By Frédéric Patenaude
Fruits are such a delight to the senses. Of all the foods available to us, fruits are the most attractive, delicious and enjoyable. Of all natural foods, that is, the foods we can eat in their natural state, fruit is the food we are most attracted to and that first entices our senses. Humans are born with a natural instinct for sweet foods, and in nature that instinct naturally draws us to fruit.
When we are hungry - and I mean really hungry - fruit is often the most satisfying food we can eat. Is there anything better than to devour a delicious ripe mango on a hot summer day? Or to bite into a luscious, freshly-picked apple? Or to enjoy a sweet, juicy, ripe orange? Is there any man-made dish that can beat the perfection of a fully ripe cherry?
Fruits have been consumed by human beings going as far back in time as we know, whereas grains, legumes and dairy products have only been cultivated for 10,000 years or less, which is just a breath e shown that fruit has been an important part of in the life of humanity. Anthropological studies havthe human diet for hundreds of thousands of years.
Fruit has always been recognized as one of the healthiest foods there is. In the minds of most people, fruit is seen as a healthy food we should eat more of due to its vitamin content. But even when realizing the exceptional nutritional qualities of fruit, very few people actually give it the place it deserves in the diet. Fruit is still eaten as a “snack” or a “dessert,” but is rarely seen as a staple food. In the mind of the masses, fruit is a “healthy snack” but not something that can really sustain a hard-working man, like meat or bread can. They don’t realize that fruit should be a staple in the diet, and has been for thousands upon thousands of years, long before wheat and rice were cultivated, and long before cheese, sandwiches and twinkies were invented.
Fruit eating offers many benefits:
Fruit is the best source of the natural sugar needed for energy.
Fruit is packed with vitamins, and still represents the best vitamin source of any food.
Fruit is packed with anti-oxidants. Digesting ripe fruit
Fruit is easier to digest than grains.
Fruit is basically pre-digested. Digestinhardly requires any digestive enzymes, and is thus less taxing to the body.
Fruit is alkaline forming (whereas meat, fish, grains and legumes are acid-forming).
Fruit contains an abundance of pure water.
Fruit is easy to eat. It doesn’t require much preparation.
Fruit is beautiful. All of our senses are nourished by fruit, not just our taste buds. 2
Fruit contains lots of fiber, which is necessary for optimum digestion.
People who eat lots of fruit live longer.
A study published in the British Medical Journal (September 2001), showed that fresh fruit offers the best bet for a long life. The results of a study showed that frequent fruit eaters had a 32 percent lower risk of dying from cerebrovascular disease such as stroke, and a 24 percent lower risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, than those who ate fruit less than once a day.
Is Fruit Alkaline or Acid Forming?
It has been known for a long time that fruit is one of the most alkaline forming foods there is. Even if it is acid to the taste, like oranges, after digestion the end result is alkaline-forming. However, some authors have recently claimed the contrary.
According to Dr. Robert Young, author of “The pH Miracle,” fruit is acid-forming due to its high sugar content. He then goes on to explain his unproven theory that the sugar in fruit ferments and produces acidity in the body.
Dr. Robert Young is completely mistaken on this point. Fruit is alkaline-forming, even if it contains sugar. The natural sugar that fruit contains is perfectly utilized by the body and doesn’t necessarily ferment to produce acidity.
The fact is that fruit diets have been used for hundreds of years to combat acidosis. People go on grape cures, oranges cures, etc., and it helps to eliminate excess acidity in their bodies. It has been known for hundreds of years by naturopaths and Natural Hygienists and other health practitioners, both traditional and alternative, that fruit is alkaline forming - and that fact is not at all challenged by the nonsensical theories of Dr. Young about fruit being acid-forming.
An unfortunate side-effect of that unhealthy diet is that they can no longer handle sweet fruit. It has been proven that high-fat diets decrease insulin sensitivity (the effectiveness of insulin in carrying 1sugar to the cells), and thus raise blood sugar levels . So those living on high-fat diets, that is, most raw-foodists, will inevitably experience more blood sugar swings when they eat fruit. So the problem is not the fruit per se, but the high amounts of fat consumed.
Once you substantially reduce the amount of fat that you eat, by eliminating all oils and reducing the quantities of avocados, nuts, and other fatty foods, your body will be able to process and utilize fruit sugar much more efficiently. With the knowledge that the primary source of fuel for the human body is natural sugar, the concept t having “too much” sugar becomes illogical. The only way you can consume too much sugar of fruiin the form of fruit would be to overeat, which is difficult to achieve when eating high-water content fruit. A fruit-based diet would be a diet in which you get most of your calories from sweet fruit. That means at least 50% of your calories from fresh fruit.
Eating a low-fat, high-fruit diet will not cause insulin levels to spike, will not cause unneeded weight gain and will not cause a fatty liver. People condemning a fruit-based diet obviously have no experience with it.
The primates all eat a diet that contains less than 10% of total calories from fat. Recent research also shows that our ancestors also ate a low-fat diet.
In Practice
Unless you are allergic to them, I do not recommend avoiding avocados and nuts. You can eat them regularly with benefit. The following guidelines will help you:
The ideal is to limit your fat consumption to less than 15% of your calories.
In practice, it means:
Eat enough fruit to meet your caloric needs (which means a lot, by most people’s standards!)
Avoid oils (this includes olive oil, flax seed oil, coconut butter, etc.)
Eat no more than one half to one avocado a day.
Eat no more than two ounces (60 grams) of nuts or seeds per day. Alternatively, you could have two to four tablespoons of raw nut butter.
Eat avocados or nuts on separate days.
Eat fat only once a day.
Don’t eat fatty food every day of the week.
Some More Guidelines
Avoid the sweet fruit and fat combination.
If you just eat an apple, it will digest quite fast and leave the stomach rapidly. But eat an avocado at the same time and digestion will be prolonged. The sweet fruit will have time to ferment and produce acidity.
The same happens when you mix nuts with dried fruits — an abominable combination that is likely to putrefy and ferment, unless it is consumed in very small quantities, such as five almonds with five dates.
You can avoid fats entirely for weeks during times of hot weather, when the body calls for water-rich foods, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, peaches, etc.
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