IS FRUIT SUGAR AS BAD AS REGULAR SUGAR?

These days, it seems that fruit is becoming a casualty of the sugar wars, and wrongly so. With processed foods and junk food crammed with sugar in all its various refined forms, fruit sugar should be the least of your worries.

However, if you avoid refined sugar like the plague and still feel bloated, a few pounds heavier and dependent on that sugar “fix”, it may be worth taking an inventory of your fruit consumption. Here is when and why you should avoid certain fruits and the hierarchy of sugar content.

Fruit is essentially the most perfect and healthiest food on the planet. Fruits are rich in antioxidants, minerals, nutrients, fiber and water. Fruit has been associated with (in 9 studies, no less) a 7 percent reduction in the risk of heart disease and a 46 percent decline in the risk of diabetes.

What people often forget is that fruit sugar comes in a package – with plenty of fiber and bulk to help shepherd it through the body. Fruits are whole foods that, even despite the sugar content, only do great things for your health, skin and body. It would take a lot of whole fruit to provide enough fructose to inflict a sugar bomb effect.

However, when it comes to subtle weight or avoiding yeast infections and bloating, which can both result from candida, it helps to know where you can cut corners, even in the realm of fruit. Any sugar, healthy or not, feeds yeast and will make a difference. Especially for women, who are more prone to a build-up of yeast in the gut. This is also true for those who have gone most of their lives with a less-than-stellar diet or are “food combining” incorrectly. Fruit will ferment in an acidic environment, and if you have a highly acidic diet, you are only exacerbating the situation. Meanwhile, because fruit digests so quickly, if you eat it with or after a meal, its digestion will be slowed down, during which time it will ferment in the gut as it awaits the digestion of previous material.

So if you are concerned about sugar consumption and want to cut back on fruit sugar, check out the below lists. Keep in mind to also consume fruits on an empty stomach and wait 30 minutes before consuming any other foods.

Fruits lowest in sugar

• Lemon
• Lime
• Rhubarb
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Cranberries

Fruits low-medium in sugar

• Strawberries
• Casaba melon
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupes
• Honeydew melons
• Apples
• Guavas
• Apricots
• Grapefruit

Fruits high in sugar

• Plums
• Oranges
• Kiwifruit
• Pears
• Pineapple

Fruits very high in sugar

• Tangerines
• Cherries
• Grapes
• Pomegranates
• Mangoes
• Figs
• Bananas
• Dried fruit