When consuming a balanced diet, it is important to limit your intake of sugar. There is much discussion around the sugar content of fruit and whether or not consuming them in large amounts is bad for your health.

At WHC, we are fruit lovers. This is because (well, they’re delicious), while fruit does contain sugar, they also contain high amounts of healthy substances that tend to outweigh the detrimental effects of sugar on the body.

Fruits contain high levels of fibre and water, which means you are left feeling fuller for longer as opposed to eating sweets and cakes. Apples and oranges rate exceptionally high when tested for satiety (how well they are at making you feel full), so well in fact they were at comparable levels to that of beef and eggs!

Fruits also have a lower sugar to mass ratio than that of junk food counterparts. You would need to eat an absolute tonne of fruit to equal all the bad stuff in that donut or that can of soft drink, yuck!

Fruits are also chockers with essential nutrients that many of us simply don’t get enough of. These include Vitamin C, Folate and Potassium.

The truth in the end is that, yes, fruits do contain sugar. It is important to note that the points made above are referring to the consumption of fruits as whole fruits, not in juices or smoothies. While you still get the nutrients from the fruits when consumed as a liquid, juices will often extract the fibre of the whole fruit. Consuming fruits in liquid form also eradicates the chewing aspect, which is a large contributor to the high satiety levels of their natural whole form.

To plan for healthy levels of fruit in your diet, try to select varieties that contain low to medium levels of sugar. Here are a few options:

• Papaya
• Apples
• Raspberries
• blackberries
• Citrus – lemon, lime, grapefruit
• Cantaloupe
• Strawberries
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Blueberries
• Honeydew melon