Fruit is NOT Your Sugar Problem

So often when I share my eating method (a low-fat, high-fruit lifestyle diet) with others, there are several common adverse reactions:

1. gasping horror at how much sugar I’m putting in my body,
2. fear for my perceived lack of protein intake, and
3. deep concern for not eating enough & starving.

I have previously addressed how it is advisable, possible and safe to get adequate protein in a plant-based diet in the articles below:

Can Plant Based Eating Provide Sufficient Protein?

The Myths & Metaphysics of Protein

The Deal with Uricase & the Warning Sign that You Don’t Have Enough

Those who think I under-eat on a low-fat, high-fruit diet are then shocked when I share that I typically eat 6 bananas and a bag of frozen fruit for breakfast. Then they think I’m a pig and say they could never eat THAT much.

However when relying on raw fruit to sustain, fuel and satiate myself, it often takes 6 bananas to feel full in one sitting. (See my daily Food Dairy here.)

What I focus on in this post is reaction #1. So many people have erroneously put fruit in the “bad sugar” category. They say things like:

• I have candida. I can’t eat that much sugar.
• I have to watch my sugar intake. I have hypoglycemia (or diabetes).
• Don’t you know sugar feeds cancer?
• I don’t do well with that much sugar. It makes me feel bad.

While the high-fruit diet can sound extreme at first, once you unpack and disassemble it, the lifestyle makes good, simple, and logical sense.

Fruit does not cause candida, hypoglycemia, cancer or diabetes, so there’s no need to omit fruit to reverse these disorders.

Raw, whole fruit is pure fuel containing glucose and fructose, both of which are simple whole-food carbohydrates. A high-fruit diet fuels the body easily and adequately.

Fat and protein can both be used for fuel, however the conversion of fat and protein to fuel is an energy intensive process. Fat and protein are needed for other good reasons in the body besides fuel.

I have mentally walked through my local grocery store, up and down the aisles, and listed for you below foods that need to be eliminated instead of whole fruit to help reverse candida, hypoglycemia, diabetes and cancer:

• The Many Names of Sugar – read your labels!
• granulated sugar whether it be white, brown, or tan that you would pour from a packet or spoon
• artificial sweetener
• jam and jelly
• honey, agave
• any shelf-stable or bakery breads, buns, rolls, crusts, wraps including vegan or gluten-free
• white (durum semolina) pasta
• white rice and white rice noodles
• all crackers
• all cookies
• ice cream, popsicles and other frozen desserts including sugar-free
• yogurt and frozen yogurt
• flavored oatmeal
• bottled juices
• candy and gum including sugar-free
• alcohol (beer, wine, liquor)
• soda, regular or diet
• flavored waters
• pizza
• rice paper
• most packaged cereals
• syrup
• milk, creamer and cream – especially low-fat and skim
• doughnuts
• ketchup (check for sugar)
• bottled salad dressings (check for sugar)
• pita chips
• bagels and bagel chips
• honey roasted nuts
• pastries
• cupcakes (vegan too)
• pies
• cakes
• waffles
• toaster pastries
• granola bars
• fruit chews & leathers
• any peanut butter besides peanuts & salt as ingredients
• Nutella/Justin’s nut butters (look for added sugar)
• english muffins
• flavored and/or sweetened coffee or tea
• seitan
• oat sticks
• chocolate less than 80% cacao
• sauces like sweet & sour, peanut sauce, teriyaki, Indian curries, pasta sauces (look for added sugar)
• canned fruit especially in syrup
• pretzels

Of course, this is not an exhaustive or perfect list. However you can see the trend of processed fruit, milk sugar (lactose), processed sugar (beet, cane or otherwise) and processed grains. Those who want to throw whole, raw fruit into the “high sugar” avoidance category often eat foods from this list.

These foods are your sugar problem and cause more blood sugar imbalance than raw, whole fruit. Sugar-free foods confuse the body by triggering a sugar reception response which it will seek to fulfill.

Whole, raw fruit comes packaged with the perfect ratio of water content, soluble fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and live enzymes, all which contribute to easy digestion and optimal fueling.

Processed grains and processed fruit are heated (which changes water content and destroys enzymes, vitamins & minerals) and then often fractionated (whole parts are disassembled) which creates an unnatural food that that is more difficult for the body to recognize, digest and from which to extract fuel. Foods with an unnatural ratio of sugar to water and fiber create problematic spikes in blood sugar.

Before writing off whole, raw fruit as a culprit of sugar problems, first let go of the foods in the above list, and possibly the list below. They are all nutritionally inferior to whole, raw, fresh fruit.

Better Choices to replace these foods (in the list above) but are not required for a healthful diet:

• Mary’s Gone Crackers sprouted grain crackers
• Food for Life Ezekiel sprouted grain bread, wraps, english muffins (sold frozen)
• Alvarado Street sprouted grain bread (sold frozen)
• dehydrator gourmet vegan “breads” and “crackers”
• whole brown & wild rice
• whole grains (brown not white)
• buckwheat (this is not wheat)
• quinoa (a seed)
• brown rice noodles or whole wheat pasta (sparingly)
• homemade unsweetened popcorn
• nut flour
• dehydrated fruit with no added sweeteners, preservatives or coloring
• whole/intact grain cereals with no added sugar in the top three ingredients like puffed brown rice, puffed wheat or steel cut oats

Products that have been made vegan or gluten-free are not automatically healthy, like vegan cupcakes or gluten-free cookies. Many vegan and gluten-free foods are still processed junk foods.

Foods that have never had animal products (like nuts) or gluten (like quinoa, brown rice) are smarter vegan and gluten-free choices.

The safe, good, advisable and smart way to eat fueling, cleansing, nourishing food is to eat whole, raw fruit (sweet and non-sweet), whole vegetables (often lightly steamed or raw), tender raw greens, and good healthy whole fats (nuts, seeds, avocado, coconut, olives) in moderation.

An ideal ratio, according to Dr. Douglas Graham, is 80% of daily calories from whole, raw fruit carbohydrates, 10% of daily calories from whole plant protein and 10% of daily calories from whole plant fat. Note that all whole plants contain carbohydrates, fat and protein, albeit in unique proportions.

The most important aspect to eating a high-fruit diet is keeping fats in check so that they don’t interfere with sugar being transported into cells for fuel. Too much fat can cause this process to slow down causing a build up of sugar in the blood which then causes blood sugar spikes and insulin imbalances. HOWEVER, this is a problem with fat, not fruit.

For those who do not feel well eating a lot of fruit, consider that the deep cleansing nature of the food may be kickstarting a detoxification process which can feel horrible. Eating non-sweet fruits, veggies and nuts will not provide adequate fuel for your body. Work to slowly increase your sweet fruit intake to maintain fuel and adequate caloric intake.

Learn how to safely & smartly eat a 80-100%  low-fat, high-fruit diet using the Fruit Til Five method and The Healers Diet.