The Thing About Fruit
Why do we care about our health? It is for the here and now only, or is it for your future? There are so many aspects to consider for both, but let’s focus on just one. No matter the reason for your attention to your health, here is the thing about fruit. Yes, fruit is a healthy complex carbohydrate and is full of sugar while full of additional health benefits. So let’s look at the thing about fruit.
HARM REDUCTION
When it comes to something sweet, fruit is often what the body is wanting. Listening and understanding your inner signals is a practice we support with our clients during their first year with our program. When making a lifestyle change, it is bringing awareness to these signals and feeding the body with quality food, (whole food) instead of processed foods. We call this harm reduction. It is a strategy we coach within our program as we focus on shifting your mindset and lifestyle. Choosing fruit over a treat provides you with some sweetness, texture, and flavor you are really craving.
LONGEVITY
An increase in fruit intake is just part of a healthy lifestyle that reduces the risks of all causes of mortality. A balanced intake of quality whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts supports the body’s need for nutrients for healthy cells to support longevity. (Ekmekcioglu, 2020) As we focus on fruit, sometimes it gets a bad wrap. The high glycemic index fruits can have can be a “no-no”.
Remember that humans first lived on food that was found and grown on the Earth. The fruit has been part of our diet since our earliest ancestors. When first making a lifestyle change, don’t worry about the glycemic index of fruit. Instead, focus more on consuming whole foods, whole fruit. As we make this mindset switch to consuming more whole foods and cooking with whole foods, it supports one aspect of your health to help you live a longer life.
INSULIN MANAGEMENT
When we look at Metabolic Balance® nutrition plans, one of the focuses of food choices is to support managing insulin levels. Insulin levels aren’t typically on someone’s radar who doesn’t deal with blood sugar issues and/or any kind of diabetes. Insulin levels play a major role in our daily life and affect how we feel though.
When you eat, your body breaks down the food into glucose (which most of us are familiar with this term). Glucose is the main energy source for your body. In order for glucose to enter the cells, insulin needs to be secreted by your pancreas which provides your cells with fuel.
While we think providing fuel all the time to our body is a good thing, it can be taxing on your digestive system. This can cause your insulin levels to remain high. Our body needs a “fasting period” to normalize and not be taxing on the body.
So how does fruit come into this? Often times when we feel the effects of low blood sugar, we grab “fast carbs” such as pop, sugar, and simple carbohydrates such as bread. This boost helps fast and you feel the effects of it almost immediately. But then too soon, we start to crash again and are looking for something to eat again. When you choose to have a fruit or mixed fruits, your body is provided with complex carbohydrates. These complex carbohydrates break down slower (longer to digest) that include a healthy amount of natural sugar for a slow rise and fall of your insulin levels. This slow rise and fall will help you avoid the crash later.
APPLE A DAY
One of the 8 daily strategies for success with a Metabolic Balance® lifestyle is consuming an apple a day. If fruit is not something you have on a regular basis or buy a bunch but let it go bad before you eat it… yes, I know how that goes!… choose just one fruit. An apple a day has the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” and is held up because of the bountiful amount of nutrients that an apple contains.
The skin of the apple contains polyphenols which are a type of antioxidant that combat free radicals. (Free radicals are like little alien ships that go around harming healthy cells. Antioxidants are the army that combats those little alien ships.) Providing your body with at least an apple a day gives you a boost of nutrients and antioxidants to start allowing your body to turn over healthy cells and allow healing and health.
So the thing about fruit
Fruit is just one important part of a Metabolic Balance® plan that provides just a small part of a bigger picture that helps your body rejuvenate and gain the sense of health you are wanting for yourself. While we work with a single fruit at each meal as a lifestyle, taking those first steps towards a healthier you and getting into the mindset of discovering your own personalized Metabolic Balance® plan, start becoming aware of how fruit fits into your daily life. Continue to learn about those first steps with our Best Choices Coaching Approach Blog. And learn more about just a few of the health conditions Metabolic Balance® can support, check out our website page Health Concerns. Then book a Discovery Call to talk with us about Metabolic Balance® as your next step in your health journey.
Resources:
Ekmekcioglu C. Nutrition and longevity – From mechanisms to uncertainties. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;60(18):3063-3082. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2019.1676698. Epub 2019 Oct 21. PMID: 31631676.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypoglycemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373685
https://www.metabolic-balance.us/Healthy-Life/Old-Apple-Varieties
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