Natural Sugars

[RighteousYogini]

Hey All
Is it possible to eat too much sugar when 100% raw? I'm sure too much agave is possible . . but what about the natural sugars from fruit? Also, when people refer to smoothies, do they mainly mean fruit based whereas juicing mainly means vegetable based? Or is the difference purely pulp versus no pulp?
thanks!!

PS. Has anyone seen MIMI KIRK????? holy MAN!!! I think she's influenced me to be 100% starting tomorrow!! Google her if you dont know who Im talking about!

[sport]

They say that you should "eat your fruit and juice your veg"
Fruit juice is not good as you get a sugar hit without the fibre to slow down its intake.
I do add an apple to my morning veg juice to sweeten it but I would not juice apples on their own.

[dime]

Fruit juice is not good as you get a sugar hit without the fibre to slow down its intake.
You can always substitute that fibre with a bit of fat (olive oil, or smth similar), it will slow it down just as good. But what's more important it not to eat too much fruit or drink too much juice at once, but break it down as much as possible.

[modernmonkey]

I believe sugar in fresh fruit is fine and can be eaten in excess. Refined sugars found in agave, honey, dates, raisins, almond butter etc... should be eaten in considered amounts. That's just my opinion.

[dime]

What do you mean by refined sugars? Not sure what's agave, but honey/dates/raisins have the same sugars found in any fruit, just much more concentrated.

[modernmonkey]

I mean whereby a food has experienced a process that depletes its volume yet maintains its sugar content. Resulting in a higher dosage of sugar per gram. For example: 3 fresh bananas vs 3 dehydrated bananas sliced. The former will satiated hunger, the latter won't, resulting in a higher consumption of food and sugar. If someone's diet is largely based on refined sugars; lots of almond butter and dates etc.... they will end up consuming a great deal more sugar than relying on fresh fruit.

I understand that typically refined sugar is regarded as the 'white death' found in confection and baked goods. But I view dried fruit similarly and believe it can be a new problem for raw foodists as confection is for SAD eaters.

[dime]

Oh right. You simply need to eat less, e.g. 2 dates = 1 apple or so. Dried fruits aren't bad, they are actually quite convenient when you are traveling for example, or at work/school and don't want to bother with fresh fruits all the time. Or when you need some extra energy quickly. As long as you can control yourself on how much you eat they are fine :)

[RighteousYogini]

Okay Thanks Guys. Modern Monkey: you've lost like 20 pounds in such a short time? Are you totally new to this style of eating? So I understand re the sugars..... should we consume MORE veggies than sugars? I have to blend my fruits. I love love love frozen banannas. Someone had said banannas will spike insulin levels but I have a hard time accepting that once, raw, Id have to cut back on certain fruits too!

[modernmonkey]

Hi, I've been honing my diet for years but on the 14th December last year I decided to go raw. I was in the upper part of the ideal weight range but carrying a stone more than I would like. Within 4 weeks I had lost that stone and then some. I chose to follow a simple 80-90% fruit diet plus salad, veg and a small amount of raw protein. I've plateaued now and quite happy with that. My emphasis now is to keep honing the diet because since Christmas I continuously have compromising wobbles.

[modernmonkey]

Oh right. You simply need to eat less, e.g. 2 dates = 1 apple or so. Dried fruits aren't bad, they are actually quite convenient when you are traveling for example, or at work/school and don't want to bother with fresh fruits all the time. Or when you need some extra energy quickly. As long as you can control yourself on how much you eat they are fine :)

This is exactly what I mean. :)

[RighteousYogini]

Good for you. I was highly addicted to raw vegan cheesecake but that wasn't serving my scale very well. Now Im worried that Im eating too many banannas because I love the smoothies Im making so much!

[Elizabeth Rosina]

Great question, and one that I have been curious about as well. I have a classic sugar addiction, and part of changing that was learning about the mechanics of how sugar affects our bodies.

Sucrose = Glucose + Fructose
What's found in a whole, unprocessed food as found in nature.

Glucose = Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide energy to every cell in the body.

Fructose = simple Sugar
Once fiber has been removed (processing) all that is left is fructose.

Beets, sugar cane, agave, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, etc. and fruits separated from their original fiber become a burden to the body to process. The fructose can only be metabolized in the liver, and the liver converts the fructose to fat. The liver then becomes insulin resistant, your body makes more insulin, you store even more fat, and you start to eat even more.

There's lots more, and I recommend you take a look at this wonderful blog: http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/happy_healthy_long_life/2011/03/sugar.html as well as the accompanying video from Robert Lustig.

I'm not a nutritionist, so please do your own research, but bottom line seems to be to just not turn natural sucrose into fructose by removing the glucose! Eat the sugar along with it's accompanying fiber--fresh or dehydrated.

[modernmonkey]

Sucrose = Glucose + Fructose
What's found in a whole, unprocessed food as found in nature.



I have limited knowledge but I understood sucrose to be white refined table sugar, not naturally occurring and very processed.

[dime]

I have limited knowledge but I understood sucrose to be white refined table sugar, not naturally occurring and very processed.
Hm no, all three types of sugar are natural sugars, each fruit contains them in different quantites, mangos for example contain mostly sucrose.

Not sure what this means though

Once fiber has been removed (processing) all that is left is fructose.
It's not just fructose, depending on the fruit it's a combination of glucose, fructose and sucrose.


The fructose can only be metabolized in the liver, and the liver converts the fructose to fat. The liver then becomes insulin resistant, your body makes more insulin, you store even more fat, and you start to eat even more.
This is quite wrong, unless all you eat is fructose.


There's lots more, and I recommend you take a look at this wonderful blog: http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/.../03/sugar.html as well as the accompanying video from Robert Lustig.
Wow, "sugar is the poison, fiber is the antidote"? And "the purpose of fiber is to reduce the rate of its absorption"? You could do that better yourself by eating a little at a time. Fiber is not a nutrient for us, it'll come out as it went in the body and just bother your digestive system in the mean time. It's like eating rocks.

[modernmonkey]

Thanks, I just keep learning.

[Raw Angel Mom]

If your body doesn't react to sweet or fruit, eat as much fresh fruit you want. Mother nature is wise and the whole fruit contains the perfect balance in them. The fructoce gets neutralise etc....

Some people don't do well with fruits but for most people, fruits are very beneficial.

Eat also a good balance of leafy greens. Most of all learn to listen to your body so you can figure out what works for you.

[sport]

Wow, "sugar is the poison, fiber is the antidote"? And "the purpose of fiber is to reduce the rate of its absorption"? You could do that better yourself by eating a little at a time. Fiber is not a nutrient for us, it'll come out as it went in the body and just bother your digestive system in the mean time. It's like eating rocks.
You make it seem like an enemy and that we would be better off separating the fibre from our food and not consuming it at all. This is not the way to go. Foods should be eaten intact. If you take one bit out you do not know what it is in that bit that complements the other bits. Eat it as nature gives it to us.

[dime]

No, my point was it's ridiculous to say that we should eat 50gr fiber per day (what that Dr says). And even more ridiculous to say that in the past we have consumed 100gr/day; we would've evolved into cows by now if that was true..
Eat it whole as it is, but no need to force yourself with fiber.