Breakfast/Fruit % of, how much is too much?

[grant]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any thoughts on what percentage of carbohydrate I should devote to fruit and a complex carbohydrate like oatmeal? I don't want to rely upon the fruit too much for an energy source but would like to incorporate them somehow. What's your position and what do you do?

Thanks.

 

[Jodi]

Apples peaches, pears, berries and grapefruit. 1-2 pieces per day but you should really rely on starchy carbs because fructose mainly fills liver glycogen and doesn't fill muscle glycogen like starchy carbs do.

 

[Emma-Leigh]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any thoughts on what percentage of carbohydrate I should devote to fruit and a complex carbohydrate like oatmeal? I don't want to rely upon the fruit too much for an energy source but would like to incorporate them somehow. What's your position and what do you do?

Thanks.

I agree with jodi - one to two servings a day is fine. Some people (if they are very active) can have a little more (and will need a little more) to help maintain blood glucose in the face of energy output. Fruit is very healthy for you - it is high in vitamins, minerals, fibre, phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, water. It is also relatively low in calories, helps fill you up and keep you satisfied and helps to keep your body in a 'fed' state - which helps maintain your metabolism in the face of calorie restriction and helps promote anabolism in general!

Despite what people believe - fruit is also not that high in fructose (ranges from 3g to 10g per peice of fruit, depending on what it is) and this is not going to present you with any problems in terms of 'overflowing' your liver glycogen stores. You would have to eat up around 50-70g of fructose a day before you present any significant challange to your liver capacity. That means something in the range of 10 to 15 large peices of fruit is one sitting.

Additionally, if your body requires glucose (eg: if your muscles require glucose and they are taking glucose from the blood and therefore your total body glucose is LOW - meaning your BRAIN has less glucose coming in) the fructose WILL NOT fill your liver stores. It is converted to glucose in and DIRECTLY released into the blood for your muscles and major organs. If it didn't do this you would get hypoglycaemia at the drop of a hat.

Your body is smarter than this!

 

[njdevil13]

i have an orange early in the day. when i have my oatmeal meals twice a day, i cut up an apple in half and divide it equally for those 2 meals. so essentially, thats 2 pieces spread over 3 meals. is this ok?. i heard that having some fruit with large carb meals is beneficial. is this true??

 

[Emma-Leigh]

i have an orange early in the day. when i have my oatmeal meals twice a day, i cut up an apple in half and divide it equally for those 2 meals. so essentially, thats 2 pieces spread over 3 meals. is this ok?. i heard that having some fruit with large carb meals is beneficial. is this true??

That is fine.

And yes - it can help you when eating a large carb meal. (decreases the insulin response).

 

[Robin Hood]

So if I eat a banana preworkout and berries, post workout, I shouldn't have an apple in the morning with my oats?

 

[Jodi]

That depends on your conditioning and goals. If you are bulking or maintaining then that's fine, if you are cutting then I'd get rid of the banana all together and if your stomach still looks like it does in the avatar then I wouldn't worry about it

 

[Robin Hood]

I'm currently maintaining...well trying to put on more LBM without gaining more mass.

I won't be cutting til June. And as far as that goes, I don't have ANY fruit during a cut....unless I get a huge craving and then I'll break down and eat the occassional apple.

The pic of my abs was at the end of my cutting cycle. I put on 5 lbs of mass (3 lbs of muscle) since then. Hence the abs aren't as striking right now...thanks