I'm sure we all have been told from the time we can remember everyone telling us about eating our fruits and vegetables. So it is no shock that many people take the advice and multiply it by ten. We have now heard of individuals, including celebrities that have maintained all fruit diets with disastrous results. Folks who have eaten excessive fruit for what their systems could handle have developed pancreatic problems and diabetes, along with other health issues. Sugar consumption is one of the foremost causes of insulin-related health concerns, and fruit is a source of fructose, also known as fruit sugar. It is one among the components of sucrose, or table sugar. Granted, fruit contains nutritional fiber, minerals and vitamins in addition to antioxidants, which remain important for a good diet. This certainly makes them better for us than processed foods or soda, which is overloaded with high fructose corn syrup devoid of the nutritional benefits of fruit. But there is often too much of a good thing. Studies have shown an eating routine heavy in fruit can bring on numerous health problems, particularly over a long-term basis. Amongst additional health maladies, elevated levels of fructose can bring on abdominal fat, diabetes, fatty liver disease, hypertension, metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress. Perhaps not coincidentally, these ailments continue to rise around the world as fructose becomes a bigger part of these diet programs. Thus if the fructose within fruit is so terrible for us, could we do good to remove it from our eating routine? The reply is no, but we need to be smart about it. Just like fat within our diet plan is in fact not just beneficial, but necessary, we have to be extremely watchful of the amount we eat. There are many health benefits to fruit to say we should eliminate it in total. It plays a key function in moderating negative metabolic effects with its elevated amount of minerals, enzymes, vitamins and phytonutrients. If you are healthy and have no insulin-resistance concerns, it's recommended an individual limit his fructose intake to 25 grams a day. To give an indication of just what that is, a cup of blueberries will be roughly 7.5 grams, one average apple about nine, one cup of seedless grapes almost 12, and a cup of strawberries about four. Clearly there is a lot of opportunity for fruit and still stay inside the safe confines, provided of course just about all other sources of sugar are eliminated. It is estimate that the average intake per day on average is 73 grams. When you have health issues associated with fructose like metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cancer, obesity or insulin resistance, total fructose intake should be limited to no more than 15 grams a day. The key thing to note is actually that fructose comes from many sources. Those canned peaches or orange juice may seem good for your health on first glance, but then the producer adds even more sugar to what's already soaring in fructose (just read the ingredients label). What seems healthy turns into something that is anything but. Insulin is necessary for our health, but it must be kept at proper levels. If not controlled, it can adversely effect blood pressure and a wide variety of other health problems. Jim O'Connell is a writer and health enthusiast living in Chicago.
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