Are you afraid of fruit? Are you wondering if too much fruit is bad for you?

In my years of being alive, which incidentally is not that many (I’m 27), I have spent approximately 7 years being afraid of fruit, I limited it like no other and it sucked.

I don’t want you to spend one more minute being afraid to eat fruit. I want you to eat fruit in abundance. I don’t want you to think too much fruit is bad for you. I want you, my friend, to reap the health benefits and maybe fall in love with fruit smoothie bowls just like I did. Hopefully, by the end of this, you’re going to be thinking about how you’re gonna stock up on all the fruit.  

An old co-worker of mine once told me she was so strict on her carbohydrate intake that she was afraid to eat ½ a banana. And then she was like wtf is wrong with me. – i’m afraid of bananas? Bananas have to be good for you. And then she realized this anti-carbohydrate diet culture had really gone to her head. 

But I understood her. But for different reasons. I knew some people think too much fruit is bad for you because someone told them fruit makes you fat. I, however, was afraid of fruit because I had been struggling with a candida overgrowth problem for probably around 7 years. 

And candida feeds on sugar they say. And in this case they say all sugar is bad. Even fruit sugars. Even sugars from potatoes, or sweet potatoes. So I cut fruit out for years but it never helped.

I remember my friend’s father once said to me, “i’ll never understand why the media keeps saying fruit is bad for you. There is no way. I do not believe it.” I wish I listened to him back then.  

But finally, after much research, experimentation, and education I understood my friend’s dad. I now love fruit, I eat a ton of fruit and thrive, no longer struggle with candida problems and maintain a healthy body weight. 

All this talk about fruit is actually making me really hungry for a smoothie bowl- a thing I missed out on for 7 years while I thought fruit was bad for you. If you’re missing out on them too- it’s about time you start making them cause they are a life changer. You can get my free guide here if you want to check them out.

And now let me fill you in on everything I know about fruit and sugar. 

Is fruit sugar the same as regular sugar?

Naturally occurring sugar in fruits are good for your body. They come in a nice little package- they have fiber, nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat, minerals, vitamins, water and antioxidants. So when you are eating a piece of fruit not only are you getting to satisfy that sweet tooth but you’re also filling yourself up with a ton of essential and beneficial things for survival. 

Other sugar, like white sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar and cane sugar have been heavily processed to get to this form and been stripped of fiber. Without the fiber the sugar can cause your blood sugar levels to spike up and drop leaving you feeling fatigued.

In addition, refined sugar is linked to inflammation in the body, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and certain types of cancers. 

Some People Live Entirely on Fruit

An interesting thing to note is that fruitarians live on a mostly fruit based diet. And they seem to thrive like no other. I hear they have boundless energy and mental clarity. I actually met a lot of them at Canada Fruit Fest  last year and they definitely were beaming! They are a prime example that too much fruit is not bad for you! Can you imagine the benefits if you just added a little bit more into your day?

I personally like eating a wide variety of cooked and uncooked food so fruitarian is not my thing but I always find myself learning a lot from them. I actually did a podcast with Ted Carr, a 10-year long fruitarian and learned some awesome stuff about the life of a fruitarian and really good tips on digestion, food combining and sugar. It’s here if you want to listen. 

Okay so now that you’re pro fruit, you might be wondering, ‘well what about the other kinds of ‘healthy’ sugar?’

So what type of sugar can I use?

The other types of ‘healthier’ sugars like maple and agave carry very few added benefits. Dr. Micheal Gregor ()  has a pretty good video comparing most of the types of sugar. Not gonna lie, I was pretty devastated when I watched this video and learned that there isn’t much added benefit from maple syrup and coconut sugar. I thought they were super good for you but it turns out they are pretty neutral.

There are sugar-free plant-based sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia  that you can use to sweeten your food. They are much sweeter than sugar but contain no actual sugar. The flavours take a little getting use to so if you’re going to use them be aware of this and use a lot less because they are much sweeter than regular sugar!

You can also use fruit to sweeten your food.  Date paste is a good option and it’s actually so simple to make. My friend has a recipe on it here. It makes your baking so gooey and delicious and works well to add that sweet kick to sauces. Using over-ripe bananas and apple sauce is a good way to add sweetness into your meals too. 

And you don’t have to go totally fruity. I still use maple syrup and coconut sugar from time to time to add some sweetness to my recipes because unlike my fiance who is entirely ‘added sugar-free’ I still like my matcha lattes, plant-based treats and chocolate from time to time!

Okay so fruit juice is a OK? 

 No. Especially not the fruit juice you find in grocery stores and markets. These fruit juices are usually loaded with added refined sugars. 

As for fresh-pressed juice. It’s kind of stripped of the fiber which helps your body maintain stable blood sugar. So when you buy/make a pressed juice opt for one that’s more veggie-based than fruit. Or better yet, just eat the fruit whole, don’t juice it!  Think about it- would you eat 8 oranges in a sitting? Probably not unless you are a fruitarian. But even then they are actually eating them. Not just drinking the juice! These fruitarians are getting all the fiber and nutrients that come along with the orange! 

Eat More Fruit & Healthy Carbs to Curb the Sugar Cravings

We’re addicted to sugar. We crave sugar because it’s our body’s preferred source of fuel but we’ve just gotten mixed up on what sugar our body is actually craving. Our brain runs on glucose (a type of sugar that comes from food), and it needs a constant supply because the brain can’t store glycogen.  This explains why I was so loopy when I was on a completely sugar-free diet. 

When I realized that fruit was actually healthy for me, and made it part of my daily life, I was able to curb a lot of my intense sugar cravings. When I wanted ice cream I’d opt for a decadent smoothie bowl. When I wanted cupcakes, I’d use unrefined flours and dates to whip myself up a mug cake. 

These were my go to mug cake (aka healthy cupcake in a mug) recipes:

Funfetti Mugcake

Banana Mug Cake

And I mastered making delicious smoothie bowls which you can learn how to do here too if you’d like! 

Do not Fear the Fruit

So if you’re like I was and you think all sugar is equal think again. I thought, if I am going to eat sugar it’s going to be something in the form of a chocolate bar or dessert. I did not want to want to waste my precious sugar allowance on fruit.  Little did I realize I was doing myself a disservice. I could have been eating fruit and feeding my sugar cravings the healthy way all those years and preventing myself from binge eating junk food and flaring up my candida. This realization was a major step in my healing journey that brought me results and it’s why I’m sharing this message with you!

Are you excited to eat some more fruit in your day? Eat as much as you want! I highly recommend trying out smoothie bowls as they are such a good way to get in lots of fruits plus they make you happy on the inside. You can grab my complete guide to smoothie bowls below and make a tasty one today:) 

And if you found this page because you also deal with candida or IBS you can check out the 10 major steps that helped me fix my candida overgrowth and IBS issues for good 🙂 Get it here.

Resources:

 https://plantproof.com/sugar-sweeteners-explained/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/

https://plantd.co/why-you-shouldnt-fear-the-sugar-in-fruit/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar