Video: Fermented Tomato Ketchup
Ready to try something new? Watch Emma's recipe video for a delicious Fermented Tomato Ketchup!
Get the recipeThe advice is clear that we need to be eating more fruit and veg, but with more fad diets coming into play, the advice on fruit intake is becoming more confusing – should we upping our intake or watching our portions? Here I delve a little deeper and set the record straight when it comes to fruit!
It’s common knowledge that we should be eating more fruit and vegetables and that’s the general advice. New research last year showed that there was a positive association between the portions of fruit and vegetables we eat daily and the associated health benefits – the more the better!1 So, it was suggested as a result of this, we should be aiming for up to 10 portions daily.
Let’s just do a quick recap of why we don’t want to be scrimping on those fruit and veggies:
So, why are people still so worried about fruit?
As above, we need fruit for fuel, so why is it being shunned? Well, it’s all down to the big sugar debate that’s so topical right now. So, if fruit is really such a good source of glucose, do we need to be careful?
The thing with our fruit and veggies is, although they are a source of carbohydrates and glucose or fructose, these are naturally occurring in the food. This means they haven’t been tampered with, refined, and when eating wholefoods, these come together alongside some fibre plus a whole range of other nutrients.
These all work nicely in combination to fuel you up, but avoid causing havoc with your blood glucose like sources of refined sugar will. Fructose syrups or refined sugar found in a number of processed foods don’t have the fibre to slow down their release and will cause extreme highs and lows in blood sugar which will be coupled with extreme responses from the hormone insulin. The natural sugar in fruit in isn’t associated with all the negative effects of refined sugar such as obesity and chronic disease, and it seems that all the other antioxidants and phenols that are present in combination may actually help to have the opposite effect and exert positive effects on our metabolic responses instead.2
Now, here’s the thing, just like anything too much of a good thing can be problematic. So, is there such a thing as too much fruit? Fruitarians would argue otherwise but with fad diets such as ketogenic diets on the rise, the intake of fruit is being questioned more openly – but is there good reason? Let’s explore some of the theories behind this.
After taking all of this on board, what’s the best advice when it comes to your fruit intake? Here I outline my tips:
1. Aune, D, Giovannucci, E and Boffetta, P. Et al. (2017) Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality – a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Int J Epidemiol, DOI: https://doi.org/10/1093/ije/dyw319/
2. Burton-Freeman B, Linares, D and Kappagoda T. Et al. (2010) Strawberry modulates LDL oxidation and postprandial lipemia in response to hight fat meal in overweight hyperlipidemic men and women. J Am Coll Nutr, 29(1), 46-54
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Ready to try something new? Watch Emma's recipe video for a delicious Fermented Tomato Ketchup!
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