Medical science has made immense progress yet the world over, numbers of ailing people continue to rise. Exhausted and tired of guzzling down medicines and later dealing with their side effects, people are now adopting a natural lifestyle to heal from health issues.

A natural lifestyle requires you to eat plenty of plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables & whole grains. But the “sugars” present in fruits often makes people sceptical, especially diabetics, as it is believed that the sugar levels will further worsen. Hence, they shy away from eating fruits or eat only a few selected fruits. 

Let’s debunk the most common misconceptions around fruits & delve a little deeper. 

Food of our ancestors
We are living in a time when habits & practises that our great ancestors followed are making a grand reappearance with science-backed claims of their glories and efficiency. One such popular study argues that the diets of our ancestors were aplenty of indigenous whole fruits. It further suggests that our jaws and masticatory system have very well adapted to eating not just a handful, but a bulk of fruits.

Nature has equipped each organism with body parts and functionality to eat the species-specific food. Our agility to climb trees, skilled hands, opposable thumbs, and affinity for sweetness are perfectly suited to look for fruits, grab and eat them. Our true ancestors are apes like gorillas, bonobos and chimps and their primary diet is fruit.

Fruits contain sugars. Won’t it lead to diabetes?
All sugars are not equal. If a diabetic were to pick between bread and fruit, the latter would be a better choice, any day. Researchers Wolever & Miller observed that natural sugars in fruit and fruit juices resulted in a lowered blood glucose, compared with refined starchy foods. In his book, Practical Nature Cure, Dr K Lakshmana Sarma writes- “the kind of sugar that is good for health is that which nature provides in fruits. It is well balanced with all the positive factors, vitamins and organic mineral salts”.

The body has to break down all complex foods into simpler foods before absorption. Fruits are pre-digested by nature, which means they already have fructose. They are ready for assimilation – i.e. fructose is directly absorbed by the bloodstream and enters cells through diffusion without the need of the insulin hormone or other digestive enzymes.

Typically, in diabetics, the function of the pancreas is compromised. Hence when eating fruits, the pancreatic enzymes are not needed and the organ gets a complete rest to heal faster. Additionally, fruits also contain viscous fibre (pectin) and a lot of natural water that further slows down the digestion and diffusion of sugars into the bloodstream. 

How many fruits can I eat in a day? Will it cause weight gain?
Fruits contain two major types of fiber. The outer covering of most fruits is insoluble fibre- called cellulose and hemicellulose. And the pulp of fruits contains soluble fibre- such as pectin. These fibres increase the bulk in our intestines and slow down the passage of food. The brain quickly gets a message that the gut is full and you tend to feel full much quicker, than low fiber foods. Thus, fruit consumption is self-limiting. 

Hence do not worry about the number of fruits to eat as your body will tell you. But it is possible to under-eat fruits. Nature cure recommends at least 50% of your diet should be fruits. So make sure to always replenish your fruit basket.

For maximal assimilation, fruits are not advised to be combined with fats, nuts, seeds or any other food group, except for leafy greens.

Are there good and bad fruits?
All fruits are good for you – Just remember these conditions – they must be ripe, naturally tasty, seasonal and regional. 

There is an often repeated concern about the glycemic index content of some fruits, like mangoes or chikoos, and hence diabetics or those with weight issues are advised not to consume such fruits. 

Dr Douglas Graham in his book ‘The 80/10/10 diet” explains how glycemic index should be considered along with glycemic load. The glycemic index tells you how quickly carbohydrates turn into blood sugar.  The glycemic load is calculated by multiplying a food's glycemic index value by the amount of available carbohydrate per serving

Fruits, which are mostly water, have a low glycemic load even though they rate high on the glycemic index.  Hence, there is no need to fear fruits.

Dry fruits like raisins, dry figs, apricots, dates have to be limited in consumption (around 5 or 6 ) in a day as they are lower in water content.

Fruits from their nutritive perspective
Diabetes is often associated with fatigue, intense cravings and weakness. Fruits are full of pre-digested carbs that help the body to digest them easily, reducing cravings and weakness. Rich in fibre, water, anti-oxidants, alkaline minerals, they are nature’s ready to go, nutrient-dense, fast foods, suitable for all age groups and health conditions

The real culprit
Any high-fat foods, especially without fibre like animal fat, vegetable oils etc inhibit the proper functioning of the body and do not allow the sugars obtained after digestion to enter body cells. Hence these should be very much limited or eliminated from the diet for proper metabolism.

“It's the addiction to refined sugar & polished rice, sieved maida and processed foods that is causing diabetes in people”says Dr Arun Sharma, a pioneer in the natural health movement.

So let’s take the blame off those innocent and sweet fruits already! Limit your intake of refined and processed foods and replace them with a big bowl of fresh, juicy and colourful fruits.

References

• Fruits

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