Are there any adverse health consequences to being able to eat as much fruit as you care to eat?
I have to get out of bed frequently at night, and I asked my primary doctor if apples or other fresh fruit are diuretic – make you pass water.
My doctor’s concern was this may be a symptom of elevated blood sugar, and she immediately ordered an A1C long-term blood sugar blood test. I guess I am in the higher end of what is considered the normal range, so I didn’t get any further questions on the topic.
Since then I tell friends my joke, "An apple-a-day keeps the doctor away, but if you eat more than 7 apples daily, your primary care provider will order an A1C test. A retirement-age high-school band-teacher neighbor who has his own apple trees laughed nervously.
I eat a medium-sized apple every day, maybe two, plus a couple or three small plums, and often a couple of tablespoons of frozen blueberries. I also keep an open bag of those small, ready-to-eat carrots handy and eat at least half a dozen of those a day, if they count. A moderate amount of jam on a piece of toast, and a few Altoids during the day. That’s it for my sugar intake, as a rule. If beer matters I usually have two cans of PBR around supper time.
I also get loads of fiber, including 100% whole grain bread with oats, veggies (broccoli, spinach, peas, beans, as a rule) and the high fiber slows absorption of the sugars.
I’m no medical expert by any measure but I think that I know what affects my blood sugar and insulin level. As a fellow fruit grower it pains me to have to limit my fruit consumption and sometimes I don’t. Whenever I consume too much fruit over a period of time it definitely raises my fasting glucose level and my A1C. Fasting glucose is a snapshot in time but your A1C is a longer measure indicating how your levels have been over about a three month period. This problem is best treated before you have had long term issues.
why i consume berries the most. less sugar and calories esp. in bush / cane fruit. i use stevia to sweeten if needed. i dont like overly sweet fruit so i naturally stay away from the sugary ones anyway. i have a large freezer full of cane/ bush fruit that i doubt ill eat it all by next summer. i mainly bake with them during holidays and get togethers or eat with yogurt and mix in granola bars… my sister in law is a pastry junkie so ill make stuff for her when we go there, only eating a slice myself. nothing like warm raspberry crisp with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries… have 7-9 net carbs per cup.
One med size gala or honey crisp apple 17 net carbs. One med size granny smith 11.8.
I can eat 30-35 net carbs daily and maintain ketosis. For some people that can be as low as 20 net carbs daily.
I dont eat apples most of the time… and when i do i limit it to weekends and just occasionally.
Monday thru Friday i eat no carbs for breakfast and lunch… and i eat around 30-35 for dinner.
For some people like me… eating all the apples (carbs) i wanted every day… would literally kill me. Before I realized that i lost a foot or so of my colon in two different surgeries.
Only way to stop that (for me) is to keep a very close eye on my carb intake.
This article supports my initial thoughts about apples. Low on the glycemic index, eating with skin on increases fiber and slows down digestion, and the positive vitamin and mineral effects outweigh the minimal increase in blood sugar due to fructose. I believe grapes and bananas do contain more sugar and consumption should be more limited
It’s not exactly a scholarly article, nor does it address unusually high consumption, but I think the points are valid.
Apples contain carbs, which can raise blood sugar levels. However, the fiber in apples helps stabilize blood sugar levels, in addition to providing other health benefits.
Added note – I see after reading closer that it does recommend moderation with apples or at the very least, spreading out consumption throughout the day
@SoCalGardenNut … some humans can eat lots of carbs and their bodies deal with it well.
One thought on that is perhaps that persons ancestors for thousands of years lived in an area perhaps nearer the equator, perhaps a more tropical climate and they ate more fruit, berries, high carb foods and their digestive systems over time got better at dealing with that type of food source.
Dr Ken Berry (a well known carnivore)… per some type of test (16 and me ???) knows that his ancestors came from northern Russia… where there simply are no carbs to eat 11 months out of the year. You live there… you eat fatty meat/fish… only for the majority ofthe year… much the same as the Eskimo did… northern plains indians did… and lots of other people groups.
Anyway that is one thought on why carbs… excessive carbs… seem to cause little harm in some humans…
When in others… they are quite deadly.
Anyone that has type two diabeties, obesity, many forms of arthritus, gut issues, brain or mental issues… fatty liver, liver and kidney issues… any disease that the docs call autoimmune disease… well… caused by what they put in their mouth… simply more carbs than their bodies can handle.
For me when i over eat carbs… for just a few days… sevier arthritus and gut pain immediatly come back.
I correct my diet… seriously restrict the carbs and that goes away in about a week.
You may be one of those humans that can tollerate more carbs… and not suffer serious health issues. Good for you !!!
Thanks @TNHunter, I don’t really like carbs. I eat proteins and fruit. Not a vegetable person either but I do eat vegetables. It’s true nobody in my immediate family has type 2 diabetes, maybe it’s genetics.
You need to put the fruit in context. An apple or potato has ~25 grams of carbs. A super-sized Coke has ~100 grams. If you eat 6 apples spread out across the day, it’s no big deal per se. But if the fruits come bunched together and/or on top of a bag of fries and a 32-oz soda, you’ll have trouble.
One additional point – the carbs in fruit tend to be digested gradually as the cell walls break down, whereas the carbs in a liquid are digested very quickly.
One last last point – many people have limited capacity to metabolize fructose. Too much fruit will give them indigestion.
People that suffer from IBS… can be helped by using the FODMAP diet.
…
What is FODMAP? FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols , which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly. Some people experience digestive distress after eating them.
…
It helps you determine which if any of the “sugar types” your body is sensitive to… reacts badly too.
Glucose.
Fructose (a.k.a. fruit sugar)
Sucrose (a.k.a. table sugar)
Lactose (a.k.a. dairy sugar)
Some people tolerate Lactose and Sucrose just fine, but react badly to Fructose or visa versa…
If you have IBS symptoms… you should check that out.
Diet is pretty individual and so it’s hard to say without a full nutritional assessment if eating seven apples a day is something that should be modified or not. There are some people for whom it wouldn’t be a problem.
@Buckeye … something to consider is… the damage that over eating carbs causes… often goes completely unnoticed until it is too late.
Our bodies can take a lot of abuse… especially when we are young… but then over time… the way you have been eating catches up with you.
It might take 20 30 40 years… then bam… you have T2D.
Spiking your blood glucose levels… causes your body to flood with insulin… and those spikes that many that eat the standard american diet put themselves thru 4 5 6 times a day… cause slow but steady harm… that eventually for most result in some kind of disease.
About 3 years ago I was admitted suddenly to the hospital for 6 days as I became very weak and my A1C was 13.1. This to me was like getting hit by a meteorite while crossing the street. They said I had diabetes 1.5, a sort of hybrid between diabetes type 1 and type 2. I was on insulin injections for 6 months and Metformin. They said “you will need more and increasing insulin injections for the rest of your life”. With all due respect to the medical profession, I didn’t believe them, and very heavily researched natural cures. I have not taken any insulin injections or Metformin for well over two years, and my A1C is now about 6, basically normal, maybe a tad slightly high. My full strength has returned and I am back to doing deadlifts, full squats, bench press, etc. at the gym. It is excessive CARBS consumed over many years/decades that cause diabetes. The cells eventually get loaded with fat and sugars over the years and decades from eating too many carbs, can’t absorb more, so the sugar from carbs floats around in your blood stream. The cure is a low carb diet, exercise and weightlifting, and I fast for 36 hours once a week, drinking green tea or water, no food. After a few months I started to slowly increase the carbs. Carbs are in soft drinks, bread, fruit, potatoes, cakes, cookies, pies, basically all the things I love to eat But now I gladly eat the apples, plums and cherries from my trees in fall. But not at first, I “eased myself” into eating more carbs slowly over months. But moderation, 3 or so apples a day only seem fine. For folks with blood sugar concerns I highly recommend the YouTube website “Beat Diabetes” which is a rebel site with many actual tests of blood sugar before and after eating carbs, including fruit. Also the YouTube videos of Dr. Jason Fung, a medical doctor and diabetes specialist with a tremendous history of successfully treating high blood sugar/diabetes without insulin or drugs.
Each person craves different kinds of fruits, and each person craves different amounts of it, also no two people’s systems will react the same exact way to the same exact way of eating.
It also depends on what other things a person eats, if someone eats a lot of baked sweets and/or candies, and then goes and eats lots of sugary fruit, of course that is bad.
Right now I don’t eat enough fruit to worry about that. Yet one day when I do I will be get a brix measuring tool. It’s actually the fruits that have more sugar then you realize that can increase your sugar intake the most, because you have no clue how much sugar you are really eating, the more acidic a fruit is, the more sugar there needs to be for the fruit to taste sweet.
If you don’t mind my asking, did you doctor not catching your high blood sugar during an annual physical exam? I love carbs and your story scares me. So far, my A1C is in a normal range.
I understand very well! I am a registered dietitian nutritionist. I have seen the results of a poorly chosen lifestyle many times. There are some people for whom I definitely think it’s in their best interest to stick to a lower carb diet. I personally do not do well on a very low carb diet, but my husband does great. As you allude, higher carb doesn’t have to mean higher refined carb. Genetics is a factor, too. Some people get away with absolutely “bad” choices and live to be over 100 without too many health issues. Nutritional science is unfortunately not as clear cut as we’d like it to be. We have to do the best we can. My field is also very slow to embrace change, like much of medicine.
No blood sugar concerns in annual checkups. No history of diabetes in my family or extended family. I thought I ate well and always exercised. That’s why I said it hit me suddenly “like being hit by a meteorite”. In hindsight I do recall feeling weaker a month or so before my hospitalization, and I suddenly started to rapidly lose weight, from 210 lbs to 170 lbs at my worst in the hospital. I am 6’ 3" tall. I am now back to 190 lbs, feel really good, and plan to stay at this weight with my newer lower carb diet and exercise and fasting regime.
But now I gladly eat the apples, plums and cherries from my trees in fall. But not at first, I “eased myself” into eating more carbs slowly over months. But moderation, 3 or so apples a day only seem fine. For folks with blood sugar concerns I highly recommend the YouTube website “Beat Diabetes” which is a rebel site with many actual tests of blood sugar before and after eating carbs, including fruit. Also the YouTube videos of Dr. Jason Fung, a medical doctor and diabetes specialist with a tremendous history of successfully treating high blood sugar/diabetes without insulin or drugs.