to think fruit can't be all that bad.

[manicinsomniac]

I feel like we're in danger of branding fruit as the next 'evil-food-that-must-be-avoided'!

I see and hear so many comments (not just on here) on the lines of:
'fruit should be an occasional treat'
'sugar is sugar'
'a zero sugar diet is best'
'your body can't tell the difference between an apple and haribo.'
'limit fruit and eat as much veg as you can'
'low carbing is the best kind of diet to follow and fruits are really high in carbs'

etc.

Is fruit the new bread? (another low fat, previously thought of as healthy food that has been a British staple for centuries).

I'm already scared of most foods, I feel like I don't have the time or the energy to obsess over fruit as well (apart from bananas and avocados).

I know it has very little protein and it doesn't keep you full for long but it's healthy ... right? There's not need to limit it ... is there?

[FortyFacedFuckers]

I'm watching this with interest as my DS diet consists of mainly fruit.

[lookingfoxy]

Everything in moderation and all that.
yes fruit is healthy but eat a bucket load of any food and its going to have some ill effect.

[littlewhitebag]

My motto is that you can eat everything in moderation. A balanced diet is where it is at (in my opinion). I tend to pay scant attention to faddish diet trends. Eat fruit, veg, protein, carbs, fats - just choose wisely.

[HumphreyCobbler]

If you are scared of most foods then perhaps something is not quite right in your attitude? Why are you scared?

If I didn't need to lose weight I would eat more fruit, but I don't need to eat it right now. My children eat fruit, but sometimes I give them cheese/ham/nuts if they need a more filling snack that will keep them going.

[DustyBaubles]

People seem to be becoming obsessed with food in general.

Most things in moderation are fine.

I remember a program on obesity once though, where a doctor was saying one of his patients couldn't understand why they were not losing weight, even though the patient professed to only eat 'healthy stuff'. It turned out the patient was eating twenty large oranges a day.

Fruits contain various vitamins, fibre etc. they are not inherently unhealthy, obviously. As long as people don't get stupid about what they eat, everything is fine.

Being scared of particular food group is a bit issue-y though. Perhaps just suit yourself and don't take notice of the latest booksellers/fads?

[JackNoneReacher]

Apple and haribo - yes both full of sugar but apple is full of fibre and essential vitamins too.

I sometimes hear people say their dc wont eat veg but have 'loads' of fruit instead - as if that is equal - its not.

I agree with moderation.

[sooperdooper]

Another vote for everythign in moderation, but I think poeple who start obsessing about too much fruit are bonkers, nobody ever got fat from eating too much fruit, it's full of vitamins and it's a much healthier choice as a snack than anything processed

As is, imo a couple of slices of toast, I refused to demonise bread to the extend it's got, I'd rather eat two slices of wholemeal toast than a bag of crisps, it's all about balance

[manicinsomniac]

Humphrey - oh gosh yes, I'm under no illusion that I have a healthy attitude to food - quite the reverse. Don't want to sidetrack the thread onto that particularly though.

If I didn't need to lose weight I would eat more fruit

This is the kind of thing that freaks me out - 'I I didn't need to lose weight I would eat more chocolate/pizza/butter/crisps etc' I could understand. But fruit?!? Arghh, it's supposed to be healthy (in my head!) I don't want it to not be!

I eat probably 3 portions of veg and 4-6 portions of fruit every day!

[ScottishInSwitzerland]

I'm also following with interested as my dd eats loads of fruit

She only eats sweet corn or courgette. No other veg.

And needs loads of fibre otherwise she gets v constipated. So we tend to let her eat as much fruit as she likes.

There are no concerns about her weight - but of course it's not just about weight. It's about what is healthy

[LordEmsworth]

The thing is that, once upon a time, fruit was only available seasonally - berries in summer, orchard fruits in autumn (in UK/northern Europe, at least). So we were naturally limited in how much we could consume, on average.

Then we started storing orchard fruits over the winter... then shipping in exotic fruits from around the world... then growing fruit under plastic in Spain and shipping it in... So now we can eat as much as we want, whenever we want.

So - fruit is good for you, but because it's high in sugar, some people can find it affects their blood sugar in a not-good way. (Not everyone, some people have much better tolerance). And, because we eat so much more sugar generally than our grandparents - even our parents - a lot of us have problems with sugar.

If you don't have a problem with your weight, or your blood sugar/insulin/rest of your metabolic system, or your energy/tiredness levels, or sugar addiction generally, then you're probably not eating too much fruit for your body to handle. If you have any of those problems and/or are cutting carbs, you probably should consider limiting the quantity of fruit you eat (but also other sources of sugar - don't cut the fruit but keep eating processed foods!). Oh, and eating it fresh only (not cooked/pureed/smoothied/juiced) is important too.

My understanding of the issue with bread is that it's largely the mass production methods used which have caused the problems - white flour is a relatively recent invention, and allergies/intolerances have shot up since the introduction of today's sliced loaves (since the mid-60s). So it's not so much that these things are bad, as that our lifestyles/food sources have changed...

[FurryDogMother]

Just try to choose fruits that are lower in sugar, like berries (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, mostly), and save the high sugar ones for occasional treats. I try to stick to fruit that's in season locally which - in the west of Ireland - doesn't give me many options!

[WhereIsMyHat]

Sugar is as bad as crack it seems a the moment!

It's an absolute fucking nightmare trying to feed kids the right thing. I can feel myself slowly getting obsessed dad there is constant new advice on what else needs to be cut out.

[Badvoc]

Eat food.
Not too much.
Mostly plants.

[HumphreyCobbler]

sorry, I didn't mean to make things worse with that comment.

There is nothing wrong with fruit. I really believe that. It is full of fibre and vitimins and minerals as well as sugar. I also believe that I don't have to eat fruit in order to have a healthy diet.

I also believe that there are lots of alternative things to eat that are healthy that are not fruit! Things that will keep you going for longer.

[ScottishInSwitzerland]

That's interesting about berries. Maybe why lots of people drown them in sugar!

We do also try to stick to seasonal. But mango is a big favourite and I think that's one of the 'worst' for sugar

[HearMyRoar]

I would recommend a read of book www.amazon.co.uk/Fat-Chance-bitter-truth-about-ebook/dp/B00A626UYW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391704783&sr=1-1&keywords=robert%20lustig&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Fruit in its natural form is great. It has lots of fibre which counteract the sugars plus other fabulous things that are good for you. However once you juice it you take all the fibre away just leaving the sugar so you might as well just have a fizzy pop, even whole fruit smoothies aren't great.

So fruit is good, fruit juice is bad.

[manicinsomniac]

oh no humphrey it's fine, it's the science and logic behind comments like yours that I wanted to discuss. And yes, totally agree that you don't need fruit to be healthy.

Badvoc - so a fruit being a plant makes it ok for it to a large proportion of one's diet in your opinion?

[manicinsomniac]

yes, hearmyroar I was aware that fruit juice isn't great (though if pressed would maybe say that I only know that because it's been touted about for longer!) and we tend not to have it in the house (I don't really do liquid calories anyway).

as bad as a fizzy drink though? wow!

[sooperdooper]

Nobody ever got fat from eating too many apples, fact

[ShadowFall]

My personal feeling is that unprocessed fruit (i.e. in its natural state, with no added sugar) is fine, so long as you're not stuffing yourself silly with it.

Yes, it's got natural sugars in it, but it also has natural fibres and vitamins.

Also, your body may not be able to tell the difference between sugar from an apple and sugar from Haribo, but it is undoubtedly much much easier to overeat sweets than it is to overeat fresh fruit.

However, I do think that it makes sense to limit consumption of processed fruit - i.e fruit juices / smoothies, fruit purees, cooked fruit.
I find it's much easier to overeat fruit if it's processed. Particularly smoothies & juice.

[Latara]

I eat a punnet of raspberries (frozen so they're cheaper) every day.

And some grapes (100g max) and 1 or 2 apples.

I stopped drinking fruit juice though.

I'm very slowly losing weight...

[Suzannewithaplan]

fruit has loads of beneficial ingredients, carotenoids, enzymes, flavonoids, etc but so do veggies and without the fructose.
Excessive amounts of fructose can cause problems.
I eat 1-2 portions of fruit per day but I choose the lower sugar ones, and several portions of vegetables.

No fruit juice or smoothies ever

[hackmum]

It's driving me mad. Only a few years ago we were constantly told how good fruit was for us, vitamins, minerals etc, make sure you have your five a day blah blah and all the rest of it. I can quite happily accept that refined sugar is bad for you but I'm struggling with this fruit malarkey. Given that carbs are also supposed to be bad, I wonder what we're all supposed to live on? Broccoli?

[merrymouse]

I think people seem to confuse weight loss diet with healthy eating.

[Absy]

I think people are freaking out about sugar now, but without really getting what they should be freaking out about.

Yes, sugar can be bad. But, not all sugar is equal. If you eat a piece of fruit, there is fructose (a type of sugar), but this is also balanced with various vitamins and fibre which means your body can digest it and deal with it without issues. If you have haribo, it also has sugar, but a different form (it could be sucrose or refined corn sugar) and no additional vitamins, or fibre, which means your body processes it differently.