THE ANTI-FRUIT MOVEMENT

The truth is that fruit is the most important food group to consume when healing from chronic health issues. Fruits are rich in a whole array of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and more! Factors such as a poor diet, stress, high levels of physical activity, pregnancy, environmental pollution/toxicity, and chronic health issues all increase one’s need for consuming fruit. 

That said, let’s set the record straight by addressing each of the 5 Fruit Fear Myths:
 

1. MYTH: The sugar in fruit is the same as the processed sugar in candy and contributes to diabetes, weight gain, and many other diseases.
   
   TRUTH: by now, most people are well aware that the consumption of refined, processed and artificial sugars should be avoided at all cost as they are contributing factors to nearly every known disease! This fact, however, has led many well meaning Doctors and health professionals to mistakenly assume that "all sugar must be bad," including the sugar found in fruit. The truth is, our body’s use sugar as its main source of fuel and you can’t survive very long without it! Accordingly, fruits are natures way of providing us with the ideal source of sugar to nourish the body! In fact, fruits come equipped with all the vital nutrients needed for the body to metabolize sugar in a healthy way!  Fruits are also highly anti-inflammatory, and contain phytonutrients that kill cancer cells, eliminate pathogens, repair tissues, support healthy weight loss and detoxification, and heal our DNA! 
    

2. MYTH: The fruits found in supermarkets are picked before fully ripening and have little nutritional value, so are not worth eating.
   
   TRUTH: Famers know their fruits best and pick them at just the right time so they can be exported around the world, while continuing to ripen. In other words, the nutritional value of the fruits bought at the supermarket is very high and you should definitely be eating them! Although fruits fully ripened before being picked have even superior nutritional value, we should be grateful for our ability to eat fresh fruit year round, a privilege that was historically reserved for royalty! 
    

3. MYTH: Trendy Diets such as Anti-Fungal (Candida), SIBO diets, low Carb diets (Keto). ​
   
   TRUTH: Currently, a majority of people consulting with alternative health practitioners for their fatigue, foggy head, hormone imbalances, low immune systems, auto-immune conditions, and other "mystery/unexplained symptoms" are being told that they must be suffering from Candida overgrowth, SIBO, a "leaky" gut or other related issues. Then, in most cases, these people are advised to reduce/eliminate fruit by following low carb diets. To set the record straight, Candida, SIBO, and "leaky gut," are not the true cause of the problem, only part of the effect, and part of the solution, in most cases, is to increase your fruit intake, not eliminate it! 
    

4. MYTH: Hybrid fruits (i.e., Pluots, which are a combination of plum and apricot) and seedless fruit, must be the result of genetic modification (GMO), so they must be bad for our health.
   
   TRUTH: These "new" species of fruit are actually the result of natural processes such as hybridization, cross-pollination, grafting, etc. In other words, there are no genetic modifications used to grow these fruits. In fact, these fruits provide exciting new blends of nutrients and medicinal properties that have great potential for healing! To ensure you are not eating GMO, simply look for certified Organic and non-GMO fruits.  
    

5. MYTH: Food testing used by doctors, Naturopaths, and other alternative health practitioners claiming to reveal fruit “sensitivities,” or even a "fructose intolerance"
   
   TRUTH: To be clear, healthcare professionals are not likely trying to deceive you and are truly doing their best to help you. That said, they can unknowingly use faulty tests and/or interpretation methods that provide you with inaccurate results and lead to poor recommendations, such as those causing you to eliminate fruit. In the alternative health world, practitioners of all sorts, including Naturopathic Doctors, are experimenting with numerous types of food sensitivities tests (i.e., blood tests, saliva test, genetic tests, biofeedback machines, elimination diets, food journaling, etc.) convinced they are providing their clients with reliable results to guide their food choices. However, it's important to understand that the majority of these traditional and newer "innovative" tests have often never gone through rigorous scientific evaluation from credible institutions and frequently prove to be of limited value in a clinical setting. Additionally, the results of many of these food sensitivity tests can be affected by numerous factors including your diet, medications, supplements, stress levels, etc. To be clear, there are many great and legitimate ways to test for food sensitivities, intolerances, and allergies, which can be a critical step in helping you heal, but you should be mindful of only taking the advice of trusted professionals. When in doubt, ask questions, do your own research, and get multiple expert opinions.
    

6. N.B., With all of this in mind, you should always follow the advise of your Medical Doctor if it has been established that (1) you have a true Allergy to a fruit that is known to cause you an anaphylactic shock or other types of severe reactions; (2) you have a legitimate medical condition that warrants modifying your fruit intake (extremely rare and almost never includes diabetics); or (3) if you are preparing for a procedure that requires a temporary diet modification.