I'm just confused right now. While searching for some info i came across an article by Zoe Harcombe in which she says that fruit is actually fuelling the obesity epidemic. Furthermore, she says that fruit is not as nutritious as we've always been told it is. I'm pasting the link to her article:

http://www.zoeharcombe.com/the-knowl...sity-epidemic/

Ever since i've started my weight loss journey, i've added fruit to my diet. i don't eat "5 a day" but i do eat at least one piece of fruit. the thing is, i don't know who or what to trust any more. is fruit bad for health? or is it good? what should one follow or do? There are so many conflicting claims and studies out there. Sighhhhhhh

Fruit is very nutritious. Yes, it is high in natural sugars but unless you are eating a ton of fruit I don't think that matters. A piece of fruit or two a day is, IMO, beneficial. It is certainly better than a candy bar or cookie or whatever we used to eat! There are some low carb plans that skip fruit for awhile, to keep carb levels down, and that is fine too. But if you are not counting carbs I think a piece of fruit a day is fine.

Pretty sure that none of us are here because we ate too much fruit.

No food is bad or good except within the context of everything else you're eating. One piece of fruit a day will not prevent you from losing weight. Eating nothing but fruit or eating large amounts, especially on top of other sugary or starchy foods? Now, that can become a problem.

The problem with fruit arises when someone thinks fruit is so healthy that they can eat unlimited amounts without consequences, especially when fruit replaces all or most leafy greens and other lower calorie vegetables.


Every research study or bit of nutritional science is only one small piece in a humongous puzzle (and there may even be several puzzles for different lifestyles or genetics). No single piece should guide your behavior, especially since that piece may not fit into your personal puzzle.

The information is confusing and conflicting, because you're trying to make sense of the individual puzzle pieces and not seeing how the bigger puzzle or how some of the pieces may fit together.

Doing so is not an easy endeavor because the scientific community doesn't have all the pieces yet. Each conflicting theory is based on different set of puzzle pieces. They all may fit into one humongous puzzle, or several different puzzles. There may be not just several different possible healthy ways to eat depending on lifestyle and genetic factors, there may even be several different healthy ways of eating for each person.

Read some of the books by authors who have strong science medicine backgrounds, especially in nutritional science and then try a diet they recommend and keep notes about your weight and how you feel. After several months, try another. Compare your notes. Which met your goals better? Try another. Eventually, you'll find the puzzle that fits your body and personality best.

For myself, the three books that led me to my best fitting puzzle (so far) are The End of Overeating by David Kessler, Refuse to Regain by Barbara Berkely, and Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes (his book Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It, is supposed to be a less technical book that people without a strong science background may find more enjoyable).

I am. I got fat easily and stayed fat even more easily on foods that people generally say no one ever got fat eating, including fruit. Any calories you can eat in excess of what you need can make you fat, regardless of where those calories come from. I once ate an entire large watermelon in addition to other "very healthy" food. I don't know my calorie intake for that day, but 1300 came from the watermelon.

Some fruit is easier to eat to excess than others, and as a rule tend to be less nutritious and 3-10 times higher in calorie than most veggies. We tend to think of "fruits and vegetables" rather than "vegetables and fruit" because very few people in our culture eat more vegetables than fruit. There are also many more people who eat no vegetables than who eat no fruit.

Fruit is not bad (unless it's all you eat, or your overall diet is otherwise full of sugar and starch, then the fruit may only adding to the calorie fire). Low-calorie vegetables are just usually more nutritious and harder to overeat. Just try to eat 1000 calories of broccoli (only six large apples).

Even vegetables can be "bad" if you're using them to replace other nutrients you need.

Again, you have to look at the big picture, no single piece.

FWIW I lost 228 pounds eating massive amounts of fruits on a daily basis...

Jen

I've heard for years to have your fruits and vegetables but make sure the vegetables outnumber the fruits. I treat fruits like dessert. And I stay away from fruit juices.

Best. Reply. EVER.

I honestly dislike fruit and will only eat certain types (green banana, sometimes strawberries, sometimes apples). I can tell you how I got fat and it wasn't veggies or fruits.

If you dislike fruit, I can see why you did not get fat on it. I did get fat on fruit and starchy vegetables - white potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, legumes, lentils, with some meat and fat.

My absolute favorite and typical meal growing up was veggies like carrots, potatoes, onions, rutabaga, turnip, kohlrabi, parsnips.... roasted or stewed with beef, pork, or chicken and a side salad. The vegetables outnumbered the meat, both in volume and calories on our plates.

I was the only one in my family to have gotten obese as a child on this diet (I'm adopted, so my genetics are different).

Those of us who have gained on a "healthy" diet know how easy it can be. If I had not eaten a great deal of veggies and lower sugar fruits, I imagine my highest weight would have been triple what it was.

I am 100% certain that fruit is not the reason for my obesity. I do not hesitate to include 2-4 servings a day of it in my weight loss plan. Hasn't hindered me yet.

ETA- As Kaplods mentioned, the place for fruit in your diet and amount acceptable vary by individual and by weight loss plan. I would not say you need to skip fruit completely (except perhaps in the early stages of a low carb plan). But if you're eating a ton of fruit and not losing, maybe replace a few of those servings with a lower calorie veggie.

Like most things on the intertubes, take it with a grain of salt. Learn from your own experiences. If fruit makes you gain weight, don't eat it! If it makes you feel great and lose weight, go ahead and eat it. The thing about about a blanket statement like that is that there's always exceptions because all people are different. Find a groove that works for you and get in it!

Fruit can have a lot of sugar and calories in it. At 281lbs I drank a lot of juice!

I stick to raw veggies now and a serving of berries which tend to have less calories among the fruits.

I always add a serving of blueberries to my salad.

I think this is my favorite line of the article. Nevermind that many parents do in fact give their children cola, but they're seriously equating fruit to giving your child beer?

I understand that fruit has both calories and sugar, which should be considered in one's determination on how much to consume. And I understand the argument that we must be wary of nutrition guidelines set by those who stand to gain from your consumption of their product. But does her article not also read like an agenda? She mentions the importance of animal products multiple times. Many would argue that plant based protein is equal or superior to meat, and that the consumption of dairy is just plain unnatural and unnecessary. And we MUST eat butter on our green vegetables? Because the fat in all the meat she's eating isn't enough to aid absorption of those nutrients?

I'm not saying everything that she's saying is wrong. I eat meat and dairy, and FRUIT, with no intentions of cutting any of those items from my diet. I'm just saying you can make an argument against anything. If someone's argument seems like an extreme view, it probably is.

Can't get fat on beer.

I am almost 110lbs down and drink beer most days.