In order to understand the relationship, we must first understand each subject.

Fruits, Carbohydrates and Sugar

Sugar (comes in many forms, eg Sucrose, Fructose, Lactose and etc) falls under one of the essential Nutrients, CARBOHYDRATE. There are 3 types of carbohydrates…

1. Simple carbohydrate,
2. Complex carbohydrate, and
3. Refined carbohydrate.

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate because it converts quickly into energy (glucose) in the body. Which means the glucose (sugar) level in the body can easily spike if it is not utilized as outgoing energy. Moreover, any unused glucose will be converted to body fat by the liver for future use. A more detailed explanation can be found in the Food section of the website.

Most processed foods and drinks in the marketplace have some amount of added sugar and they all add up.

SUGAR, Public Enemy No: 1. Many researches and studies have shown that over consumption can lead to many types of Health risks. Back in the 1950s, a report written by Dr William Coda Martin, go as far as calling it …”poison”.

Why is Added/Refined Sugar bad for you?

1.    It is pure energy food (like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup) contains high calories with NO essential nutrients and is quickly absorbed into the body(called “empty calories”).

2.    As it does not have essential nutrients, it draws away nutrients from the body to help convert to glucose as energy food for the body. Constantly leaving you HUNGRY.

3. It is addictive.

Sugar affects the Brain and Body

Excess fat leads to Health risks: Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Cancer and related heart diseases.

FRUITS contain fructose; it is not possible to overdose on fructose because fruits have other essential nutrients as well as fiber to help slow down the conversion process.  However, not all fruits are created equal, different fruits having different fructose (sugar) content, therefore the calories count will also be different. There are many Fruit/Sugar charts available to guide you on your choice of fruit consumption.

In addition, fruits also contain other elements of the essential Nutrients: Vitamins, Minerals and Water.

Fresh fruit juices without the residue (fiber) are just fructose (sugar) with some vitamins and minerals.

People who are healthy and active can tolerate more sugar than people who are inactive and eat a high-carbohydrate, high-calorie diet. Therefore, consuming large quantity of fruits does not necessarily help in weight loss or weight control. Important to note that SUGAR IS SUGAR no matter what other form it takes.

There are about 16 calories in a teaspoon of sugar @ 4g. (One large Apple about 200g has about 20g of sugar or one large Banana about 140g has about 17g of sugar.)

World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommends 25g a day, or 6 teaspoons daily. USA recommends 50g a day.

If this post is helpful or not, let me know. If you have further questions, do drop me a line.