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The 'Low Carb' diet - a diet with very few carbohydrates - is a popular and effective weight loss method for many. And low carb can be healthy if done right! But carbs aren't actually dangerous if you eat the right ones. Here, doctor and health advisor Pia Norup explains the difference between healthy and less healthy carbs - and reveals whether fruit is healthy or not.
The fat scare and the Low Carb Diet
Our diet has evolved over the last fat-shy era to be very high in carbohydrates, and it has been shown that this high-carbohydrate diet has contributed to the explosion of lifestyle diseases such as type II diabetes.
For many Danes, carbohydrates make up over 50% of their total calorie intake on a typical weekday, and if those carbs are from the wrong sources, it's unhealthy. That's why eating low carb - cutting down on carbohydrates in general - is a popular and effective weight loss method.
"Low carb can be an effective weight loss method, and it can be healthy if done right and if the carbs, protein and fat come from the right sources. But carbohydrates are not dangerous if you get the right ones. It's important that our diets are designed to provide us with enough healthy carbohydrates - let's call them "Slow Carbs".
Slow Carb is better than Low Carb
There is a difference between carbohydrates. They can be divided into 'fast' and 'slow' carbohydrates.
The fast ones
There are the 'fast' carbs, which are the ones you should try to cut down on. These are the carbohydrates found as starches in bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and in sweets, ice cream, sodas and cakes as very simple refined sugar molecules that are absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and cause blood sugar to spike quickly. Then there are the different grains: barley, oats, rye, spelt, etc. However, as whole grains, they are healthy due to their high fiber content and the minerals and vitamins in the shell parts.
The slow
Fruits and vegetables are also primarily carbohydrates. However, here they are found alongside dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and these carbohydrates belong to the 'slow' carbohydrates - our aforementioned slow carbs. Common to fruits, berries and vegetables are also the so-called "phytonutrients", which are naturally occurring plant nutrients that have a beneficial effect on your health.
Of these slow carbs - vegetables, berries and fruit - vegetables are the healthiest because they contain fewer sugars and more of the beneficial substances. This is followed by berries, which are also very rich in antioxidants and vitamins, but contain slightly more sugar than vegetables. And then there's fruit.
Is fruit healthy?
The answer is basically yes. But there's more to it than just yes. Fruit is a wide range of naturally occurring foods, all containing vitamins and minerals, dietary fiber, antioxidants and essential plant nutrients.
Glycemic index of fruit - GI
However, some types of fruit, such as grapes, pineapple, melon and mango, have a high glycemic index (GI). This means that the sugar in the fruit is absorbed quickly in the body, causing a rapid rise in blood sugar levels. This rise is followed by a rapid increase in insulin production, causing blood sugar to drop again.
This can happen many times a day if you eat a lot of high GI 'fast' carbohydrates. The many fluctuations in insulin and blood sugar levels are unhealthy over time and can lead to insulin resistance, which is the disease mechanism in type II diabetes. It is therefore better to have more stable blood sugar levels with fewer fluctuations in insulin levels, as this reduces the risk of insulin resistance.
Other types of fruit are higher in fiber and have a lower GI; a lower and longer-lasting rise in blood sugar after consumption. This results in a lower and slower insulin spike and contributes to a more stable blood sugar level over time. Fruits with a low GI have a lower blood sugar load in the body and therefore help to maintain a more even blood sugar level.
This type of fruit includes stone fruits (nectarines, plums, etc.), apples, pears and berries such as blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.
Glycemic load of the fruit - GB
An additional detail is the so-called glycemic load (GI) of the fruit. Even if a fruit type has a high GI, i.e. rapid release of sugar, the overall glycemic load can be low if there is not much sugar per 100g.
An example of this is watermelon. Watermelon has a high GI (quick release of sugar) but a low GB, as watermelon doesn't contain much sugar per 100g. So you don't consume a lot of sugar, but the sugar you get from the watermelon is released quickly in the body.
An example of low GI but higher GB is banana. A banana is concentrated energy. It contains a lot of sugar, but releases the sugar slowly and thus has a low GI. The glycemic load, on the other hand, will be higher than the GI as the banana has a lot of sugar per 100g. The GB for bananas is in the middle category - lower than grapes and dried fruit, which have even more sugar per 100g, but higher than apples and berries. Bananas are also rich in magnesium and are good and filling, e.g. after exercise.
But is fruit healthy or not?
No matter how healthy something is, you have to eat everything in moderation - otherwise the overall glycemic load will be high, whether you eat high or low glycemic index fruit. The key is the balance between:
Who are you? How much fruit should you eat?
Normal weight and in good shape
If you are of normal weight, healthy and regularly physically active with a good level of muscle mass, there is no problem eating a good variety of fruit without any particular restrictions, as long as you eat plenty of vegetables (at least 600 g daily or about half your plate at each meal) and healthy sources of protein and fat. These include fish and poultry, eggs, avocados, nuts, almonds, seeds and grains, and good quality oils such as flaxseed, rapeseed and olive oil.
Overweight and out of shape
If, on the other hand, you are overweight, not physically active, have low muscle mass, are in poor shape and may have incipient insulin resistance (the precursor to diabetes) or even been diagnosed with diabetes, then you should be more careful with fruit. If you belong to this category, limit your fruit intake to a maximum of 1 piece of fruit daily (or approx. 100 g), as fruit will cause an inappropriate spike in blood sugar.
Insulin resistance will mean that even sugar from healthy fruits can cause your blood sugar to spike too high, as your normal insulin mechanism is not working optimally. More specifically, consuming fruit with a certain sugar content will cause much higher blood sugar levels for a person with insulin resistance than for a healthy person with a well-functioning insulin response.
Insulin resistance means that even if you consume a lot of sugar, the pancreas doesn't respond as effectively as it would otherwise - it has become 'resistant' or resistant to high blood sugar levels. In other words, it has become 'fatigued' from years of overwork and excessive sugar intake. For those with diabetes or its precursors, this means that you should eat a maximum of 1 piece of fruit a day (or the equivalent of 100 g) and only low GI and low GI fruit types.
Top athlete or very physically active
If you are a top athlete or very physically active and train for many hours a week, it is important that you fill up your carbohydrate stores in your muscles with the right carbohydrates, including rough carbohydrates such as cereals. In addition, it's important that you consume enough vegetables, berries and fruit for optimal recovery, as they contain important antioxidants that counteract inflammation processes that occur in the aftermath of hard training.
High muscle mass 'eats' carbohydrates, so the blood sugar spike from a given meal is far less for a trained person than if an untrained person ate the exact same meal.
So, top athlete! By all means eat lots of fruit, of course in a complex diet with plenty of vegetables, protein and fats from the right sources. As a top athlete, you can eat 2-3 times more fruit and berries than others, as you need it and don't get the same blood sugar spike due to your high muscle mass and metabolism.
Dried fruit
Dried fruits are a chapter in themselves. They are highly concentrated in sugar and also have a high glycemic load, as the liquid content is minimal and the sugar concentration is high. Dried fruit is generally only recommended in very small amounts, for example as a substitute for desserts or sweets with added sugar.
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