The Holistic Pharmacist

Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category

Whenever you go to the supermarket, there are plenty fruits to pick from. Apples, oranges, blueberries, watermelons….Generally, they are regarded as a healthy choice. In fact, in a person who mostly eats fast food, sweets, and preservative-rich processed foods, fruits can be a good way from transitioning to healthier eating habits. However, this is only because the person is now replacing their junk food. Inherently, excessive fruit consumption poses quite a few problems.  Before I explain, let’s put a couple things in perspective about the general population today:

• 70% have an overgrowth of Yeast

• 33% have Pre-diabetes or Diabetes

• 15% of elderly have Small Bacterial Bowel Overgrowth (SBBO)

• 30% have Fructose Malabsorption (FM), meaning they can’t properly absorb fructose, which can increase the bad bacteria in your gut and cause:

              -Bloating

              -Stomach Pain

              -Depression

              -Constipation and/or Diarrhea

• 80% have suboptimal adrenals, according to Hair Mineral Analysis

• Most are chronically dehydrated; they do not drink at least 8 cups of spring water a day.

             *Note: Caffeine is dehydrating, so each cup of coffee=3 cups of water lost.

• Most are very Yin, according to Hair Mineral Analysis

Most fruit consist of two simple sugars: glucose and fructose. Let’s look at the mechanism of their consequences:

1. Glucose & Fructose feed yeast–>Candida

2. Glucose causes insulin spike–>Diabetes

3. Fructose doesn’t cause an insulin spike, but increases your:

-Triglycerides

-Uric Acid

-Ghrelin (hormone that STIMULATES appetite)–>Diabetes

4. Glucose causes insulin spike, which can lower blood sugar and reflexively increases–>Cortisol

5. Glucose & Fructose pull water from the cells through osmosis–>Dehydration

6. Also, fruits are very Yin according to Chinese Medicine

       Reasons why people can be attracted to fruits:

• They are consisted of simple sugars, so they are easier to digest

• People generally have chronic low blood sugar due to weak adrenals, so are attracted to its blood sugar raising effects

• Yeast craves for it, so people feel better when they eat it

• Fruit is high in potassium, which helps boost a person’s adrenals

         *Note: better alternative is organic apple cider vinegar and/or carrot juice

The takeaway is this: although classic “junk food” has a much bigger role in increasing your risk for diabetes, you want to especially avoid the fruits high in fructose:

• Figs

• Apricots

• Mangos

• Grapes

• Raisins

• Pears

And EAT the fruits with less fructose that are less sweet and don’t feed yeast as much:

• Berries

• Kiwi

• Grapefruit

• Pomegranate

Even then, you should limit eating fruits 1-2 times a day because of their very Yin nature. Also, you MUST eat fruit at least 30 minutes before all other foods, since it interferes with the digestion of protein and starch. A better option are cooked vegetables, which are packed with just as much antioxidants and fiber, don’t contain as much fructose to feed yeast, and are much more Yang. In my opinion, based on the population that we have today, fruit is NOT essential to a healthy diet. However, cooked vegetables ARE essential to a healthy diet.