Women's Health - UK (2019-07)

Women’s Health JULY 2019 | 37

THE MYTH

YOU SHOULD

AVOID

FRUIT

BECAUSE IT’S

HIGH IN

SUGAR

THE THEORY

We know that you know

sugar is best kept to a

minimum. A Swedish study

that found that women

who drink a soft drink or

fruit juice every day double

their risk of developing

type-2 diabetes is among

the highlights of the

freakshake-thick dossier

of evidence against the

sweet stuff. But there’s

been some serious

collateral damage in the

public health war against

sugar: whole fruit. ‘Look at

molecules of sugar under

a microscope and they’ll

have the same chemical

structure whether in a

sweet potato or a chocolate

bar,’ says nutritionist

and The Rooted Project

co-founder Rosie Saunt.

‘But sugar in fruit is

absorbed differently by

your body because it’s

a whole food.’ This means

it doesn’t spike your blood

sugar levels. (Intrigued?

head to page 21.) You’d

also be a fool to lose out

on fruit’s micronutrient

bonuses – such as banana’s

bloat-beating potassium –

because of its sugar content.

The type to be mindful of

are ‘free’ sugars – basically

any that don’t come from

whole fruit and veg or dairy.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Don’t get hung up on the

sugar content of berries

and bananas, or natural

sugars in other whole

foods, such as vegetables,

milk, yoghurt and cheese.

Just keep the likes of fruit

juice, table sugar, honey,

syrup and agave to sub-

30g daily servings.

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