Are fruit sugars healthy?

Don’t listen to any body who says "you can’t eat an apple, because an apple has carbs”.  Fruit is a good source of carbohydrate and we need carbohydrate for energy. Eating the recommended five a day servings of fruit and vegetables is the most important part of any healthy eating plan.

The type of carbohydrate found in fruit is mostly fructose, (fruit sugar).  When you eat fruit, you get carbohydrates (fructose), fibre, water, vitamins and antioxidants, but when you drink a refined fruit juice you receive all the calories and sugar without the added fibre. Fructose or fruit sugar can be unhealthy when removed from the fruit and added in large quantities to refined foods and drinks. One example is high fructose corn syrup, cheap fructose sweeteners and fruit juice concentrates.

If you are watching your weight, remember that although fruit is healthy it still contains calories. Dried fruits and fruit drinks are concentrated forms of energy. You can still get fat eating healthy food.

Many people think bananas are fattening but choosing a banana for a mid afternoon pick-me-up could save you money and help you lose weight. Australian accredited dietician, Glenn Cardwell says that bananas represent fantastic value in terms of their nutrition. Compared with most other snack foods, bananas have fewer kilojoules, zero fat and no salt. They deliver vitamins B6 and C, folate and fibre.  Replacing your mid afternoon muffin with a banana could save you more than 9000 kilojoules per week. You’d have to walk for eight hours to burn off 9000 kilojoules.