I love fruit. In fact as a kid, if my mom served fruit at the dinner table, that’s all I would eat. I didn’t like vegetables or much meat, but I loved fruit.
This love of fruit and all things sweet led me down a not very healthy path of insulin resistance and crazy blood sugar swings causing hypoglycemia, brain fog, weight gain, worse acne and more.
So while I love fruit, I’ve been a bit wary of it, especially because of the research that shows how poisonous fructose (the main sugar in fruit) is to the liver and how it converts to fat so quickly in the body.
But this research was done on animals, and it turns out that humans handle the fructose in whole fruit a lot differently.
Summer is fruit season. Have you noticed?
If you go to a local farmer’s market the isles are filled with the most amazing fruits. I do agree that fruit these days is a lot sweeter than it used to be, but is it really that bad for us when we’re trying to balance our hormones?
The short answer is no.
Women with hormone imbalance tend to run a bit on the cold side internally, and while I won’t go into too many details, this means that we need some sweet in our diet.
In fact, everyone needs some sweet in their diet – it’s one of the six tastes of food that help our bodies function properly. Those six tastes are: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.
Of the six tastes, sweet is considered to be the most grounding and nourishing. When eaten through whole real foods it can promote health, longevity, healthy tissues and bodily fluids.
According to Chris Kresser, when fruits are eaten in their whole form, they are good for us. They contain fiber that helps to mediate the sugar, and the fructose is managed by the body just fine. Additionally, you will naturally adjust your diet to compensate for the sweet you’ve eaten in the piece of fruit.
Note of Caution: This doesn’t work with sodas or other processed foods. The sweet in those foods will wreck your health. Even fruit juice is to be avoided because you’ve removed the fiber.
There is one more important aspect here. Choose fruits that are in season in your local area. During summer the days are longer so we need more carbohydrates for energy. As the days get shorter, we need less.
Stone fruits were not meant to be eaten all year long and unless you live in Hawaii or other tropical areas, you’ll want to avoid mangoes, papayas and pineapples during the fall and winter months as well.
Fruit contains vitamins, minerals and fiber and is a great source of antioxidants – nutrients that help to reduce inflammation. Just make sure that your fruit is organic or that you stick to the Clean 15 if you’re buying conventional produce.
Enjoy a piece of fruit every day. It’s so good for you and can be used in so many ways to make your meal taste delicious. If you are suffering from digestive upset, eat your fruit 30 minutes before a meal and avoid eating with proteins to help with better digestion
What is your favorite fruit?
Fruit can cause digestive upset. In fact it’s very common to have this response.
That’s because many of us have an overgrowth of yeast, called Candida, in our guts. This yeast is fed by sugar, in fact it LOVES sugar. So when you eat sugar (fruit), you may feel bloated, foggy brained, have gas and more because of the fermentation that happens in your digestive tract.
Yikes!
Women with an overgrowth of candida have very sensitive digestive tracts so you have to tread carefully to heal.
Here’s how to still eat fruit AND heal your gut at the same time – it’s a strategy called Food Combining.
According to Donna Gates (yes, she’ll be on the Natural Solutions for PCOS online conference coming up soon!), there are 3 easy steps:
- Eat fruit alone and on an empty stomach – allow 30 minutes after eating fruit to have your meal.
- Eat your protein with non-starchy vegetables or sea vegetables (seaweed).
- Always eat grains, grain-like seeds, and starchy vegetables with non-starchy and/or ocean vegetables.
Here are the recommended non-starchy vegetables to eat while your digestion is healing:
- Asparagus
- Bamboo shoots
- Beet greens
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Burdockroot
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celeriac
- Celery
- Brussels sprouts
Non-starchy vegetables go with just about everything. You can eat them with oil, butter, ghee, eggs, grains, starchy vegetables (like acorn squash and potatoes), lemons, limes, and raw sunflower, caraway, flax, or pumpkin seeds.
Give it a try! This is just for about 3 months while your gut is healing. Once you try eating this way, you’ll love the flatter tummy and how good it feels.
Let me know how it works for you!
Next Steps
- Take the PCOS Quiz!  Get your score and assess your hormone health risks.
- Join our Facebook Sisterhood Group Pose your questions to this group of like-minded women. Get the answers to your questions and the support you need.
- Checkout the Hormone Reset. Guided Practices to eliminate anxiety, lose weight and boost energy.
We are committed to helping women reverse their symptoms of hormone imbalance – a major cause of excess weight gain, adult acne, unwanted facial hair, depression, anxiety, and heartbreaking female infertility.
©Insulite Health empowers women with hormone imbalance to transform their lives through a process of healing with the Natural Hormone Solution  –a complete solution for helping women reverse the symptoms hormone imbalance..