Fruit is a friend not a foe
Posted on 5th January 2024 at 18:14
Are you afraid of eating fruit?
Don’t be! It’s one of the best ways to hydrate, detoxify, be in a great mood, have sharp thinking and even have a good workout. For myself, I’ve always loved fruit but thought I shouldn’t eat too much. The widely spread message that you need to watch out for sugar, including fruit, got to me also. Little did I know that fruit is the most loving, supporting and satisfying food you can eat. And innocent! Yes, innocent. It gets blamed for diabetes, extra pounds, for cravings, when in fact it’s the solution, not the villain. Keep on reading to see why that is and that you can truly enjoy it in abundance.
Fruit is easy to digest
Fruit is made mostly of water and of simple carbohydrates which are easy to digest. It takes only a couple of minutes to digest apples, bananas or oranges. This means that it delivers instant energy to your muscles and to your brain. It’s the perfect food when you need to focus on work solving a problem, study for an exam or solve a sudoku puzzle. Our brain uses up about 25% of total calories we consume and fruit delivers them very efficiently. For this reason fruit is a fabulous fuel to fight fatigue and to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles.
Fruit heals
Since fruit is so easy to digest, your body needs to expend very little energy on digesting a bowl of grapes compared to a bowl of oatmeal for example. (That’s why some people may feel an energy dip after having a cooked meal, even though it’s made of healthy complex carbohydrates) As a result you can use all that conserved energy for detoxification and healing.
Ripe fruits like bananas, melons, mangos, pears are like a feather which gently touches the digestive tract and delivers comfort and soothing to an often irritated gut lining.
Also since fruit contains anywhere between 75 % (banana) to 95% (watermelon, cucumber) water, it profoundly hydrates your body. I love looking at fruit as the purest way of hydration. Why? Because this water hasn’t been touched by water altering chemicals (unlike tap water) or hasn’t been exposed to plastic, like bottled water.
Water in fruit is created during the process of growth and is drawn from the soil by a tiny seed, which was exposed to the sun, rain and wind. This water is mixed in together with fibre, phytochemicals, antioxidants and other nutrients, all nicely packed into a whole fruit.
Fruit is fast
Fruit is the ultimate fast food nature intended us to have. Think about it. Is there anything easier than peeling a banana or biting into an apple?
In seconds you can deliver to every cell in your body a huge amount of energy needed to thrive. So, instead of having a cup of coffee, the next time you feel droopy in the mid-afternoon, the best thing to do is enjoy a large bowl of grapes or couple of apples.
Fruit is satisfying
With it’s natural sweetness, eating fruit is the perfect way to satisfy cravings.
It is the ultimate food to lead you out of the refined sugar trap. With it’s high fibre, water and nutrient content it satisfies hunger, delivers nutrients, tackles fatigue and hydrates you at the same time. It essentially tackles a few reasons for sweet cravings at the same time including your biological need for carbohydrates.
The taste buds on the tip of our tongue are for carbohydrates – for the sweet flavour. Today, we’ve got used to satisfying these cravings with bread, crackers, biscuits and chocolates instead of fruit. I dare to say, if you have a craving for sweets, you haven’t eaten enough fruit!
Fruit gives us hope
I know this one sounds a bit strange but fruit makes everything taste delicious. For me personally fruit was a gateway to kale! Really 😊
When I went all in and started eating apples, bananas, grapes, pineapples, mangoes, kiwis, berries etc. I eventually started to make salad dressings from fruit. Mango or pineapple has the power to turn even bitter tasting kale into a delicacy. Bitter tasting greens mixed with fruit (as a smoothie or a salad dressing) will start altering your taste buds. Before you know it, you’ll start craving the very same foods. Even your greens!
Before you fruitify, keep in mind…
Fruit really is magical. It’s not a cause of a disease, it brings us healing, joy and satisfaction. However, if you are new to this idea, there are a few points to keep in mind to get all the benefits and avoid bumps on the road.
At first, eat fruit on its own – This way you’ll avoid potential fermentation and gas. First start by making a delicious smoothie bowl or a fruit packed smoothie. Later, experiment with adding acidic fruits like oranges, tangerines and pineapple to your greens as these digest well together.
Eat fruit without added fat – fat interferes with the work of insulin, the hormone which gets the sugar from your blood into your cells. When you add a tablespoon of peanut butter (fat) to your smoothies, you can feel shaky afterwards. It’s because that fat is makes insulin less effective allowing sugar from fruit to circulate in your blood for too longcan feel shaky afterwards. It’s because that fat is makes insulin less effective allowing sugar from fruit to circulate in your blood for too longinstead of getting into your cells. This process can lead to insulin resistance and eventually also to weight gain. Mixing fat and fruit can also give you gas and bloating because both are digested at different speeds. The best way around this is enjoying fruit on its own and keeping nut butters, seeds and nuts for salad dressings to eat with your greens.
Follow a low fat diet overall – as mentioned above, if you have too much fat in your diet (more than 20% of your total daily calories) you are likely to be insulin resistant. This means your body needs to produce too much insulin to clear the sugar from fruit from the blood and send it to your cells. This condition in itself is a risk factor for diabetes. That’s why, start reducing the overall amount of fat in your diet WHILE increasing fruit to give your body a chance to adjust.
Eat enough – if you are making a fruit-based meal – 2 bananas aren’t going to be enough. It takes at least 4 – 5 or even 6 pieces of fruit (depending on your activity level and hunger) to make yourself satiated at breakfast or lunch.
That’s it. These are the main things to watch out for while transitioning to a fruit rich diet effortlessly. And I really hope that you feel motivated now to include more fruit than you have been. Start slow and low and build yourself up. Start with a fruity snack then try a fruit-based breakfast here and there and see how you feel.
Every bite is worth it. Your body wants it, your body needs it and your mind knows it. 😊
Enjoy eating fruit in abundance and you won’t look back.
Cheers to a fruity life!
Lenka
Do you need help putting out the fire so your body doesn’t hurt any more and you become your younger and joyful self?
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