Fruit. Is it over-rated?

[mattikake]

Found out today my mum has made herself a type 2 diabetic due to scoffing grapes and bananas daily (no other high GI foods in her diet at all). The annoying thing is I had no idea she was doing this and had I known, I would've stopped her with a persistent daily tirade of science, logical reasoning, analogies and nutritional alternatives.

So fruit. I barely eat any. Maybe a portion a day on average - mostly pineapple on a gym day (so 3 - 5 times a week) and stuff like peppers and tomatoes in chillis, curries, pastas etc.

As I see fruit, most of it is a good source of vitamin C... And that's about it.

Yeah there's fibres, proteins and other minerals and vitamins, but in trace amounts and virtually all veg wipes the floor with fruit in all these respects (I eat loads of veg). "They" claim they are a good source of fibre and protein, but really I get more out of biting my own nails.

Fruits vary from low to moderately-high GI and the low GI fruits are a good thing, but so what? You can get low GI foods everywhere that aren't fruit.

Is it just a conspiracy to get us all addicted to fructose in a "healthy" veil?

[Mr Gearchange]

Your mum got diabetes from eating fruit?

Jesus - I always thought the advice on fruit was 'eat as much as you want'

[Mr Gearchange]

Actually a quick google suggests that your mum would be the first person to ever get Diabetes from eating fruit.

There would have to be a number of other causal factors - fruit apparently doesn't give you diabetes - I'd get a 2nd opinion from another doctor.

[otolith]

Anecdote is not data - I don't think you can really say anything from a sample of one.

[Mermaid]

Mr Gearchange said:

Your mum got diabetes from eating fruit?

Some other factors for sure.

[mattikake]

Well undoubtably some other factors in there somewhere, but that wasn't really the point of the thread. Might just edit that bit out.

[Regiment]

I love fruit and don't have type 2 diabetes, I've always seen it as a nice, sweet way to have a healthy snack - I eat a mixture pineapple, melons, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries.

[grumbledoak]

It's just sugar. Probably does wonders for maintaining the existing world order.

As for vitamin C, rubbish! Most people get their vitamin C from potato. Or, if northern, chips.

[mattikake]

btw, I get all of my vitamin C from Spinach, Broccoli and Peppers.

Interesting. Just been doing some reading on places like nhs and the diabetes.ord websites and apparently Fructose doesn't require insulin to metabolise. I take this to mean it doesn't cause an insulin release. So therefore you can have as much fructose/fructose based foods as you like.

...but then other independant websites advise that you can eat high-sugar fruits, like grapes, but only eat a little/go careful.

Well if fructose doesn't cause a release of insulin, why can't you eat as many grapes as you like? Googles some more and finds that grapes contain a lot of glucose in a roughly 1:1 ratio depending on ripeness/variety.

So if glucose is present, and going by the nutritional data of grapes, there would be about 7g of glucose in 100g of grapes, then enough grapes could cause a problem like insulin insensitivity?

And if there is fructose and glucose present then it stands to reason that sucrose well be present in some quantity too. So that would mean graps would cause an insulin release, contradicting the nhs's and diabetes.org's advice. :s

As ever - the internet, a world of conflicting ideas and sources... and that's before you decide who to beleive! lol

Edited by mattikake on Friday 14th June 16:40

[grumbledoak]

I guess that makes sense; Fructose has to be processed by the liver. I cannot remember the metabolic process but it was explained in 'Sugar: The Bitter Truth ' IIRC.

[Hoofy]

It's sugar. What else did she eat apart from fruit? Is she fat?