Abso-fruit-ly Incredible
That is why pictures of fruit are used to sell so many different products. There's fruit on shampoo bottles and cosmetics, candies, ice creams, milkshakes, yogurts, and even alcoholic cocktails.
They even use fruit, whether fresh or plastic, in the meat displays at the butcher or grocery store.
minerals, phytonutrients, water, and all three macronutrients—protein, carbohydrates
and fat—in their simplest and most usable form. It takes almost no digestive effort
for the body to obtain the maximum nutrient value from ripe raw fruit." (Fit to Fabulous, Allison Andrews).
So Why Are We So Afraid of Eating a Lot of Fruit?
Despite what people might say to you, fruit will not make you fat. Long term fruitarians are among the slimmest people you will ever see despite the fact that many consume 5,000 or 7,000 calories some days. Athletes sometimes consume up to 18,000 calories a day. If you want to move your body, you need to eat enough fuel.
The minimum calories required for a woman is 2,500 calories and for a man it's 3,000. If you are eating less than this, your body will turn on your fat programs and conserve as many calories as it can because it thinks it is experiencing a famine.
Fruit is the best food available for human consumption. Our bodies don't even need to break it down. It's the most bio-available option--meaning it feeds our cells most easily.
The trouble that most people have with a raw food diet is that they don't eat enough calories. We are used to eating a meal made up of meat, starch or grain and vegetable on a dinner plate. In a typical home-cooked meal with a steak (9 oz ribeye), mashed potatoes, and vegetable, you would consume around 930 calories--roughly 48% of which come from fat. Ouch!
If you wanted to consume 930 calories of fruit, you'd have to eat 9 bananas, or 4 and a half medium-sized cantaloupe, or 10 cups of fresh strawberries, or 26 clementines, or 15 and a half apples. So if you are just eating fruit, you need to eat more than what you are used to in your five a day eating plan.
Comparisons
So let's have a look at some fast food meals and see how they compare.
Let's say you take your kid to McDonald's and get him a happy meal. He'll be eating 550 calories and 25 grams of fat. That's 41% of his calories from fat in that one meal. And how long do you think he'll be full once the meal is complete? How long before he feels tired from eating something that is so difficult for the body to digest?
Compare that to a 550 calorie meal made up of: 2 cups of strawberries, 1/2 cantaloup, 2 bananas, 1 cup of blueberries, and 1 cup of grapes. This would give him the energy to keep him going for hours. In fact, maybe mom had better eat the same meal so she can keep up with him.
Here are a few more fast food meals to give you an idea of what you are eating. And this stuff isn't even really food. Your body doesn't get anything useful out of it.
So you've had a long day and are really hungry. A Double Big Mac meal with fries and a juice would give you 1610 calories and 67 grams of fat.
The McBistro Chicken BLT meal with fries and a vanilla iced coffee would provide 1240 calories and 61 grams of fat.
We all know these burgers are fattening so let's go to a more reasonably "healthy" Subway restaurant.
A 12 inch oven roasted chicken sub with a cookie and pop would run you 1240 calories.
Yes, that's a big sandwich, but a lot of people do it.
Let's look at a healthier option there as well. A wrap--the chicken bacon wrap with cream of broccoli soup and a coffee. This is still 665 calories.
This is the same as: 2 cups of strawberries, 1 cup blueberries, 2 cups grapes, 4 clementines, a banana, and an apple.
Or 1/2 of a large watermelon, 2 bananas, and 5 cups of strawberries.
Fruit will sustain your energy more than any other food. It is the most bio-available food for the human body. You wouldn't put garbage in your gas tank and expect your car to get you very far. You can't expect your body to do any better.
Eat Fruit and Eat Lots of it. You'll be happier, healthier and leaner in the long run.
The main point here is to eat enough fruit to make up your 2,500 or 3,000 calories per day. But never restrict calories. If your body feels that it is feast time, it will eventually feel comfortable giving up the extra weight without force.
Keep in mind that this could be 30 bananas a day--literally. And check out this website for support. http://www.30bananasaday.com/
