Can you lose weight with summer fruits? The short answer to that is yes but it depends on how much you eat. Sure, it’s cheaper to buy a tray of mangoes but if you eat all the mangoes in the tray before they become overripe, the chances are you won’t lose weight. Summer fruit contains more natural sugar than many other seasons’ fruit and you can include it in your diet to lose weight, provided you eat it in moderation.
Ask an ad man how to sell a message and he’s likely to say, “one story, one problem, one solution” It’s understandable given the average person processes around 74 GB in information a day (the equivalent to watching 16 movies). To reach an audience a message must be simple and succinct. A simple message to a complex problem can be enormously powerful, but it can also mislead the public to believe things that are not true.
The I Quit Sugar campaign helped many people lose weight:
- The story – 60% of the Australian population is overweight.
- The problem – sugar in all its forms.
- The solution – quit sugar.
It was clever, I wish I’d thought of it. ? HOWEVER, those of us over 50 will remember the same approach was used with fat, and cutting that out did nothing to make the nation slimmer.
It’s a perfect “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” situation. Eliminating all fats led us to avoid, avocado, nuts, olives, and olive oil, and other whole foods like butter and cheese that we like which, eaten in small amounts, contribute to our overall good health.
The overzealous campaign where sugar in all its forms was completely off the table led to demonising fructose, the natural sugar in fruit, berries, honey, and some grains. Foods which, eaten in small amounts, contribute to our overall good health and let’s not forget joy.
In the book “The Ultimate Guide to Sugars and Sweeteners” by Alan Barclay, Philippa Sandall, and Claudia Shwide-Slavin, they say “when pure fructose is consumed in large amounts (25 teaspoons or more) in addition to all the foods and drinks a person would normally eat there is a modest amount of weight gain (0.5 kg), however, eaten in the form of fruit, fructose helps people lose weight. If you ate 4 mangoes every day over summer, then it’s highly likely that you will lose weight, but eating half a mango a day with your breakfast muesli and yoghurt is an extremely healthy and sustaining meal.
For my money summer is the easiest time of year to lose weight. Mangoes will always conquer cake, a good peach thrashes any biscuit I’ve ever eaten, and cherries triumph over lollies.
Accepting the fact we can lose weight with summer fruits, provided we eat them in moderation, there are reasons to do so besides the pleasure they provide.
Mangos for example are rich in vitamin C, B6, and fibre, not forgetting the powerful antioxidant beta-carotene, which converts in the body to make vitamin A.
Peaches also, particularly the orange varieties, are a good source of carotenoids and they provide fibre, vitamin C, and potassium.
Cherries are loaded in anthocyanins which play an important role to maintain healthy blood vessels and reduce inflammation.
I could run down the list of the rest of the summer fruit benefits but I feel you’ll get the point about this as well.
So how much should we eat?
Those of you who are trying to lose weight should treat summer fruit as a delightful snack or and enjoy 2 serves a day. A small peach or small handful of grapes, half a mango shared with a friend, a small cup of cherries all contribute to good nutrition and an enjoyable summer.
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