IS FRUIT SUGAR THE SAME AS PROCESSED SUGAR? IS IT HARMFUL?
Fruit gets a bad rap and is sometimes down-right hated. Is there any evidence to support these ideas? Some people claim fruit sugar is no different from processed sugar, while others insist diabetics should never eat fruit. What is the truth? We first need to understand that scientists often study with a reductionist mindset, so if isolated fructose has a specific effect in a petri dish, fructose from whole fruits must therefore have the same effect in the human body—but we know this is not scientific.
Let’s look at the science:
When people were fed 20 servings of fruit, essentially 4 times the “fructose toxicity” level (the equivalent of 8 soda cans worth of sugar), they experienced absolutely zero adverse effects.[1] Despite this extremely high level of sugar in their bodies, there was no negative impact. In fact, there were many benefits for these individuals, including the diabetics.
A second study also had participants consuming 20 servings of fruit a day, and again found zero negative effects and even noted improvement in colon cancer[2] which should have been “fed” by this high fructose—if we accept the theory that fruit feeds cancer. Let me assure you, dear reader, there is zero evidence to support the idea that cancer feeds on fruit. In fact, stating this shows a fundamentally flawed understanding of what cancer is and how it survives.
In another study, increasing fruit consumption by 100g/day, (twice the “fructose toxicity” level), was inversely associated with risk of bladder cancer in women.[3]At worst fruit has no negative effects on bladder cancer, at best it is inversely associated in women… indicating it is protective.
When fruit is restricted, disease progresses rather than declines. The only exception to this is when people go from a standard American diet to a restricted diet, which also removes fruit. In removing a lot of terrible food, one will see healing. But if instead of removing fruit, one only eats fruit, they would see healing, not harm. A study of 63 men and women, all diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, reported that when fruit intake was reduced, there was not a single benefit.[4]
Bananas (a high–sugar fruit) and cancer
The idea that fruits, especially high-sugar fruits, promote and feed cancer is a relic of pseudoscience and has no factual basis. Surprisingly, this popular narrative is backed by not a single, valid study proving fruit causes cancer growth or spread. Studies examining the effect of different fruits on cancer show zero cancer promoting activities. Not all fruits seem to slow or stop the spread of cancer, but none promote it. And sugar content in fruit has no promotion of cancer growth. Higher-sugar content fruits, such as bananas, actually slow spread of cancer. In fact, in one study, bananas slowed cancer growth by 40%.[5] In a mouse study of carcinoma cancer, a fruit extract of ripe banana led to a survival of 30% of the treated group vs 0% survival in the control group. A hospital-based, case-control analysis of Sinapore Chinese patients with esophageal cancer later found that this type of cancer occurs at a higher incidence in male patients who eat fewer or no bananas in their diet.[6] They concluded that weekly consumption of bananas reduce the risk of esophageal cancer.
Moreover, according to a population-based case-control study, frequent consumption of bananas (8.9g/day) lowers the risk of breast cancers.[7] In fact, in this study, the only fruits that were not shown to reduce breast cancer were apples and watermelon—and even these did not promote growth.
Diabetics
Removing fruit from the diet can seem to show benefit because when we simplify our diet we usually remove a lot of bad foods. Remove everything else, eat only fruit, and you will see your health improve. It is not removal of fruit that brings healing, but removal of the other foods. For instance, if you eat a high-fat diet, the fat plugs the insulin receptors, causing sugar spikes. Any sugar, including that found in whole fruit, will cause sugar to rise. Yet, remove fat from the diet and one will see no issues with fruit alone.
There are studies of fruit juice, most of which is highly processed, showing increased risk of cancer, yet you will not find a study showing fruit intake is correlated to increased risk or proliferation of cancer. Fruit juice from the store is devoid of the health-giving properties of nature because of pasteurization and chemical preservation.
Next time you’re passing by the fruit isle (or your own backyard fruit trees), be sure to take advantage of these guilt-free gifts.
REFERENCES
[1] Meyer, B., De Bruin, E., Du Plessis, D., Van Der Merwe, M. and Meyer, A., 1971. Some biochemical effects of a mainly fruit diet in man.. https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/19711408038
[2] Jenkins, D., Kendall, C., Popovich, D., Vidgen, E., Mehling, C., Vuksan, V., Ransom, T., Rao, A., Rosenberg-Zand, R., Tariq, N., Corey, P., Jones, P., Raeini, M., Story, J., Furumoto, E., Illingworth, D., Pappu, A. and Connelly, P., 2001. Effect of a very-high-fiber vegetable, fruit, and nut diet on serum lipids and colonic function.
[3] Jochems, S., Reulen, R., Osch, F., Witlox, W., Goossens, M., Brinkman, M., Giles, G., Milne, R., Brandt, P., White, E., Weiderpass, E., Huybrechts, I., Hémon, B., Agudo, A., Bueno‐de‐Mesquita, B., Cheng, K., Schooten, F., Bryan, R., Wesselius, A. and Zeegers, M., 2020. Fruit consumption and the risk of bladder cancer: A pooled analysis by the Bladder Cancer Epidemiology and Nutritional Determinants Study.
[4] Christensen, A., Viggers, L., Hasselström, K. and Gregersen, S., 2013. Effect of fruit restriction on glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes – a randomized trial.
[5] Mondal, A., Banerjee, S., Bose, S., Das, P., Sandberg, E., Atanasov, A. and Bishayee, A., 2021. Cancer Preventive and Therapeutic Potential of Banana and Its Bioactive Constituents: A Systematic, Comprehensive, and Mechanistic Review.
[6] de Jong, U., Breslow, N., Goh Hong, J., Sridharan, M. and Shanmugaratnam, K., 1974. Aetiological factors in oesophageal cancer in Singapore Chinese.
[7] Malin, A., Qi, D., Shu, X., Gao, Y., Friedmann, J., Jin, F. and Zheng, W., 2003. Intake of fruits, vegetables and selected micronutrients in relation to the risk of breast cancer.