Poisonous Fruit

Well now way back in the Bible

Temptations always come along

There's always somebody tempting

Somebody into doing something they know is wrong

They say Eve tempted Adam with an apple

But man I ain't going for that 

                    Bruce Springsteen 1984

 

Fruit is Sugar Corn Pops.  When I was a kid watching the Saturday morning cartoons, it seemed like every commercial for the sweet cereals would say they were “fortified with 10 essential vitamins".  I was only about 6 or 7, but even I knew that was a crock.  I knew that stuff was bad for you; that's why my mom told me to eat my vegetables and not to "eat your Sugar Corn Pops and Peanut Butter Captain Crunch”.

 

         The difference is fruit is horrible for you, but no one seems to have figured this out.  All the focus has been on the good things that fruit has in it, like antioxidants and vitamins.  While this is true, that is far outweighed by the fact that fruit is sky high in sugars and carbohydrates.  Basically, you’re going to get fat loading up on fruit, and then you’ll have far greater problems than whether you get enough antioxidants in your system.

         The numbers aren't pretty.  A banana will cost you about 30 carbs, a pear 25, an apple 20.  The carbs are almost all sugar.  If juice is your thing, it raises your blood sugar even faster than the same solid food does (please don't ask me the science on why).  I can't think of a faster way to get sugar in your blood stream, unless you want to go Breaking Bad and inject it.

         Somehow fruit and vegetables have gotten lumped in together in the national consciousness, as if both are equally healthy.  If I could point to one major factor as to why we have an obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country, it would be this.  People are starting out their mornings downing almost 100 carbs, feeling physically great for about 30 minutes because they're on a sugar high, and feeling psychologically great because they think they just ate a healthy breakfast.  Let's keep this simple: vegetables are great for you and most of them are low-carb, while fruit is the opposite. 

         Someone told me that the Weight Watchers meal plan calls for an unlimited amount of fruit.  If this is true, you're going to have a lot of fat dieters.  Let's keep this simple part two: all sugars spike your blood sugar and are bad for you, whether fruit sugar, cane sugar, etc.  Until people start understanding the difference between fruit and vegetables, our health problems in this country will continue to get worse.

         Have a good night everyone.

         JR