Fruit: Good Healthy, Breakfast Food for Fat Loss or Not?
You do not have to avoid fruit to lose weight, but you should consume them in moderation. Like all types of carbs, Fructose, the sugar contained in fruits causes insulin to spike thus telling the body to burn carbs for energy as opposed to fats. This is important as the earlier in the day you have fruit, say with breakfast, the less time the body is in a state of thermogenesis or fat burning. When thermogenesis is turned off the body goes into fat storage mode, not ideal of course. Do not confuse High Fructose Corn Syrup with the Fructose in fruits. HFCS is highly processed, found in most junk foods and can lead to many health issues. Fructose may be one of the healthier carbs, but it is still a carb and when seeking fat loss should be minimized. Don’t eliminate fruit, but if you are trying to lose weight or are concerned about your metabolism, limit fructose from all sources to 5 to 10 grams a day. For very active individuals 20g to 30g of fructose should be the maximum. Berries are your best bet for fruit because they are lower in fructose and contain a great deal of antioxidants, for example a cup of blueberries contains about 7.5 grams of fructose and 21 g total carbs
Not a great breakfast choice
Scott Mailman
Twitter: @atlasathletics
