Fruits and weight loss diets..

Hey guys, i've been reading recently about fruits in weight loss diets and i'm sorta confused. Some say you shouldn't eat fruits when tryting to lose weight at all (only complex carhbs), some say you should minimize fruit intake, and yet, there are ppl who say fruits are harmless to weight loss. What do you think, what is the daily allowance for fruits? I don't eat any complex CH, i eat only fruits, not too much of it tho (i think), like 2 apples and 2 oranges a day maybe ... so, what are your thoughts on this matter ? What fruits and in what amount should we take (when we're trying to lose weight)  thanks

Hi mefhisto_!

Fruits are a great source of may different vitamins and fiber, and they are very healthy. They do have a lot of sugar, though, as you stated.

I wouldn't listen to any of the positions you stated above. In the end, what matters most is how many calories you take in Vs. how many calories you take out. You can eat as much fruit as you want and still lose weight as long as it's under your calorie limit.

As far as complex carbs go, are you sure you're not eating any? They're pretty easy to get in.

As a rule of thumb, you can eat anything in moderation; moderation is key. I promise, the most successful dieters didn't deprive themselves of what they craves most but rather controlled how much they ate! :)

That said, you would definitely be better off eating too much fruit rather than too much chocolate! Focus on the bigger picture!

Let me preface my answer by saying that I am by no means any sort of expert; I only know what I've heard and what has worked for me.

Most people say to limit fruits because of all of the sugars in fruit. However, IMO, these are natural sugars and part of a balanced diet and nothing to be afraid of. I personally don't shy away from fruits because of sugar. I simply worry about the calories I am consuming each day and it seems to work for me. On an average day I will have at least one apple, one banana as well as some other fruit along the lines of watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple, oranges, etc. and I have lost about 30 lbs since June 1st.

In short, I don't think you should be afraid of eating fruits at all but should embrace them as a low fat, low calorie, healthy part of your eating regimen.

i ate tons of fruits to lose my weight & i still eat them while maintaining.  just try it & see what happens.  what can it hurt?  i think it might work different for different people.  i dunno.

oh, and i DO mean tons!  :D

Fruits are awesome!  Don't let them go!  I lost a lot of weight eating about 2 servings (or even 3 sometimes) of fruit a day, and still am losing weight eating that amount of fruit.  You need fruit.  It has wonderful vitamins and nutrients that we need.  Berries provide wonderful antioxidants, apples provide fiber, banana's help with electrolytes (potassium), oranges and mangoes provide good amounts of vitamin C.....

Just eat in moderation.  Moderation & balance is key.

Fruit is so full of vitamins, phytonutrients and fibre - don't stop eating it! Yes it has sugar but it is natural not added sugar, so don't worry about it. I lost weight eating around 5-6 pieces of fruit a day. If you find you have sugar highs and lows, you might want to limit yourself to 2-3 pieces per day; but otherwise don't worry about it.

I'd also add that a lot of people are confused about what "complex carbohydrates" are, and mistake them for whole-grains. Complex carbs are all starches; therefore, white bread, brown bread, croissants, cakes and pastries, white pasta and breakfast cereals are complex carbs, while fruits which contain the single sugar fructose are simple carbs! Table sugar is another example of a simple carbohydrate.

So don't worry about whether carbs are simple or complex - aim for wholegrains and getting in your daily fruit + veg instead.

Don't want to get too technical here but complex and simple carbohydrates usually pertains to the properties of an unprocessed food.  Oats for example are a complex carbohydrate but in processing going from an oat groat, to common large flake oats to quick oats, with each level of processing they rise on the glycemic index thereby affecting your blood sugar in a negative manner with each rise.  Oat groats are much better for your pancreas and blood sugar levels than quick oats, but technically both are from a complex carbohydrate source. 

White flour in white bread, of course comes from wheat, which is a complex carbohydrate, but once you strip out most of the fibre and nutrition, it goes way up on the glycemic scale as white bread again negatively impacting your blood sugar. 

As Meryl said, whole grains are the key and learning to decipher nutrition labels is also key if you are buying lots of packaged, processed foods.   If the first ingredient on the list is not a whole grain, then it doesn't matter what the advertising says or the fancy words on the package, it's not whole grain.

Everyone here is right. The vitamins, water, and fiber content in fruit more than makes up for the amount of sugar in them. Plus, they are low in calories and most fruit is low on the GI scale. If you're concerned about insulin spikes, you might want to consider a GI diet. I am planning to start one once I plan out my family's menus. (It would be so much easier and faster if it were just me.)