I miss having a waistline and I thought I’d get reacquainted with mine. Let’s not get into the argument about women loving themselves, big body and all. I do love myself. That’s why I need to fit into my Speedos for the summer. But my real motivation is better health!
When you don’t like the number on your bathroom scales, then it’s telling you to go on a diet. The hardest thing about going on a diet is not about portion control – it’s the giving up part that kills you. And the first thing they tell you to give up is sugar – which is probably the most addictive substance that’s still legal!
The good news is that not all sugars were created equal. If you have to choose between a cookie, an apple, and a soft drink, scientists say that apple is not just better but a good choice. Apples have high sugar content, 15 grams in one piece compared to a can of coke at 39 grams. But there’s more to apples than sugar. Fruit, despite its sugar content can bring other benefits to your health.
Good fructose and bad…
Fruits contain a naturally occurring sugar called fructose. Natural, unrefined fructose is generally considered as good sugar as opposed to the refined fructose found in processed food. You can’t eat the fruit and just get the sugar out of it. Aside from sugar, you also get fibre, minerals, vitamins and other compounds needed by your body. In stark contrast is the composition for soft drinks, which is mainly flavoured sugar and water.
According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, cutting out fruit because of its high sugar content is way less beneficial than cutting out soft drink. And it isn’t just a case of choosing the lesser evil when you choose to continue eating fruit and drop the soft drink altogether. Eating fruit is a healthy choice.
But isn’t sugar, in any form, if taken excessively is still dangerous to your health? Well, even if you load up on fruit, you would have to eat an inordinate amount of it for you to be considered on a high sugar diet. When you eat a lot of fruit, you are also taking in a lot of fibre, which helps slow down the absorption of sugar in your system. Fibre also aids digestion.
Fruit may actually help you live longer!
According to Kimber Stanhope, who studies molecular bioscience at the University of California, Davis, studies have shown that those who eat the most fruit are generally the healthiest people with lowered risks in obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Another study, which surveyed almost 190,000 Brits over a span of 24 years, showed that eating fruit lowered the risk of diabetes by up to 28 percent while drinking fruit juice three times a week increases it by 8 percent. That’s because fruit juice has all the sugar but little fibre,
I still need to fit into my speedos, but trust me, I have a better chance at it when I choose fruit over a soft drink. So next time you’re craving for a sugar fix and it’s not a cheat day – you know there’s a healthy and delicious option for you.
Here’s a video that illustrates the benefits of choosing fruit for your sugar fix:
You might also find this post, Sweet Obsession, interesting…
