Replacing snacks with fruit at work

Ricochet J · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:00

At work I've begun to replace snacks with fruit. Out go the Hobnobs and in come the grapes, bananas etc.

I've got a packet of grapes sitting on my desk. I've had almost half a packet since this morning.

Now in my head sugar is sugar, weather it comes from a Hobnob or a grape.

Is there a guide showing how many sugars there are in sweet fruits like grapes, bananas, mangos etc? Surely munching sweet fruits will lead to piling on the fat?

If it helps I cycle to and from work (4 miles each way).

Jim99 · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:02

If you type the food name into google it will tell you the sugar content, in an info box at the right.

And yes, it will. Sugar is sugar.

gradyhawks · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:03

Yeah, look on the label on the banana. Should be on the inside.

Or. You can literally google it. "Sugar in Fruit" brings up:

gradyhawks · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:03

So an entire pack of grapes, 500g, is 80g of sugar!!!

clockwork.satan · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:18

Ah, but it's not the same as refined sugar in manufactured products, and the fibre and other elements that fruits are made up from more than make up for the sugars.

http://authoritynutrition.com/is-fruit-good-or-bad-for-your-health/

tom_e · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:33

clockwork.satan said:
Ah, but it's not the same as refined sugar in manufactured products, and the fibre and other elements that fruits are made up from more than make up for the sugars.

http://authoritynutrition.com/is-fruit-good-or-bad-for-your-health/

There really is very little difference in it, and only to a point if you're going to start smashing fruit down because it's healthy and natural so you can eat away then you'll run into the same problems of weight gain and energy crashes as any other high sugar food.

Fruit in moderation is fine and obviously preferable to processed food, unlimited fruit because it's obviously the healthy option so it's fine to pack as much in as possible is not.

Veg is a better choice, much more nutrient dense and much lower in sugar.

gradyhawks · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:40

Tom E - Preach.

Load up on the Veg instead, carrots, tomatoes, that kind of thing. You can eat near infinite veg!

Dav4 · 17 Aug 2015 at 15:55

Most fruits are full of sugar and therefore still bad for u in a weird way. They say your 5 a day should be 4 veg 1 fruit. The only fruit worth eating IMO is Bananas as they do actually fill your stomach.
Eating chopped carrot or celery sticks is better and u actually burn more calories than u consume through picking it up and chewing it.

MikeTheNative · 17 Aug 2015 at 16:06

Dav4 said:
Eating chopped carrot or celery sticks is better and u actually burn more calories than u consume through picking it up and chewing it.

No you don't, there is no such thing as 'negative calorie' foods. Technically cold water is negative calories but you would have to drink gallons of the stuff before you burned off 10 calories.

Luckystrike123 · 17 Aug 2015 at 16:11

If you want to have the healthiest option then go for berries. They have hardly any sugar in them compared to grapes / bananas etc.

Skeeter · 17 Aug 2015 at 16:17

Grapes are REALLY bad if your planning to cut down sugar by swapping snacks for fruit.

Berries, nuts, grains, etc are much better options, as is veg as a lot of people have said.

Freefaller · 17 Aug 2015 at 16:59

Having lots of fibre with sugar does mitigate the glycemic index, but it is better to avoid hugely sweet items.

Snacking on things like nuts too are worthwhile. I quite enjoy rice cakes and peanut butter, but I do actually rather enjoy my fruits, but limit them to around 2 portions a day (banana, blueberries typically).

Jim99 · 17 Aug 2015 at 19:33

MikeTheNative said:
No you don't, there is no such thing as 'negative calorie' foods. Technically cold water is negative calories but you would have to drink gallons of the stuff before you burned off 10 calories.

I don't know about that.

It depends how far away the shop is.

Rikki · 18 Aug 2015 at 04:36

When Im snacking and low carb I eat Pepperami's, cheese and nuts.

Hotwired · 18 Aug 2015 at 05:21

MikeTheNative said:
No you don't, there is no such thing as 'negative calorie' foods. Technically cold water is negative calories but you would have to drink gallons of the stuff before you burned off 10 calories.

We need a volunteer to test out the weight loss by being cold theory.

I cba to be that uncomfortable for so long

pinkowl · 18 Aug 2015 at 06:36

Yes sugar is sugar but calories are different. You are still much better off eating fruit than eating a biscuit.
I have tried to cut out sugar too and I have fruit if I need a snack and I use organic honey if I have natural yogurt. Much better options than eating a biscuit or having a normal sugary yogurt.

MikeTheNative · 18 Aug 2015 at 07:43

pinkowl said:
Yes sugar is sugar but calories are different. You are still much better off eating fruit than eating a biscuit.
I have tried to cut out sugar too and I have fruit if I need a snack and I use organic honey if I have natural yogurt. Much better options than eating a biscuit or having a normal sugary yogurt.

No calories are calories, eat too many and you will put on weight. Eat 1600 calories of biscuits you will not put on weight but eat 3000 of fruit and you will.

Freefaller · 18 Aug 2015 at 07:51

Though the fruit will be more nutritious but in some people's eye less appealing than a biscuit!

Uther · 18 Aug 2015 at 08:11

pinkowl · 18 Aug 2015 at 11:59

MikeTheNative said:
No calories are calories, eat too many and you will put on weight. Eat 1600 calories of biscuits you will not put on weight but eat 3000 of fruit and you will.

Yes you put on too much weight if you eat too much calories but what I meant is that not all calories are equal in the way what it does to your body. So if you eat 100kcal worth or chocolate or nuts they do different things to your body and give out different nutritions. If you ate 1500 kcal worth of biscuits everyday you would not put on weight but you would also not stay healthy.