How Sweet It Is: High Sugar Fruits in a Raw Food Diet

Few raw foodists will argue that fruit is the mainstay of a raw food diet. Most raw foodists also agree that humans are biologically predisposed to be fruititarians (which is actually a misnomer, since fruititarians typically eat greens, nuts and seeds in addition to fruit). However, for many raw foodists struggling with excess weight, or for those with diabetes, pre-diabetes, PCOS, candida or other sugar related or insulin resistant health issues, a diet consisting primarily of sweet fruits may hinder progress in their journey to health.

A steady diet of high sugar fruits may impede weight loss for many obese raw foodists, just as a raw diet high in fat may affect others. This is not to say that raw foodists are not able to lose weight on a high-sugar or high-fat raw food diet. Many can, and do. However, for overweight or obese raw foodists, compulsive eaters, or those with the aforementioned ailments who are frustrated with slow or stalled weight loss, analyzing their intake of sweet fruits and fine-tuning their raw diet accordingly may be just the answer that will jump start their weight loss.

If your raw food diet isn’t giving you the results you desire, you may want to experiment with consuming less sweet fruit, including more non-sweet fruit and vegetables in your diet, as well as sweet fruits that are low on the Glycemic Index.

"The glycemic index (GI) is a numerical system of measuring how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers—the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response. So a low GI food will cause a small rise, while a high GI food will trigger a dramatic spike. A GI of 70 or more is high, a GI of 56 to 69 inclusive is medium, and a GI of 55 or less is low.

The glycemic load (GL) is a relatively new way to assess the impact of carbohydrate consumption that takes the glycemic index into account, but gives a fuller picture than does glycemic index alone. A GI value tells you only how rapidly a particular carbohydrate turns into sugar. It doesn't tell you how much of that carbohydrate is in a serving of a particular food. You need to know both things to understand a food's effect on blood sugar. That is where glycemic load comes in. The carbohydrate in watermelon, for example, has a high GI. But there isn't a lot of it, so watermelon's glycemic load is relatively low. A GL of 20 or more is high, a GL of 11 to 19 inclusive is medium, and a GL of 10 or less is low.

Foods that have a low GL almost always have a low GI. Foods with an intermediate or high GL range from very low to very high GI." 1

However, not all bananas, or oranges, or watermelon is created equal. Apparently a banana in Italy differs from one in the US or Denmark, Canada, or South Africa. For a banana in the US that's slightly under-ripe (yellow with green sections), the index is 42; ripe, the index is 51; and over-ripe (yellow flecked with brown), it's 48. This index shows oranges (Sunkist) to be 48. These values, for both banana and orange, are for servings of 120 grams. (Apples are 40.)

“Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2). They have benefits for weight control because they help control appetite and delay hunger. Low GI diets also reduce insulin levels and insulin resistance.

Eating a lot of high GI foods can be detrimental to your health because it pushes your body to extremes. This is especially true if you are overweight and sedentary. Switching to eating mainly low GI carbs that slowly trickle glucose into your blood stream keeps your energy levels balanced and means you will feel fuller for longer between meals.

* Low GI diets help people lose and control weight
* Low GI diets increase the body's sensitivity to insulin
* Low GI carbs improve diabetes control
* Low GI carbs reduce the risk of heart disease
* Low GI carbs reduce blood cholesterol levels
* Low GI carbs can help you manage the symptoms of PCOS [polycystic ovarian syndrome]
* Low GI carbs reduce hunger and keep you fuller for longer
* Low GI carbs prolong physical endurance
* High GI carbs help re-fuel carbohydrate stores after exercise". 2

Dr. Gabriel Cousens contends that the “number-one type of food that deranges the biological terrain is any food that is high in sugar.” He includes in this list fruits that contain a high amount of sugar or have a high glycemic index. He claims that it is “absolutely essential to eliminate these from the diet in order to restore the biological terrain to normal and to decrease and eliminate the mycosis that most people have..." 3

Paul Nison states, “It plainly states in the glycemic index that some fruits require more insulin than others. Any food or fruit above fifty on the glycemic index will require more insulin or another food which is low on the glycemic index to change the index. It would be wise to eat lettuce and celery when eating a lot of fruit. You can also eat non-sweet fruit with sweet fruit. Non-sweet fruit is digested more like a vegetable than a fruit. Over eating on fruit can also lead to demineralization of your teeth and decay.” 4

In addition to incorporating more non-sweet fruits and those on the low to moderate Glycemic Index, there are other ways to have your (raw) cake and eat it too – that is to enjoy your sweet fruits without hampering your weight loss or blood sugar stabilizing goals. Add lots of greens (spinach, kale, parsley, collards, celery, etc.) to your fruit smoothies. Dilute fruit juice with water or slowly sip your juice and mix it with your saliva before swallowing. This may help lower your intake of sweet fruit, level your blood sugars and speed weight loss.

Go to www.glycemicindex.com to search the database by putting in the name of the food. At www.mendosa.com, the foods are listed by type.

1. www.mendosa.com

2. www.glycemicindex.com

3. Cousens, Gabriel. Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. 2004. www.treeoflife.nu

4. www.paulnison.com/articles.htm

©2005 Raw Food Boot Camp