case you didn’t… today is national donut day! Yupee! Take this as your guilt free donut pass for the day :)

And while you dip your donut(s) in our morning coffee, or tea, or whatever you choose to start your day with, I wanted to reflect on something that’s really knocked me off of my rocker.

Videos on my feed headlined, “Did you know that fruits are just as bad for you as regular sugar?” are telling people that fruits are one of the causes for being overweight. It’s even gotten to the point where parents are perceiving that fruit is something that they should be concerned about, and even encouraged to restrict in their children's diets on some occasions. Let me tell you, that’s an entire 180º from when I was growing up.

In today’s edition, we’re breaking down why fruit isn’t something to fear (for you or your kids). We’ll look at how it really differs from that donut in your hand and wrap up with some simple advice. Let’s jump in.

Key Takeaways

• Fruit sugar ≠ added sugar. Fiber and nutrients change everything.

• Higher fruit intake is linked to less visceral fat.

• Whole fruit > fruit juice. Keep the fiber, skip the spike.

CORE

Added Sugar vs. Natural Sugar

Everybody knows by now that added sugar (table sugar, dextrose, powdered sugar, high fructose corn syrups, etc.) is detrimental to your health because it is absorbed very quickly. This causes sharp spikes in blood sugar and delivers a total of 0 nutritional value (other than calories).

Now, yes, those are basically the same types of sugars present in fruits. Fruit mainly contains glucose, sucrose and fructose. But if it’s the same stuff, why is fruit any better? 

First reason, nutritional density. This is the ratio between micronutrients and calories in the diet. The problem with added sugar is that calories need micronutrients like magnesium, vitamin C and B vitamins to be metabolized and turned into functional energy (aka ATP).

Processed sugars offer none of those, but fruit does. It’s a great source of many vitamins and minerals, helping to not only deliver energy, but also nourish and help support the rest of the body’s processes.

Then we have fiber… oh boy. Fiber is a critical nutrient that is essential for your microbiome, helps you stay regular, and more importantly, it slows down the absorption of those simple sugars (this means no sugar spike). It’s also what we throw out when we juice fruits, and it’s the nutritional equivalent of ordering a salad and skipping the greens.

Simple sugars begin to be absorbed within minutes of eating them, but an apple? That will take at least 30-60 minutes to start absorbing just because of that fiber. So yeah, same sugars, BIG difference.

The Effect of a Banana on Your Health

In a very appropriately named study titled, “The paradoxical effects of fruit on obesity” we can see that although fruit contains those simple sugars that we associate with obesity, is not only unrelated, but negatively correlated with obesity!

A scientific paper that reviews 22 trials that followed over 12,000 people discovered that higher fruit intake was associated with a healthier body weight and very interestingly, a smaller waist circumference, indicating less visceral fat which is the most dangerous kind. Pretty cool!

Fruit Juice vs. Whole Fruit

Above are 2 different drinks that you have for sure seen while shopping. One label lists nutrition per 100 ml, the other per 240 ml, so to compare them evenly, just divide the one on the right by 2.4. After doing that you will see that the right hand nutrition facts has 45 calories and 10g of total sugars, not too far off from the one on the left, right?

Now for the big reveal, the one on the left is Coca-Cola Original and the right side is Florida's Natural Orange Juice (with no pulp, of course).

Surprised? I was too when I first saw it. The truth is that fruit juice and sugary drinks act almost the same way in your body, with the only real difference being that juice still has a few vitamins and minerals. Once you take away the pulp and the fiber, you’re left with a drink that’s surprisingly unhealthy, even if it tastes great.

And if you’re thinking, what about Coca-Cola with zero sugar? Well that’s a conversation best had after you’ve read our artificial sweetener edition, right here.

My Advice to You

Given that fruit is linked to lower obesity risk, has fewer calories than most sweet options, is packed with nutrients, and helps you stay full while supporting your gut, it’s hard to see any reason to set strict limits on it.

If you like fruit, then feel free to dig into your favorite fruit as much as you want! I personally am a huge fig fan (hater’s going to hate) and I don’t count my figs, same as you shouldn’t count your strawberries, mangos, papayas, bananas, pears, apples, you name it. But with the important caveat that they need to be eaten whole.

ENDNOTE

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, comparing an apple to a donut just doesn’t stack up (even if both taste amazing). Nature designed fruit to fuel you, not fool you. So next time someone tells you to ditch the fruit bowl, hand them a banana and tell them to sign up to the 8%!

Until next week!

Adrian Macdonald | Team Dietitian | The 8% Newsletter Author