Tell me more ×
Physical Fitness Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for physical fitness professionals, athletes, trainers, and those providing health-related needs. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I'm doing a slow carb diet and it says you should avoid fruit (unless its your offday). I'm curious as to why exactly this is the case?

share|improve this question
Because they're not slow carbs. – Dave Newton Jun 7 '12 at 17:34
Off topic according to the FAQ since the scope change of the site excluded questions not related to exercise. – Informaficker Sep 13 '12 at 16:02
The question was asked when this site was still covering nutrition. It seems to have dropped the nutrition aspect of the site in recent days. – Lester Peabody Sep 13 '12 at 16:14

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Many fruits are high in carbohydrate, specifically fructose, which is not "slow" and has a number of effects that may be considered deleterious to one's metabolism.

share|improve this answer
Thank you for explaining why fruit isn't slow, perfect answer. Also, the use of deleterious was fantastic. – Lester Peabody Jun 7 '12 at 18:34
@LesterPeabody Thanks. I agree, it's a great word. – Dave Liepmann Jun 7 '12 at 18:37
You can slow the digestion of fast carbs by combining them with foods high in protein and/or fiber. Nuts and/or a hard boiled egg go perfectly with a nice piece of fruit. And since you are eating them together, digestion will be slower, and your blood sugar will not spike as quickly. – Ryan Miller Jun 7 '12 at 19:53
@DaveLiepmann Rule is not general since many high carbohydrate+fructose fruits are high in fiber (example banana) , and thus absorb at a much slower rate due to the fiber they contain, which slows down the digestion process. – chadi cortbaoui Jun 7 '12 at 23:56
up vote 1 down vote

At the risk of being a bit off-topic I have to say: Don't cut fruits off you diet to lower your carb intake. That's like putting sunflower oil in your engine, instead of the regular machine grade engine oil, because it's cheaper.

You'll have seriously more benefits of consuming fruits over pretty much any other source of carbs, which you DO need do function properly. Besides clumping all fruits into one category in terms of their fructose levels is severely flawed.

I suggest that you keep your fruits as a central part of your diet, no matter if you are trying to go down in weight or "beef up". The reasoning behind this is that you DO need carbs, and better get them of natural sources, with all the vitamins and fibers etc that come with it, instead of using some labtech formula which might in 20 years prove to be cancerogenic or something. That's of course my two cents...

share|improve this answer
I'm not cutting carbs completely, I'm just eating carbs that don't get, more or less, immediately converted into fat. For example, I am eating a ton of beans. My diet isn't a "no carb" diet, it's a "slow carb" diet. – Lester Peabody Jun 8 '12 at 10:13
I realize that you are not cutting of all carbs, but I'd say fruits are a valuable source for many other things, even if you want to avoid fructose altogether. – posdef Jun 8 '12 at 11:30
up vote 1 down vote

Fructose is the main reason, just keep them under control. A banana a day isn't bad, 30 a day is not the way to go for low carb.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.