Are Some Fruits More Fattening Than Others?

It’s time to clear up some confusion about fruit, sugar, fructose and how this all fits together into a healthy diet

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It’s the beginning of the year and that means there’s a new crop of diet books out. You’d think we’d have learned by now that the next diet gimmick is not going to be the answer to our weighty woes. Believe me, the reason 2/3 of the population is overweight is NOT that no-one has yet written the right diet book.

But hope springs eternal, as does the January crop of New Year New You offerings. I was reviewing one of them this week and came across the claim that avoiding certain fruits can help you lose weight.

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Specifically, the author recommends staying away from fruits that are high in fructose because, he explains, fructose is converted by the liver into fat. The high-fructose fruits on this author’s hit list include bananas, pineapples, grapes, and watermelon. Good "low-fructose" fruits include citrus fruit, berries, melons, and stone fruits like peaches.

I think we need to clear up some confusion about fruit, sugar, fructose, and how this all fits together into a healthy diet. (For one thing, some of the alleged high-fructose fruits have less fructose than the so-called low-fructose fruits...but I’m getting ahead of myself.)

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