Can you eat too much fruit? - "Very high in sugar"

Fresh fruit is in season in my area and we have plenty of peaches, pears, asian pears, kiwis and the like. To stave off my cravings for snacks  I have been eating up to six-eight pieces of fruit a day. This is not my only source of food, but it is significant. According to Calorie Count plus, I'm hovering around 1000-1200 calories a day and I always get an "A" for Nutrition.

These foods are all rate as "A" but on the downside, but according to the nutritional analysis, under Bad Points they are "Very high in sugar".

How do I reconcile this. Is it possible that I have too much fruit in my diet?

Background

About 20 pounds ago (I was 20 pounds heavier) I had an elevated blood sugar level.  I lost 30 pounds  and was retested. Everything was well within the normal range. 

I relaxed on my diet and bounced up about 15 pounds and have since lost 5.  Still working on that last 10 pounds or so. I am concerned that "Very high in sugar" could mean that I am elevating my blood sugar level again. I am not due to be retested for another 90 days or so.

 

What do you think?

 

im curious too i eat about a lb- a.5lb of fruit a day comes to 60g of sugar give or take and alot of carbs...

but im not so worried.. its just fruit and i think as long as you dont sub it for more nutrition you are fine.  i make sure i get enough protein and complex carbs and such when i do big fruit days.

you pee out fruit.

Well...Ive always been told that fruit sugar is ok, and its healthy, but could be a problem if your not getting enough of the other nutrients.  But 1000 cals doesnt really seem like enough to eat, maybe you should speak with a nutritionist.  You probably need at least 1500 calories or more.

I think it is great to eat as much fruit as you want, especially when it is in season and available locally; however, without protein to balance out the carbohydrates my blood sugar gets out of whack.  Blood sugar spikes can signal the body to store fat.  So if you eat a little protein with your fruit to keep your blood sugar even you should be fine. 

Supposedly fruit sugar, which is the same as xylitol, doesn't spike insulin. Sooo... I don't know if that helps but its not the same as cane sugar.

first of all, you can eat too much of anything. the sugar in fruit is natural, and therefore not bad for you, but that doesn't mean you base your whole diet off of fruits. remember to get meat, dairy, vegetables, whole grains, and the occasional scoop of icecream into your diet as well. ;)

also, 1000-1200 calories is not enough. you need at least 1200 a day, and that's only if you're sedentary. if you're male, you need at least 1500 when sedentary. if you eat less than 1200, you won't lose fat; you'll lose muscle. what are your stats (age, gender, height, weight, etc)?

Hi everybody, 

Thank you for all your thoughtful replies.

Stats:

• Male:
  
• Height 5'9"
  
• Current weight 180
• Age 53

Ideal weight: Weight at which I have been happiest - 150 ish although my doctor was ecstatic when I got down to 180 and said that 170 was fine for me.

Recent history: September 07 to March 08 dropped from 240 to 170

In December it appeared that I had an elevated blood sugar level. By the time I was retested (early March) things looked normal. We attributed this to the weight loss. I weighed about 175 at the time. By the end of March I was 170.   

Held at 170 until May and decided to let counting calories go and just relax a bit. I had a very quiet summer activity wise and settled back into some old bad habits. 

By the end of August I was back to 185.  I started counting the calories again two weeks  ago and I'm back to 180. 

Diet

I stopped eating meat a year ago. I'm eating pollock, tuna, liquid egg whites, salmon and almonds for protein. Tons of salad. It's easy to do a 3 pound bag in two days. And lately, fruit has replaced a lot of the vegetables I used to eat. For all of that, I still have to top-up with some oatmeal and bran to get up over 1000 calories a day on some days. 

I am fairly sedentary and Calorie Count estimates I'll burn 2050 calories a day.

On active days I may burn another 1000 calories and when I do I eat more. Perhaps half of what I burn that exceeds the base 2000 calories. 

 

Thanks for all your answers. I hope this additional information helps.

I would suggest you redo your CC calculations based on 'light' activity.  Very few people are completely sedentary and you can get a skewed result if you're not careful.  'Light' allows for 2 or 3 days a week where you do some formal exercise.  A slightly higher regular calorie intake means you avoid the bad habit of eating next to nothing for several days and then jumping the calorie intake up on the next. 

You can eat too much fruit.  Luckily a lot of the things you list are not the super-sweet kinds of fruit e.g. pears and kiwifruit.   I think - at the same time as raising your average intake - it would be a good idea to add some wholegrains and complex carbohydrates to your diet.   Oatmeal for breakfast, a slice of wholegrain bread with lunch, a little brown rice with supper.... doesn't have to be massive quantities to help keep your blood-sugars stable.   You're probably getting fats from nuts and fish but you could also afford to include a little more from olive oil, whole eggs and so forth.  You don't mention dairy products at all.... 2 portions of those a day is usually recommended.   By including a greater variety of foods it would mean you were getting a broader range of nutrition - B & E vitamins especially. Best of luck.

Hi gi-jane,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments.

I went back and looked at the CC description for 

Sedentary

• At work - you work in an office
• At home - you're usually sitting, reading, typing or working at a computer
• Exercise - you don't exercise regularly

This is pretty accurate for me. 12-18 hours a day at the computer (online support, three concurrent projects).  I have no formal exercise regime. However,  two or three times a week  I will get out and do some public speaking or performance.  This typically means marching around speaking and exerting as much energy as a stage actor.  This can be anywhere from 3 to 7 hours in a day. 

I try not to fluctuate a lot in my calorie intake. If I'm below 1000 at 11:00 at night, I will have some oatmeal and bran buds or whole wheat pita bread to get me up over 1000.  On the really active days I might get as high as 1500.
I do have the occasional banana, pear or kiwi, but I count the calories and stay within my overall plan.

I don't get much dairy. I am lactose intolerant. But I do have lo-cal cheese and yoghurt on most days. I also take multi-vitamins daily and  extra doses of vitamin E and Calcium. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.

Thanks again for your input.

 

Because you're male you actually need 1500 cals every day as your absolute bare minimum just to function properly.   CC should not be recommending an intake less than that as it contravenes their code of practice. 

If you're very active for 2 or 3 days for 3 - 7 hours at a time you are 'lightly active' as an average for the week.  Which means, I suspect, you'd need rather more than 1500 as standard.   Severe undereating is not the most efficient way to control your weight and it has other implications on your health and wellbeing.   It also makes it extraordinarily difficult to maintain your new weight long-term.

 

Hi gi-jane,

Thanks again for your reply, and what reads like some concern. 

I don't think I fit into this category.

Light Activity

• At work - you walk a lot
• At home - you keep yourself busy and move a lot
• Exercise - you participate in light exercise or take long walks

I'm just not that active. 

 CC should not be recommending an intake less than that as it contravenes their code of practice.  

CC hasn't made any recommendations to me about intake less than 1500. I came up with my er.. plan ... on my own.

I really just want to get back to 170 or mid 160's. I was planning on then upping my calorie intake to match my expenditures so that things would stay level. It's my own negligence that I bounced up again. I had some life-changes and took those as an excuse to put my attention elsewhere (and stop watching every bite).

My main concern this week was whether or not eating 6-8 pieces of (not excessively sweet) fruit per day was going to put my sugar balance at risk. Worst case, we're looking at say 500 calories of fruit.  I was just concerned about the CC description on almost all fruit that it is "Very high in sugar".

I'm due to see the doctor in about six weeks.  I was hoping to be back to down to a decent weight by then. And then I'll talk to him about maintenance. 

 

Thanks again for your reply.

My concern is that, even if you are sedentary, you are eating far too little for an adult male to stay healthy.   Starving yourself, to be blunt.

Original Post by driventon:

Supposedly fruit sugar, which is the same as xylitol, doesn't spike insulin. Sooo... I don't know if that helps but its not the same as cane sugar.

 

If you test your blood sugar with a typical meter, after eating a lot of sweet fruit, you'll see a much higher level than you did before eating it. It may not have the traditional raise-and-crash that refined sugars give you, but eating sweet fruit DOES raise your blood sugar.

Skinnydude1 ~

The recommended minimum for an adult female is 1200 calories and 1500 calories for an adult male.

Here is a very rough scientific break down provided by a dietician for a 5' 2", 19 year old female weighing approximately 100 pounds, sitting around all day and doing nothing:

-The heart needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The kidney needs 12% of the calories (144 cals)
-The Liver needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The brain needs 23% of the calories (276 cals)
-The skeletal muscle needs 30% of the calories (360 cals)

I entered your stats into the Burn Meter and got the following:

2000 calories - Sedentary
2300 calories - Light Activity
2600 calories - Moderate Activity
2900 calories - Very Active

Do you enter your exercise and activities into the Burn Meter? 

The simplestway to determine what your calorie intake should be is to set your activity level accordingly and then add in any extra activities or workouts that you do not normally do.  Once you have your total estimated calories burned (the top number on the burn meter), subtract 500-700 calories from that and that will be your calorie intake for the day.  But do not go below the recommended 1500 calories a day.

The closer you get to your goal weight, the smaller your deficit will get.  This means that your weight loss will slow.  So take it in stride and be happy with the great progress you are making.

~ UTR
Volunteer Moderator

Hi UnderTheRainbow,

Thank you for your comprehensive reply.

I went back and looked at the Burn Meter. I had the settings the same as you had, and then I entered my new goal weight. A couple of screens later I get the recommendation of 1500 calories. 

"Once you have your total estimated calories burned (the top number on the burn meter), subtract 500-700 calories from that and that will be your calorie intake for the day. "

I have been entering activities in the Burn Meter, but I did not have this part clear in my mind. Thanks for that guidance.

Everybody is pretty adamant that I should not be below 1500 calories a day. So I guess I'll have to up my general activity level in order to burn through the weight a little faster.

I could probably get to an average burn of say 2200 calories a day and consume 1500. That gives me a deficit of 700 calories / day. I think I've read that it takes a net deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound.  So doing that I should be able to lose 10 pounds in 50 days. (50 days x 700 calories = 35,000 / 3500 = 10). Does that sound right?

Thank you for your thoughts. 

 

Are you using the Burn Meter or they Calorie Target Tool?  It sounds like the Calorie Tool which is completely different.

The thing about entering your information the in the Burn Meter calculator is that it gives you a generic estimate based on the level of activity you select.

But if you enter your activities into your Activity Log, it will automatically update your personalized Burn Meter on your My Account - My Home page.  The top number is your Total Estimate for calories burned throughout the day.  The body number reflects the amount of calories you have burned up to that minute.  When calculating your calories for the day, be sure to use the top number of the Burn Meter and readjust as needed depending on if your activity level for the day increases or decreases.

And yes, try not to go below 1500 calories a day. 

I agree that you can eat too much of anything. Last night I had some grapes as a snack while I watched TV. In the past I would have eaten too many. Now, with high sugar fruits like grapes, I weigh out the portion I want to stay within my daily goal of 1400. It's a still a satisfying snack.