🍌 Diet myth: fruit makes you fat

Fruit is gaining some bad reputation online in recent times because of its naturally occurring sugars.

Influencers claim that sugars from fruit spike your blood sugar level and therefore fruit is best avoided because it can make you fat.

This is really bad nutrition advice because it gives no context.

Firstly, it is true that fruit contain sugars and eating fruit in isolation will elevate your blood sugar levels to some extent. But that’s perfectly fine for healthy people.

Higher blood sugar levels per se don’t make you fat. What makes you fat is excess sugars intake overtime, not a blip in your blood sugar levels.

Secondly, when you have fruit with other foods, the nutrients from the other foods (e.g. protein, fats) can lessen the effect of sugars from fruit.

And let’s not forget all the different antioxidants and fibres from fruit, which is food for your gut bacteria.

Of course, if you eat 1 Kg of banana day after day, then you could have issues.

But I am yet to meet anyone who got fat from eating blueberries or a banana mid afternoon.

🥊 Punchline

Fruit contains sugars that can somewhat elevate your blood sugar levels, but this doesn’t make you fat. Unless you consume a case of fruit in isolation, everyday or have specific medical requirements, you have got nothing to worry about.

🧁 Cutting out sugar and starch is an effective IBS treatment

Current recommendations for people with IBS is to follow a low FODMAP diet.

A low FODMAP diet is a strict, regulated diet where lists of foods that are allowed/not allowed must be consistently followed.

However, past research found that a genetic variation that hinders the breakdown of sugars and starches in the gut is overrepresented among IBS patients.

And so they wanted to compare if cutting out sugars and starches from the diet was as effective as the low FODMAP diet.

The low sugar diet involves low intakes of starch, lactose, sugars, sweet treats and highly processed foods.

After 4 weeks of following either diet, symptoms for patients with IBS improved as much by eating less sugar and starch as for those who followed FODMAP. Both groups were free to choose how often or regularly they ate.

However, weight loss was greater and sugar cravings were reduced among those who followed the low sugar diet.

🥊 Punchline

A low sugar diet was as effective as the low FODMAP at improve gut symptoms for people with IBS. However, reductions in weight, BMI, and sugar cravings were most pronounced following the low sugar diet.

🦴 Blackcurrant supplementing mitigates postmenopausal bone loss, study finds

Aging comes with bone density loss and so a greater risk of fractures.

This is especially important for post-menopausal women who have less bone density than men in their age group.

Past research showed that blackcurrant supplements helped prevent bone density loss post-menopause in mice. The best time for intervention was found to be in the transition between pre- and post-menopause before bone loss was significantly progressed.

A new study confirmed similar results in humans: blackcurrant supplementation can reduce postmenopausal bone loss and risk of osteoporosis.

Increase in bone density was only seen among volunteers who took 2 capsules of blackcurrant supplements (392 mg each) at the 6 month follow up.

Blackcurrant extract appears to:

• Reduce bone remodelling via reducing the levels of certain proteins.

• Increase gut bacteria (Ruminococcus 2) which could be involved in the bone remodelling process.

You would need to eat lots of blackcurrants to get a significant intake of its active compounds.

But using a supplement could be an effective alternative to osteoporosis medications, which have side effects and low adherence.

🥊 Punchline

Blackcurrant supplementation may be an alternative strategy to osteoporosis medications to help prevent post-menopausal osteoporosis.