Fruit: a healthy source of sugar
The New York Times (8/1, Egan,) “Well” blog reports that according to experts, “fresh fruit should not become a casualty in the sugar wars.” In a perspective piece published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “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” of it is consumed. Ludwig also “cited observational studies that showed that increased fruit consumption is tied to lower body weight and a lower risk of” diseases associated with obesity. In addition, fruit contains beneficial fiber.
Blogfinger Medical Commentary By Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC
Paul Goldfinger MD presents a lecture on nutritional aspects of cardiovascular prevention at THE HUB, the CMA bookstore where our prevention books are sold. Jane Killilea photo August 5, 2013
The Atkins diet was successful for weight loss in the past because it reduced dietary carbohydrates. But that diet encouraged increased intake of red meats and fats, so it is not an ideal way to lose weight and prevent heart disease. As noted recently on BF, a Mediterranean diet is the best dietary choice based on new studies that looked at preventing cardiovascular diseases. ( Link to Mediterranean diet post ) But if you reduce fats and carbs, what do you eat? In this post we address the carb story.
Increased dietary carbohydrates promote increased sugar levels in the blood, and that causes insulin disturbances, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. The Mediterranean diet advocates increased fresh fruits which contain fructose which the body converts into glucose. Some skeptics say that “sugar is sugar” and they don’t see the advantage of preferring fruit to using table sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
But the fact is that an apple is better than a sugared soda with the same number of carbohydrate grams. The reason is that fructose in fruit is encapsulated by fiber and thus, when you eat an apple, the fructose is absorbed slowly and released slowly into the blood stream, thus avoiding sugar surges and high insulin levels in the blood.
Refined sugars, such are found in soda and sugared cereals, get absorbed into the blood very quickly. Taking fresh fruit is a much better source of sugar than refined sugars because it does not promote obesity or diabetes and it contains other nutrients such as vitamins, fiber and other protective substances.
Eating an orange is better than drinking filtered orange juice because of the fiber. Fresh fruit is better than eating dried fruits, especially sweetened dried fruits because there are more calories. Fruit juice is the least beneficial source of dietary fructose from fruits.
As for mimicking a piece of fruit by adding Metamucil (fiber) to a soda, Dr Ludwig says, ““You can’t just take an 8-ounce glass of cola and add a serving of Metamucil and create a health food.” Dr. Ludwig said, “Even though the fructose-to-fiber ratio might be the same as an apple, the biological effects would be much different.”
Prevention Does Work books for sale at the HUB. Jane Killilea photo.