# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/21 "2006-03-13T21:47:56Z")
Not yet mentioned but from a bodybuilding point of view fructose has another problem in that it isn’t metabolized directly into glucogen by the liver and has to be converted to fat first and then that fat metabolized. So while fruit is “free” food on many weight loss diets, it isn’t too good if you are more concerned with fat loss than weight loss. I eat an apple or an orange every day for the carbs and fiber, but I eat them an hour before I do aerobics. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/22 "2006-03-13T21:54:24Z")
The trouble with this medical and nutritional stuff is there’s always something coming out to contradict what you thought was solid advice. Regarding OJ vs. soda, isn’t the sugar in OJ the “good” kind versus the refined “high fructose corn syrup” sugar in soda? I thought the refined sugars were the bad ones? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/23 "2006-03-13T22:51:48Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > …calcium supplementation doesn’t help like it was thought to, either… [hijack] I have this game I play with myself. I’ll pick up a multivitamin, or one of those “meal shakes”, and go through the list of ingredients looking for insoluble salts. Often some nutrient will have been put in as a soluble salt, but there is something else that is incompatible with the first (AB is soluble, CD is soluble, AD is not). I’ll look for salts that are insolluble in a neutral/slightly acidic pH situation and for those that are also insoluble in a situation similar to that of the stomach. Kind of funny, if you can manage to avoid getting depressed by it, to see how much of the supposed “nutrition” is more akin to “rocks”. Those “meal shakes” are mostly sugar too, by the way… “maltodextrin” (sp?), usually the main ingredient, is just the name for “a mixture of long-chain sugars (like pasta or rice) and short sugars (like table sugar), usually obtained by partial digestion of naturally-occuring long sugars” :smack: I’ve had to explain this to several diabetics but none of them believed me until I showed them my biochemistry book - anybody knows why are there so many people who will believe a book but not a person? [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/24 "2006-03-13T22:54:56Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > …I thought the refined sugars were the bad ones? This is like the OJ vs soda discussion. “unrefined” sugar is supposed to have more nutrients than “refined” sugar, which is more pure, chemically speaking - basically the idea is that those “impurities” are good for you. Has it been proven? Not really. I prefer honey to sugar but it’s because my tongue likes it better and I prefer not to argue with (bits of) myself. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2006, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/25 "2006-03-13T22:59:57Z")
> [@daffyduck](#): > > Not yet mentioned but from a bodybuilding point of view fructose has another problem in that it isn’t metabolized directly into glucogen by the liver and has to be converted to fat first and then that fat metabolized. So while fruit is “free” food on many weight loss diets, it isn’t too good if you are more concerned with fat loss than weight loss. I eat an apple or an orange every day for the carbs and fiber, but I eat them an hour before I do aerobics. Hgggrrn? Sorry, **Daffyduck** , I don’t have my Bio notes here and anyway I don’t think the reaction would be easy to draw here. But I promise that one of the pathways we studied was “conversion of fructose into glucose”. Our teacher had sort of a personal war against “snake eaters who sell fake fat-burners” and there was a fad going on where said snake eaters claimed that “fructose, unlike table sugar, is not fattening” (yeah right). If ay kind of fat or fatty acid had been in the picture, I’m sure he would have been happy to show it. Of course my info isn’t exactly up to date but… ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/26 "2006-03-14T07:34:59Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > He would not actually have been jaundiced (elevated bilirubin). He would have excess carotene in his system, giving him an orange tint. Now that you mention it he was more orange-y. Of course this wasn’t actual jaundice, correct. Such an odd fellow already too… ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/27 "2006-03-14T09:54:24Z")
OTOH- a diet low in fruit and vegetables a risk factor for cancer. [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1114436](http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1114436) If you scan down that article, you’ll see that part of the “dietary advice to reduce cancer risk” recommends _avoidance_ of high dose vitamin suplements. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/28 "2006-03-14T09:56:34Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > 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? I’d like to know how much is “too much”, as well, and for the same reasons as you. I eat five to seven pieces of fruit a day which is surely better than potato crisps and biscuits? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/29 "2006-03-14T23:11:06Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > I’d like to know how much is “too much”, as well, and for the same reasons as you. I eat five to seven pieces of fruit a day which is surely better than potato crisps and biscuits? Yes. A **LOT** , due to the fact that crisps (chips for the Yanks) and biscuits (cookies) are high in fat, and usually the worst kinds of fats. Whole fruit often has fiber, too- which you likely don’t get enough of, and neither crisps nor biscuits have much of (well, “digestive biscuits” have a bit). I concur with **Qadgop the Mercotan** in that you just can’t give your child unlimited access to “juice boxes” even if they are a tiny bit better than sugar-sodas. Those processed juices contain very little of anything but sugar (and I agree that OJ isn’t a lot bettter, but it’s a little better, especially if it is fresh, with pulp). Fructose is a bit sweeter than Sucrose, thus in some things you can use a little less, and thus cut your caloric intake by a bit. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/30 "2006-03-16T02:19:01Z")
I know someone was told to cut down on their intake of orange juice and bananas. They were experiecing bouts of tachycardia, and was told that their potassium level was on the high side, which could have been causing the accellerated heart rate. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/31 "2006-03-16T04:16:18Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > The trouble with this medical and nutritional stuff is there’s always something coming out to contradict what you thought was solid advice. > > Regarding OJ vs. soda, isn’t the sugar in OJ the “good” kind versus the refined “high fructose corn syrup” sugar in soda? I thought the refined sugars were the bad ones? The trouble is you’re not actually listening to “medical and nutritional stuff” if you’re buying into silly dogmas about “refined sugar” and the absolute nonsense that gets pushed by “alternative health” circles in regard to corn syrup. You’re listening to superstitious quackery, not “medical stuff”. There’s no reason to expect that sort of nonsense to harmonize with the actual evidence obtained from scientific research. That’s like getting peeved because the Air and Space Museum is contradicting the Fox network’s “documentary” on the moon landing “hoax”. > [@Nava](#): > > I’ve had to explain this to several diabetics but none of them believed me until I showed them my biochemistry book - anybody knows why are there so many people who will believe a book but not a person? I had a similar argument with my mother. She believe’s she’s hypoglycemic - I’m not sure whether this is true or not, but she was drinking something she claimed over and over was a protein shake in the morning to avoid blood sugar crashes during the day. Naturally, the first ingredient was maltodextrin, and some other kind of sugar was next on the list. You could see it on the Nutrition Facts - it had way more sugar than protein. But apparently it hadn’t occurred to her to actually _look at the label on a product she was purchasing_. And when I tried to explain it to her, she got defensive and claimed she could tell it was different from other diet shakes because of how it tasted. It tasted like crap, don’t get me wrong - but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy. I don’t understand people who don’t even take a glance at the labels on the food they’re buying - and I really don’t understand when people insist that something is healthy despite all evidence to the contrary. What’s the point of eating a health food that’s just going to make you less healthy? At what point in that transaction to you come out ahead? ---
**Author:** ![beckiemoriello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@beckiemoriello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckiemoriello)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/32 "2006-03-22T01:31:22Z")
okaaay… I’m listening! Tell us what to do. I’m hearing a lot of fruit-bashing. Sounds good to me. I’d just as soon not eat it. But I know that’s not right. Fruit is important. (EVERYONE says so.) Fruit is better than juice. Got it. But say we don’t (won’t) eat whole fuit? Red grape juice? Dried apricots? Am I on the right track? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/33 "2006-03-22T01:53:37Z")
What about bananas? I’ve heard bananas at least have potassium in them? ---
**Author:** ![Aarinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Aarinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aarinsky)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174/34 "2006-03-22T02:18:18Z")
There’s a difference between whole fruit and fruit juice… whole fruit is chock full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants. Wonderful stuff. It’s true that some of the more processed fruit drinks are little better than sodas. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Fruit is, in genreal, very very healthful food. (And perhaps fruit juice isn’t so bad either… When I was a child, my pediatrician warned my mother not to let me drink to much fruit juice, saying it would make me fat. My mom disagreed, consequently I drank a ton of juice as a kid. Still do. Well, here I am, an adult, and still skinny as a toothpick. YMMV.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-too-much-fruit/348174.md?page=1)