Can eating fruit be bad for you?

We usually think of fruit as a healthy food. But could it also have some negative effects?

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read the transcript.

Preparation

Transcript

Let's compare an apple to a can of full-sugar fizzy drink. Typically, a regular-sized soft drink contains about seven to eight teaspoons of sugar. This apple contains four teaspoons of sugar. So, have two apples and you've taken in as much sugar as you had in this can.

That sugar comes mainly in two forms. One is glucose, your body’s preferred source of energy, which goes straight into your bloodstream. The other is fructose, which is taken to your liver, and if not needed, is turned into fat. These are chemically identical to the sugars you get in junk food. So, if you're not careful, they can cause you the same problems.

Sugar is sugar. And you're going to gain weight if you eat too much of it, wherever it comes from. So how can you get all the health benefits of fruit without overdosing on sugar? Well, the first thing is to choose your fruits carefully. Gram for gram, bananas, cherries, pomegranates, mangoes, grapes and figs all contain more than watermelon, raspberries, kiwi fruit and fresh cranberries. The riper the fruit, the more sugar it contains, so try not to leave it lying around for too long.

You should eat most of your fruit whole. And no more than one glass of juice or smoothie, as digesting the fruit releases the sugar more slowly and avoids overloading your system with one big hit.

Finally, don't neglect veg. There is no vitamin or mineral in fruit that you can't get from veg, in return for only a fraction of the sugar.