Fruit Issues

[Guest guest]

Three points to consider:

(1) Personally, I eat 2-4 servings of fruit daily. From the

literature I've read, there are significant nutrients available in a

wide variety of fruits. Even on a *significantly* Calorie Reduced

(CR) diet, as what was practiced for two years in Biosphere 2 (see

Walford for details), there was enough " room " in the diet,

calorically, for some fruit. Given this, I don't see a complete

avoidance of fruit as justified by a CRON diet. There are plenty of

pluses to the consumption of a wide variety of fruit (something

Walford advocates), and really no minuses (except for the calorie

issue...but two servings/day of low glycemic index fruits is a mere

200-250 calories and you get substantial nutrition from these foods).

In fact, the ON part of CRON suggests the inclusion of *some* fruit.

However, to complicate matters, the amount, and type, will obviously

vary with individual personalities and biochemistry. While we are,

essentially, all cut from the " same cloth, " there are distinct and

frequently important physiological differences betwixt " thee and

me. " It seems unnecessarily dogmatic, to assume that there is

one " right " way for each human body. This is an underlying subtext

that I hear sometimes in this list, as well as ALL others that I've

come across. I think this disposition has something to do with the

profound and unconscious need human beings have for security. We

operate out of a conditioning that subtly informs us that if we can

find THE " right way " to be or do or consume, then we will be " safe, "

having covered all the bases. In nutrition, as in virtually every

other facet of life, that just isn't how Reality functions. Although

we wish it did. :-)))

(2) The June 2003 issue of Nutrition Action Newsletter

(http://www.cspinet.org/nah/) details their survey of fruits: which

have the most nutrients, per serving. They " rate " the over fifty

common fruits, basing their assessment on how much one serving of

each individual fruit contains in the way of six primary nutrients

(e.g., Vit C, Folate, Potassium), plus carotenoids. They did not,

however, take into account the glycemix index; this is evident as the

one of the top picks (Number Two, actually), was watermelon, which is

VERY high on the GI. (Again, that is not, necessarily, a reason to

avoid consuming it, in moderation, ALONG WITH OTHER FOODS. Someone

who is sugar-sensitive, however, would be advised to steer clear of

that particlar fruit. Apples, esp. Granny s, are VERY low on

the GI and full of nutrients; no justification for avoiding *that*

unless it doesn't satisfy your tastebuds.) The article also contains

extremely useful advice as to how to select ripe (and high quality)

fruits.

(3) The concern about the GI of fruits needs to be held in the

overall context of a diet. Anyone who has an " issues " with the GI of

fruit, its sugar content and how the body responds to it, would be

well advised to read and study a book with which I am sure many of

you are already familiar: " The New Glucose Revolution " by Brand-

, Wolever, et al. The new, completely revised and updated

edition came out early this year and it has a WEALTH of data on how

the high blood-sugar levels are " provoked " by some foods and not by

others, and the authors pull no punches as they explain what they

know about the GI and insulinemia and what - at this time - they

don't know with any scientific certainty. Anyone doubting

these " guys " creditials should keep in mind that they were the ones

who coined the term Glycemic Index and they have been involved in on-

going research into that one area for over twenty years. I find

their presentation credible, reliable and very balanced (if they

don't know something for a certainty they *say* so...making it clear

where they are hypothesizing).

~ andy