Often times I hear people cautioning others that excess fruit will make you fat. While it is true that calories in excess of one’s expenditure will inevitably lead to one gaining weight, it is highly unlikely in the case of most fruits for a number of reasons.
Some of the more nutrition minded of you will have heard of the phrase ‘glycemic index‘, but few of you may have heard of what’s called ‘glycemic load’ (GL), which is a ranking system of carbohydrate content in foods based upon portion size and the glycemic index (GI).
There is a tendency among some to avoid foods with a high GI, based upon the fact that such foods produce an acute rise in blood sugar. While this can make sense, it is far better to consider a foods GL, which paints a far better picture of net insulin response over the period of a day. Most weight gain is typically the result of excessive consumption of these foods, and several studies have shown that they are also associated with a risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and certain cancers.
Using white bread as a reference food (GI of 70), and watermelon as it has a similar GI (72), our instinct is to automatically condemn watermelon as just as “bad” as white bread. This is not so, and here’s why:
100g of white bread has a GL of 34.7, whereas the same serving of watermelon is only 5.2, which means you would have to consume almost 2 pounds of watermelon to achieve the GL of white bread. That’s nearly 3 lbs of cherries, or 1.5 lbs of apples.
Most people would likely be excruciatingly full upon eating 3 lbs of fruit. Three pounds of apples is roughly 12 apples (660 kcals). The equivalent calories of white bread, per the 100g serving in the reference material, is just 3 servings or about 6 slices. To put it bluntly, it is almost impossible to over eat with just fruit, as your stomach would reach it’s natural capacity far beforehand. Combining fruit with a diet rich in lean protein and healthy fats ensures you will not approach the mythical “too much fruit.”
The International Table of Glycemic Indices lists the glycemic index of many foods, for which some of the glycemic loads reported for fruits are: bananas 12.1, pineapple 8.2, grapes 7.7, kiwi fruit 7.4, apple 6.0, pear 5.4, watermelon 5.2, orange 5.1, cherries 3.7, peach 3.1, grapefruit 1.9.
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