Will fruit make me fat?

[Track Fairy]

I'm getting very hungry at the moment after doing a lot of running over the last few months.
So, when I get hungry I find that a piece of fruit (tangerines or bananas at the moment) seems to help. It seems to provide the energy I need but will eating too much of it (ie whenever I'm hungry, which kicks in at lunch and lasts the rest of the day!) make me fat? I can't think of any healthier ways of getting the energy in.

[Roy Scott]

Hi, did a fair bit of nutrition in my degree, so should have a decent answer for you. Fruit is very unlikely to make you fat because it is not caloie dense, by that i mean you would have to eat a fair few kilos of oranges before you reached the amount, say a packet of biscuits contains. Before you reached this level of fruit intake you would reach satiety (not hungry) anyway, this is due to the large volume of food. In addition fruit is a preferred choice as it comes with many helpful vitmains and minerals, some of which act as antioxidants to flush out the free radicals in your body (these are responsible for fatigue). If you were to replace the fruit for chocolate or other alternatives you may get the calories without the added benefits (empty calories). Basically in a nut shell, unless you are shoveling huge amounts of fruit down your neck each day without calorie output (running), then you will be ok. For weight management focus on where the excess fat is coming from in your nutritional habits.

[Track Fairy]

Ta. Tells me what I wanted to know.

90miles a week seems to take care of the weight management side of things anyway but obviously once at racing weight you don't really want to be making life difficult for yourself if you don't have to.
I was actually thinking that I'd got a bit light and was worried about recovering from training properly and the risk of picking up illness so maybe my body has decided enough's enough and wants me to get some decent food in!

[daz h]

not many days go by when i dont eat loads of fruit
only problem i have is i get a bit bloated with it
ive known myself eat 4 apples a banana and a couple of pears, orange in a day
very rarely put weight on but as i say can get bloated
i luv fruit
there is a lad i work with who hasnt eaten fruit for at least 5 yrs?????

[OneHillWonder]

there is a lad i work with who hasnt eaten fruit for at least 5 yrs?????

why not? what does he eat?

[daz h]

why not? what does he eat?

pizza and digestives

[OneHillWonder]

hmmm very healthy. Maybe you should take your beetroot in for him?

[justlovestretching...]

Hi, did a fair bit of nutrition in my degree, so should have a decent answer for you. Fruit is very unlikely to make you fat because it is not caloie dense, by that i mean you would have to eat a fair few kilos of oranges before you reached the amount, say a packet of biscuits contains. Before you reached this level of fruit intake you would reach satiety (not hungry) anyway, this is due to the large volume of food. In addition fruit is a preferred choice as it comes with many helpful vitmains and minerals, some of which act as antioxidants to flush out the free radicals in your body (these are responsible for fatigue). If you were to replace the fruit for chocolate or other alternatives you may get the calories without the added benefits (empty calories). Basically in a nut shell, unless you are shoveling huge amounts of fruit down your neck each day without calorie output (running), then you will be ok. For weight management focus on where the excess fat is coming from in your nutritional habits.

Thanks for that Roy, all sounds like good advice, its nice to have someone else on the forum who has a keen interest in nutrition.

JLS

[Wheeze]

But doesn't most fruit have a high GI? I'm trying to keep to a low GI at the moment so that I convert from a sugar burner to a fat burner. The only fruits alllowed in the plan are berries and avocado.

[OneHillWonder]

its all very complicated isn't it