# Eating Too Much Fruit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174 "2006-03-13T15:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/1 "2006-03-13T15:51:29Z")
I’m not asking for a medical opinion… just a GQ. A number of years back, a doctor I was seeing gave me a routine checkup and while looking at my bloodwork asked me how much fruit I was eating a day. I told him how much, I don’t remember the details but it was a lot, and he said that I should cut down on my intake. At the time I thought that was strange since I never have heard of someone eating too much fruit. I remember it had something to do with blood sugar, but that’s all I remember. I did cut down somewhat, and since then I have had lots of physicals and it has never come up again. So can eating too much fruit really impact your blood sugar to the point that it becomes a problem? Has anyone else ever heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/2 "2006-03-13T16:06:02Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I’m not asking for a medical opinion… just a GQ. > > A number of years back, a doctor I was seeing gave me a routine checkup and while looking at my bloodwork asked me how much fruit I was eating a day. I told him how much, I don’t remember the details but it was a lot, and he said that I should cut down on my intake. At the time I thought that was strange since I never have heard of someone eating too much fruit. I remember it had something to do with blood sugar, but that’s all I remember. I did cut down somewhat, and since then I have had lots of physicals and it has never come up again. > > So can eating too much fruit really impact your blood sugar to the point that it becomes a problem? Has anyone else ever heard of this? Absolutely. My doctor told me that drinking a glass of orange juice is like injecting a large dose of sugar into your veins. If you’re diabetic, you have to watch ALL forms of sugars, including things like fruit, rice, bread, milk, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/3 "2006-03-13T17:11:03Z")
Fruit has lots of sugar in it. As was famously argued here in the past, a glass of orange juice isn’t much better for you than a can of soda. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/4 "2006-03-13T18:03:00Z")
There’s at least one more angle here. About thirty-five years ago, my wife-to-be was following a weight-loss diet that called for a lot of fruit. Her fruit of choice was oranges, and she developed urinary difficulties. When she went to her doctor, he asked about her diet, and he told her to go easy on the oranges. She was working in South Carolina at the time, and we kept in touch by letters. I never found out exactly what the connection was between lots of oranges and vaguely described urinary difficulties. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/5 "2006-03-13T18:05:52Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Fruit has lots of sugar in it. As was famously argued here in the past, a glass of orange juice isn’t much better for you than a can of soda. Well, not unless you count the vitamins, especially Vitamin C, the antioxidants and other nutrients. This statement is mostly true of things like apple juice, but if you have a choice of OJ or soda, take the OJ. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/6 "2006-03-13T18:25:10Z")
So what defines “too much?” And is any one fruit better or worse than another? I for example start my day with between 300 and 600 grams of mixed, fresh cut fruit a day consisting of canteloupe, honeydew, pineapple, strawberries, and purple and green grapes. I may throw a peach, an orange or a banana into the mix sometimes, too. This is a fairly recent thing though (about 6 months) and I’m doing it to replace what I normally graze on in the course of a day with healthier, more diet-conscious alternatives. Is this too much? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/7 "2006-03-13T19:06:35Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Well, not unless you count the vitamins, especially Vitamin C, the antioxidants and other nutrients. > > This statement is mostly true of things like apple juice, but if you have a choice of OJ or soda, take the OJ. Oh no not this again. Most people are already not deficient in anything OJ will provide , so pretty much you are drinking a glass of orange flavoured sugar water. Take the diet soda instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/8 "2006-03-13T19:16:51Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > There’s at least one more angle here. About thirty-five years ago, my wife-to-be was following a weight-loss diet that called for a lot of fruit. Her fruit of choice was oranges, and she developed urinary difficulties. When she went to her doctor, he asked about her diet, and he told her to go easy on the oranges. She was working in South Carolina at the time, and we kept in touch by letters. I never found out exactly what the connection was between lots of oranges and vaguely described urinary difficulties. My WAG would be that since vitamin C is water-soluble, that sheer amount of citric acid might at the very least hurt during urination. Hate to resort to friend-of-a-friend statements, but the brother of a friend did run into that aforementioned problem after eating way more chewable vitamin C tablets than he should have. > [@groman](#): > > Oh no not this again. Most people are already not deficient in anything OJ will provide , so pretty much you are drinking a glass of orange flavoured sugar water. Take the diet soda instead. I believe the past argument on the board was that it was a poor choice between either, and you should opt for an orange proper rather than the juice or the soda. You lose out on a ton of fiber (which at the very least will help fill you up) by going with juice. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/9 "2006-03-13T20:10:33Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > My WAG would be that since vitamin C is water-soluble, that sheer amount of citric acid might at the very least hurt during urination. I am no biologist but the path that consumed liquids take is not stomach to bladder. I am not at all sure that citric acid is excreted in urine. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/10 "2006-03-13T20:31:21Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I am no biologist but the path that consumed liquids take is not stomach to bladder. I am not at all sure that citric acid is excreted in urine. Vitamin C is excreted thru the kidneys, down the ureters, and into the bladder, and hence to the outside world. And OJ is about as nutritionally beneficial to the average american as an equal amount of coca-cola classic. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/11 "2006-03-13T20:30:42Z")
Yet another IANAD opinion here, but women are often told to take lots of vitamin C when suffering from urinary tract infections, on the grounds that this will keep the environment on the acidic side and make things difficult for the invading nasties. Again with the 'OJ is bad for you." :rolleyes: Look, suppose you’re thirsty. You have in front of you a can of sugar-sweetened soda and a bottle of OJ. Which is better (or worse, if you prefer)? Let’s see: Both have sugar. Both have calories. Neither has fats. The OJ has close to 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement, plus some other nutrients, including things like folic acid, IIRC. Seems like a no-brainer. Bringing in, “Oh, you’d be better off consuming a whole orange” is spurious. That’s not the comparison. You don’t have an orange, you have a choice between soda and OJ. The comment that the OJ is no better than (or worse than) soda is silly. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/12 "2006-03-13T20:36:11Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Vitamin C is excreted thru the kidneys, down the ureters, and into the bladder, and hence to the outside world. > > And OJ is about as nutritionally beneficial to the average american as an equal amount of coca-cola classic. I know you’re a real doctor, and I’m certainly not. But I don’t understand this. Why is the vitamin C not nutritionally beneficial to me? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/13 "2006-03-13T20:42:25Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Yet another IANAD opinion here, but women are often told to take lots of vitamin C when suffering from urinary tract infections, on the grounds that this will keep the environment on the acidic side and make things difficult for the invading nasties. If so they’re being told poor information. They should be drinking cranberry juice, which contains a chemical that makes bacteria less adherent to bladder walls. > [@](#): > > Again with the 'OJ is bad for you." :rolleyes: Look, suppose you’re thirsty. You have in front of you a can of sugar-sweetened soda and a bottle of OJ. Which is better (or worse, if you prefer)? Let’s see: Both have sugar. Both have calories. Neither has fats. The OJ has close to 100% of your daily vitamin C requirement, plus some other nutrients, including things like folic acid, IIRC. Seems like a no-brainer. Bringing in, “Oh, you’d be better off consuming a whole orange” is spurious. That’s not the comparison. You don’t have an orange, you have a choice between soda and OJ. The comment that the OJ is no better than (or worse than) soda is silly. I’ve posted extensively on this in the past. In fact we argued about it in this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316678](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316678) There, I basically said that the miniscule amounts of nutrients available in OJ don’t compensate for it’s large sugar load or make it a significantly superior drink to anything with an equal amount of sugar. I stand by that. QtM, MD ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/14 "2006-03-13T20:43:46Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I know you’re a real doctor, and I’m certainly not. But I don’t understand this. Why is the vitamin C not nutritionally beneficial to me? Because you get more than enough without the OJ (as do 99.9+% of americans). Adding a nutrient you don’t need to a food substance doesn’t make said substance healthier. You’re just pissing out the extra vitamin C anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/15 "2006-03-13T21:02:09Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > If so they’re being told poor information. They should be drinking cranberry juice, which contains a chemical that makes bacteria less adherent to bladder walls. Beyond that one can even take “cranberry concentrate” pills. Apparently the amount of cranberry juice you have to drink for this to be highly effective would also be more enough to clean you out in other ways as well… :eek: I once worked with a nearly-vegan guy who was going jaundiced from eating too many carrots (I know, not a fruit…). He was basically told by his doctor that otherwise this wasn’t doing him any particular harm. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/16 "2006-03-13T21:08:51Z")
There are a few assumptions being made here: 1. That you already get enough Vitamin C in your diet- most Americans do. _But not all._ 2. That you don’t need the claories. OJ is also a fine source of Calories, which are a requirement for continued life. You **die** if you don’t get enough. Then again, most Americans get too many, and most Westerners get plenty. 3. You’re not drinking the whole pulp OJ, which is a good source of dietary fiber. Americans don’t get enough fiber, in general. This site lists other nutitional benefits of OJ: [http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/orangejuice.shtml](http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/orangejuice.shtml) To wit: Flavinoids, B6, niacin, magnesium, potassium, homocysteine, & riboflavin. Some OJ is fortified with Calcium & Vit D. Although the value of flavinoids is disputed, there is no harm in them, and you don’t get them in a One-A-Day, either. So, yes, OJ is better for you than sugar soda- but hardly by a huge amount. OTOH- the caffeine in many sodas is problematic. Depending on your Bloodsugar and caloric needs, it is true that for some dudes Diet soda could be better than OJ. Obese diabetics take note. Note that Apple Juice _is_ a well known nutritional litewieght (and apparently so is _white_ grape-juice). Wheras a glass of OJ (especially with the pulp still in it) is probably a good idea for breakfast for most, you might as well drink 7-Up as Apple Juice. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/17 "2006-03-13T21:09:42Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > I once worked with a nearly-vegan guy who was going jaundiced from eating too many carrots (I know, not a fruit…). He was basically told by his doctor that otherwise this wasn’t doing him any particular harm. He would not actually have been jaundiced (elevated bilirubin). He would have excess carotene in his system, giving him an orange tint. Very popular as an artificial tanning agent in Europe, I understand. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/18 "2006-03-13T21:24:27Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > If so they’re being told poor information. They should be drinking cranberry juice, which contains a chemical that makes bacteria less adherent to bladder walls. > I’ve posted extensively on this in the past. In fact we argued about it in this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316678](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=316678) > > There, I basically said that the miniscule amounts of nutrients available in OJ don’t compensate for it’s large sugar load or make it a significantly superior drink to anything with an equal amount of sugar. I stand by that. > > QtM, MD Retired nurse here with information about UTIs. Worked with many doctors who avoided antibiotics as an initial treatment for UTIs. Depending on the organism they would Rx Mist Pot Cit to increase alkilinity or Vitamin C to increase acidity- each disrupted the life cycle of the particular acid or base resistant bacteria. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/19 "2006-03-13T21:35:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > To wit: Flavinoids, B6, niacin, magnesium, potassium, homocysteine, & riboflavin. Some OJ is fortified with Calcium & Vit D. Although the value of flavinoids is disputed, there is no harm in them, and you don’t get them in a One-A-Day, either. And most americans do not have significant deficiencies in the above, either. And now new evidence is indicating that homocysteine levels don’t matter much and that calcium supplementation doesn’t help like it was thought to, either. So my assertion remains: For the vast majority of americans, OJ is not appreciably better than soda. While it can be better for some, they are by far in the minority. And if you’re at risk for various vitamin and mineral deficiencies, OJ isn’t the best way to get those things either. I’m just tired of folks pouring juice into their kids and themselves and thinking they’re doing the family a favor. They’re not, by and large. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/20 "2006-03-13T21:40:14Z")
> [@Pjen](#): > > Retired nurse here with information about UTIs. Worked with many doctors who avoided antibiotics as an initial treatment for UTIs. Depending on the organism they would Rx Mist Pot Cit to increase alkilinity or Vitamin C to increase acidity- each disrupted the life cycle of the particular acid or base resistant bacteria. That approach has fallen out of favor, as studies have not borne out a significant therapeutic effect to those approaches. > [@](#): > > Urinary tract infection (UTI) prevention > There are multiple studies of cranberry (juice or capsules) for the prevention of urinary tract infections in healthy women and nursing home residents. While no single study convincingly demonstrates the ability of cranberry to prevent UTIs, the sum total of favorable evidence combined with laboratory research tends to support this use. It is not clear what dose is best. Most research has focused on the bacteria E. coli , although laboratory research suggests possible effects against other bacteria such as Proteus or Pseudomonas . Cranberry seems to work by preventing bacteria from sticking to cells that line the bladder. **Contrary to prior belief, urine acidification does not appear to play a role.** [http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cranberry/NS\_patient-cranberry](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cranberry/NS_patient-cranberry) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174.md?page=2)