Fruit – Helpful Or Harmful?

Friday, August 18, 2017
Kente Bates, Oregon Sports News

REMINDER: This article and its opinions are not a substitute for sound medical advice. Please seek the advice of your primary care provider on anything relating to your health.

With the astronomical rates of obesity across the board in today’s America, as with other eras, people have turned to fruits and vegetables to shed pounds, slash fat and kick-start a new, healthful lifestyle. Recent evidence now shows quite the opposite.

With an 83% obesity rate, the U.S. is on pace for an economic shake-up just on healthcare alone. We all know that a lot of our food is and has been chemically altered and doctored. The gluten-free lifestyle is a testament to that. But what about fruit? It’s supposed to be good for you, right? Fruit is an excellent choice to stay full, crush cravings and leave you full and satisfied. But fruit also has a high sugar content naturally. Ever notice how people become literally addicted to beer? It’s because of the high sugar content in most adult libations.

Recent clinical studies link the consumption of fruit juice to obesity. This study basically concluded what has been thought for a long time: fruit juice is merely fruit-flavored sugar water. Most fruit juices have flavor packs, coloring added to it to give it a richer, fuller flavor, texture and look. They also contain more calories and even fat than your average carbonated soft drink.  As bad as that sounds, preservatives are added to these juice drinks. The links to autism, diabetes as well as obesity abound.

Most of sugar in fruit juice is fructose. Upon hitting the liver, excess fructose will be stored as fat. The fat can lodge in the liver and contribute to liver fat and insulin resistance.

Empty calories are the name of the game for sugary snacks and drinks, and fruit juice is no different. These drinks do not fill you. Instead these drinks spike hunger so you will eat more.

In closing, become a label reader as a good number of health foods have been found to be fraudulent. Please select whole fruits and vegetables that still have the fiber content in it. The obesity, autism risks would be cut in half if people would select better