Five portions of fruits and vegetables per day to keep your health? The slogan is known and proven. Yet regularly, some people plan to do without fruit to avoid sugar in all its forms (including fructose). A perilous operation for the organization? Not necessarily, if it is followed with reason.
Remove the fruit as part of a dedicated diet
Remove the fruits from your diet, in the event that you compensate by vegetables of course, do not necessarily imbalance your intake. Raphaël Gruman, dietitian-nutritionist explains that he even advises him from time to time to his patients. “It happens to me to do it in some patients, when I make them ketogenic diets for example, where we are forced to remove as many carbohydrates as possible. We even remove the fruits in the first phases of diet, but of course we keep vegetables”.
The objective is clear: drastically reduce carbohydrate intake so that the body no longer uses sugars as the main source of energy, but draws directly from stored fats. “It’s called doing a ketosis, and it activates weight loss faster.” Ensures the expert.
What the absence of fruits produced on your body
If the fruits are removed, in this type of diet, it is because they bring natural sugars (fructose) which can block the ketosis process.
“As soon as you introduce too much carbohydrates, it will block this mechanism. Your body will prefer to use the sugars available – either those stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles, or directly those from the fruits consumed on a daily basis. Result: you will activate your fat reserves less easily”. The fact of depriving oneself of fruit in favor of vegetables relaunches this ketosis.
No deficiency in vitamins, even without fruit
But a question comes back automatically when we approach the subject: is there not a risk of lacking nutrients and in particular vitamin C, if we remove the fruits? The answer is simple: not consuming fruit every day is not necessarily a problem … if you make sure to diversify your vegetables. These, in fact, are an excellent source of fibers, polyphenols and many vitamins and minerals. For Raphaël Gruman, the answer is reassuring:
“In reality, you have a lot of vitamins, especially vitamin C in vegetables. Persil is very rich, just like peppers and tomatoes. With enough vegetables to menus, the contributions make it possible to substitute those of the fruits, without any deficiency.”
He even adds that the fear of lacking vitamin C is largely exaggerated: “Very rare are the people who need to take it, even in winter “. And no need to rush on supplements to compensate. “”Taking vitamin C is sometimes deleterious because hypervitaminosis tires the liver. This requires additional effort to the body, which gets tired more than it is strengthened. ” It is therefore better to increase your variety of vegetables than to compensate by a tablet.
How to benefit from all the benefits of vegetables?
The fact remains that stopping the fruits also means mastering a little more its intake of vegetables. It then becomes necessary to ensure the quality and diversity of foods you consume. Compensate the fruits amounts to consuming around thirty different plants per week, including: herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes
The trick of nutritionists? Refer to the color to multiply the benefits. Eating vegetables of different colors makes it possible to cover your needs in vitamin C, vitamin K, folic acid (B9), vitamin A and vitamin E, while supporting intestinal and immune health.
Note also that cooking vegetables can cause a loss of certain nutrients, including vitamin C. If you do without fruit, it is therefore recommended to consume raw vegetables such as spinach or arugula.