Fruit
Fruit is a group of exclusively vegetable foods, typically sugary and consumed mainly raw;
However, fruit is a VERY important food source, thanks to the high nutritional content of vitamins, mineral salts, soluble fiber, polyphenols, antioxidants in general, fructose and water. Obviously, the fruit is not all the same and its nutritional composition varies mainly based on:
- Botanical variety
- Climate and growth environment
- Cultivation method
- Freshness or conservation
The energy intake of sugary fruit derives mainly from carbohydrates, in particular fructose, while the lipid content and the protein content are marginal; on the other hand, some types of fruit are known which have a high lipid content (apart from the whole category of dried fruit, the best known are coconut and avocado).
Why can too much fruit harm?
To be honest, I personally do not believe that fruit can be labeled as a group of foods that are harmful to health, although it is appropriate to make some considerations on the subject:
- Eating frequently with fruit of ambiguous origin is NOT a hygienically correct habit; everyone knows that traditional agriculture makes systematic use of chemicals to ensure the yield of cultivation. By buying fruit of national derivation, even if not organic, one has (or should have) the guarantee that these chemical agents are metabolised TOTALLY from the fruit plant and that they do not remain to a significant extent within the food itself ... but this this does not necessarily happen in foreign productions (above all of extra European origin). Many countries (in addition to using Pesticides prohibited in the European community) do not respect the quantities and times necessary to restore the purity of the fruit; in this case, frequent consumption of foreign fruit could lead to excessive intake of unwanted contaminants (a classic example is that of bananas). Ultimately, too much contaminated fruit could significantly harm the health of the consumer.
- Several innovative dietary regimes (so to speak ...) suggest using fruit and vegetables to reach the minimum level of carbohydrates in the diet AVOIDING cereals and sometimes legumes; this principle is based:
- On the reduced capacity of fructose to stimulate insulin
- On the body's need to convert fructose into glucose, a liver process that reduces its glycemic index.
Starting from the assumption that: if it is true that fructose stimulates little insulin, it is equally true that the glucose derived is in itself an insulin-stimulating factor! Furthermore, exceeding with the fructose intake is observed (analogous to other carbohydrates) a marked hepatic synthesis of fatty acids aimed at the adipose deposit.
Ultimately, fruit is a good source of carbohydrates with a low glycemic index and insulin but ONLY if introduced in adequate portions (max 300-400g at a time, based on the specific characteristics of the fruit). Last but not least, it has been shown by some studies that the fructose ECESS can hurt above all to metabolic patients (for an overload of hepatic processes) and to nephropathic patients (for negative impact on the already compromised kidney function) .
- Now let's tackle the topic FOOD FIBER and ANTI-NUTRITIONAL MOLECULES; remember that fruit has good amounts of dietary fiber and anti-nutritional molecules which, if in excess, can cause nutritional malabsorption. To demonstrate that eating only fruit can cause an excess of dietary fiber, we will give a brief example below:
"... if it is true that the minimum quantity of carbohydrates to be introduced with the diet (necessary to guarantee the functioning of the nervous system) is equal to 180g / day (LARN sources), and considering that a fruit such as pear (Pyrus communis) brings 9.5g of fructose and 2.8g of fiber per 100g ... to reach at least the recommended 180g, it would be necessary to eat about 1.9kg of pears per day (200g each, for a total of 9.5 per day) which they would carry over 50g of dietary fiber in total! I would say a little too much ... considering that the fiber should be introduced in quantities of about 30g / day.
On the contrary, the anti-nutritional molecules present in fruit (as well as in vegetables, especially raw) do not have a minimum recommended ration to follow and by logic we would be induced to assume as little as possible; Paradoxically, among these we also recognize powerful antioxidants, or polyphenols and tannins, molecules that are very useful for the body but which (if in excess within the intestinal lumen) chelate metals and reduce their bioavailability (such as eg. iron, important for hemoglobin synthesis); other elements such as oxalates do not have any nutritional value BUT (always in the intestine) they significantly reduce the bioavailability of calcium (important for osteogenesis).
To conclude, even in this respect, eating TROPPA fruit is absolutely not a good food habit.
