Unfortunately, fruit is the one area many people avoid to venture into. After all, fruit is nature’s candy. Who the Hell has something negative to say about fruit? That’s like saying Santa Clause is evil! At least let me make my case about fruit before I get destroyed by everyone in the Paleo community!
Key Points
- By no means is fruit as bad as any processed carbohydrate
- Most fruits today have been genetically modified to grow bigger, sweeter and pit/seedless
- In most areas around the world, fruit was only seasonal, not available all year
- Wild fruit is usually more bitter/sour and with thicker skin
- There is little nutrition in fruit, it’s mostly made up of sugar and water (with some fiber)
- The vitamins and minerals found in fruit can be found in other sources without the sugar
- Fruit isn’t the devil, but it certainly isn’t nutritionally dense
Fruit – The Bitter Truth
My favorite fruits are berries. I like pineapple, grapefruit, melons and mango. Unfortunately,
they’re called natures candy and they’re just that. Now I’m not saying fruit is the cause of the obesity epidemic. I’m not even saying fruit is bad. My main point is that it isn’t as hyped up as many people make it out to be. If you look at the nutritional value of most fruits and compare it to other foods, fruit squares very low. Fruit is full of sugar and a lot of water. There might be some other vitamins and minerals here and there, but compare that to other foods and you’ll see a huge difference.
Meat in general is full of vitamins and minerals, minus the fructose. Fructose is similar to lactose (milk sugar). Only the liver can process fructose. In large quantities, fructose can overload the liver causing a number of problems. Fructose intolerance is actually similar and just as popular as lactose intolerance.
Why Eat Fruit
Is fruit really worth it? Do the positives out weigh the negatives? This video below is by organic chemist Matt Lalonde. Using a simple formula, he is able to calculate the nutritional density of a lot of foods. Surprisingly, fruit scores low!
Fruit Fun in 2013
If you like your apples and oranges, just remember, they don’t replace a real meal. Long long ago, fruits weren’t as readily available to the population as they are now. Early fruit was usually smaller with thick skin and tasted either bitter or sour. Not to mention all the seeds still intact. In the winter, there is no fruit. Fruit was only available a few months out of the year in most places.
Fruit isn’t the devil, but it certainly isn’t the health food everyone has been raving about. Fruit is natures candy and nothing more!
isaac says
I feel anything nature provides should be pretty good for you. I like the paleo diet myself for its emphesis on organics and staying away from preservatives and whatnot.
Amir Aribokill says
Hey Issac, I agree. Although, just because something is found in nature, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Many plants and various animals are poisonous. Honey for example is pretty much the same thing as high fructose corn syrup and fruits seem to have very low nutritional value. Some preservatives have been tested to be safe as well, so I feel it’s important to check the science, rather than consistent observations.