Sounds outlandish, I know. But it is true. If you are serious about alkalising your body then you simply have to cut fruit from your diet.
The reason?
Fruit is absolutely packed with sugar. While I understand that it also contains fibre, vitamins, phytonutrients etc. the sheer amount of sugar that fruit contains means that this a worthwhile trade off.
The Problem with Sugar (and a quick crash course on why an acidic lifestyle is so bad)
In the same way that our body will do whatever it has to in order to maintain a temperature of 37 degrees, it will go to similar lengths to maintain a pH level of 7.365 for our internal cells, particularly the blood.
The modern Western diet of meats, dairy, fizzy drinks, chips, chocolate, candy, alcohol, coffee, pizza, pasta, bread etc has a massively acidic effect on the body. Such an acidic lifestyle puts incredible stress and strain on the body as it has to constantly fire-fight to keep this pH level of 7.365.
This not only takes up a MASSIVE amount of our energy (remember how you feel after Christmas dinner or a huge takeaway meal?) but it also uses up the alkaline minerals (buffers) in our body including calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium. This in turn leads to so many health issues it is unreal.
These acid-forming foods and drinks also lead to the creation of yeasts, bacteria and mold in our blood. In addition, the acids that are created and consumed in our modern lifestyle also ferment the blood and create harmful by-products, toxins and alcohols, which then further destroy our internal environment.
With more acid, more toxins are created, the pH is lowered, the bacteria and yeast grows, becomes mold, and a vicious cycle begins.
And what’s more - these harmful bacteria, yeast and mold actually feed off the nutrients you consume! But that is not all! The waste products they leave behind also act as their food, meaning that rapid multiplication takes place!
So when we consume sugar it sends our body into turmoil. Consuming sugar is like throwing petrol onto a fire. It rapidly fuels this cycle, compounding the problem and placing an insane amount of stress on the body.
I’ve written about this before and a number of questions and concerns often arise, but the question that comes up most frequently is this:
But sugar from fruit is different isn’t it? Fructose is ok, right?
Nope. Sugar is sugar is sugar. It doesn’t matter where it comes from, it still wreaks havoc with the acid/alkaline balance of the body. Whether it is from fructose, sucrose, an apple, honey or a piece of chocolate cake, the sugar still has the same devastating effect. How quickly or slowly the body metabolises different sugars may have an effect on your energy levels (in terms of how quickly the peaks and troughs will follow one another) but makes no difference to the fact that the sugar ferments and fuels these harmful microforms in exactly the same way.
So stop eating fruit! It is plain to see that sugar is incredibly harmful, and fruit is packed full of it. And as for fruit juice? Fresh or not, fruit juice is simply highly concentrated fruit! But without the fibre! It is the same problem multiplied by twenty. DO NOT DRINK FRUIT JUICE!
Sure, if it is the choice between an apple and a Mars bar then go for the apple, because you’re at least getting some goodness. But better still, give yourself better choices so you don’t have to go for the lesser of two evils! (wow, five years ago I never would have thought I would be calling fruit ‘evil’!)
Is any fruit OK?
Yes! There are a handful of low-sugar fruits that are great for you! Tomato, avocado, lemon, lime and grapefruit are all alkalising and full of goodness. And before anyone asks about how lemons and limes can be alkalising - the answer is simple: it is the effect the food has on the body, not whether it is acid or alkaline in it’s natural state. The reason lemons and limes have an alkalising effect is because they are not only high water content and low sugar content, but they also contain high amounts of alkaline minerals (potassium in particular).
I hope this makes sense. As ever, leave any questions below. This post will have been a shock to a few people, especially given how many alkaline food charts I see on the Internet with fruits listed as alkaline (alongside maple syrup and honey, so not the most trustworthy). But it really is down to sugar, and we all know that sugar is really not so good for us.
In my next post I’ll give some tips on how to transition away from fruit, but for now please treat it as a treat and nothing more than that!
Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.
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I have always heard that eating fruits and vegetables is the best for your body.
What’s the story?
Hi Raul
Thanks for stopping by. As I mention in the article it is not that fruits do not have positive qualities (such as the fibre, vitamins and phytonutrients) but because they are SO high in sugar, the negatives of sugar far outweigh these positives.
The fermentation of the sugar into yeasts, bacteria, mold etc in the blood stream also leads to the body absorbing less of the nutrients we consume anyway!
It is a vicious cycle.
If you do absolutely loooove fruit (and I am a big fan of strawberries and plums) then please do keep this to a treat at most.
Fruits (apart from the low sugar ones I mentioned) that are better than others include berries, grapefruit and barely ripe banana. The more ripe the fruit gets the more fermented it is so steer clear of overly ripe fruit.
From memory, pineapple has by far the highest sugar content to steer well clear of this one!
Cheers again
Ross
Oh, and you were half right - eating vegetables (particularly greens) is the best thing you can do for your body.
Don’t eat fruit? because it’s full of sugar? Are you serious? How about you tell people to get rid of refined sugar (harmful sugar) from their diet and stick to fruit (natural healthy sugar that your body needs). Seriously!
Yes there’s too much sugar in our modern diet, not because of organic natural fruits, because so many processed foods we buy is packed with refined sugar (bad sugar).
Hi Pedro
Thanks for taking the time out to get in touch. I honestly appreciate your contribution.
About 80% of this post is about sugar in general and how utterly destructive it is to our body. In fact, this entire blog and website is CONSTANTLY repeating time after time after time that we HAVE to change the way we live. We HAVE to cut out all of the shit we are eating including fizzy drinks, chips, chocolate, candy, simple carbs, refined foods, saturated and trans fats, artificial foods, chemicals etc.
As mentioned in the post, the villan is sugar - and fruit is very high in sugar.
I agree there is a hierarchy of health where to me a snacking decision would look like this:
vegetables > fruit > chocolate
If you want to alkalise your body and avoid the dangers consuming sugar (acids) then you should really minimise the high-sugar fruit you consume.
Sugar is sugar is sugar. There is absolutely no doubting that fact, and while I accept (as noted in the blog post) that fruit DOES contain good stuff too - the bad outweighs the good, especially when you can get the good in abundance from vegetables and other food sources.
Fruit should be seen as a healthy treat. Nothing more, nothing less.
I hope this clarifies.
Thanks again
Ross
What about lemons, which are very alkaline?
Our bodies do need some sugar. That’s why I think it’s better advice to tell people to cut the sugary junk foods, and get their sugar from fruit.
If people used your logic, they would eat nothing but raw broccoli. Even too much water can kill you.
Hi Aaron
I quote directly from the article:
“Is any fruit OK?
Yes! There are a handful of low-sugar fruits that are great for you! Tomato, avocado, lemon, lime and grapefruit are all alkalising and full of goodness.”
Yes, our bodies do need some sugar, this is provided in ample amounts from vegetables believe it or not.
Your last point is simply ridiculous. Eating or drinking too much of anything is bad for you.
Cheers
Ross
My dad has told me this very same thing. I think you should also mention Ross, that it’s even more dangerous the older you get- I have to ask my dad - but he cut fruit down considerably in his diet, because they have too much sugar and it raises the level of glucose in the blood. I agree, fruit should be a treat, not a whole meal (lunch) etc.
I love the website. Good work trying to help people out there. I agree that sugar, especially refined sugar, should be avoided. However, I think that 1 serving every day or every other day of bananas, grapes, pineapples, etc., would not be harmful. Vegetables should account for about 70% of the ideal diet, but that leaves 30% for other foods. By eating only 1 serving every day or every other day, you would be allowing plenty of opportunity for the other high alkaline foods to neutralize your ph. Just my 2 cents. Thanks again for the great info.
Oh, its really differentiated story! I did not agree with you.
Hi Chan
At least let me know why.
Thanks
Ross
I agree with you that a heavy dose of fruit in the diet is not good. I recall Richard Simmons toting that idea in his lifestyle way of eating. But, surely there is a difference between the natural sugars in fruit, which is a perfect food, as opposed to processed sugars. Our bodies were designed to process these natural sugars in fruits and vegetables (such as carrots, etc) much better than the other kinds of sugars. I think all this needs to be taken into consideration.
Interesting. Have you read the book “Green for Life”? It details a nutritional plan based on the chimpanzee diet, basically 50 percent fruit/ 50 percent leafy greens. Because we don’t have the chompers that we once did, the author recommends blending fruit and greens into smoothie form. I’ve been drinking them. I feel pretty good. What I’m curious about now is, “is it harmful to eat the mold that grows on fruit?” or in my case “is it harmful to drink a smoothie that hasn’t been refrigerated for a day or two? (oops.)
i agree and disagree with you to some extent.because i consume fruits alot esp pinepple. i tend not to see any effect on my weight but it still helps me.i like fruits so much because at times i hate food.so what should i do.also, doctors recommend fruits so why the conflict
are u saying fruits are bad
Hi Esther
Thanks for your comments.
It is complex and I know it is contradicting common sense to a lot of people, and to be honest, the title of “Don’t Eat Fruit” was slightly inflammatory because I wanted to get a reaction and start a debate (so double thanks for your comments!).
The premise is that while I know that fruits do have a lot of benefits and good bits (fibre, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals etc) the cons outweigh the pros.
Most fruits simply contain so much sugar. This sugar then ferments in the body causing massive acidosis. In a state of acidosis most of the nutrient are wasted.
There are so many bad points to consuming acids (see here) that I truly believe that you are better off treating fruits as a treat and getting the bulk of your nutrients from vegetables, salads, pulses, seeds, nuts etc.
I am going to write another updated blog post on this discussion so keep your eyes on the blog!
Thanks
Ross
I agree Ross. When we look at our natural evolutionary diet, we would have eaten mostly green leaves and shoots. Fruits being high up in the trees. Also sugar in any form creates excess glycogen which has the detrimental effect of fueling cancer cells (there only fuel source) glycosis. Fruits should be a treat really and only available as nature intended at certain times of the year. We were designed to eat vegetables-get used to it! Stay off the meat and junk. Live full and long with your head held high! Peace.
Hey Searcher
You’re speaking a lot of sense there!
Thanks for posting - one of my favourite comments of the year!
Have a great day
Ross
So, what about the green smoothie revolution? You can’t drink green smoothies without fruit. Sorry, I am vegan, and could not be vegan without fruit. I hate greens and only get them in smoothies.
You gave an example of the harm that fruit can cause, but a pro-fruit writer could give an example of the good that fruit can do.
How on earth is someone meant to decide who is right? Both sides would have a bit of science on their side, but partial truth isn’t the actual truth.
Surely the only way to know the value of fruit would be to look at the overall effect of fruit on health, whether fruit eaters tend to be healthier with all other factors removed. You don’t give an example of such a study, so there’s no way for readers to know if fruit really is bad for them.
is orange and watermelon is consider low sugar type? can consume? hey ross, i hope u can provide a chart regarding to fruit that can be safely consume due to low level sugar
Low sugar fruits are:
Lemon
Lime
Avocado
Tomato
Watermelon (just about)
Grapefruit
Avoid all others. Sorry for the quick reply - I’m very very busy!
Ross
Fruit is known for lowering cholesterol, improving memory function, protecting the heart against cardio vascular disease and certain cancers. However, fruit does not contain all of the macro nutrients needed to sustain life. Fruit has almost no protein what so ever. Although it may have fiber to slow down the assimilation of sugar into your bloodstream, fruit still has enough sugar to cause an insulin spike, greater then that of vegetables.
Also, a diet based on fruits has no B-12 vitamins at all. This would lead to anaemia, and eventually heart failure, due to the lack of red blood cells being produced. Vegeatable on the other hand are packed with these vitamins.
If you do choose to eat fruits, make sure you eat it with a meal that is high in fiber and protein, this will slow down the sugar absorption and will not cause a high insulin spike as it normally would.
cheers
i do not agree with ur words. eating fruits is one of the best things that u can do for ur body. being them natural n full of vitamins and minerals they help to detoxify what junk we eat in today’s lifestyle.
Hi Pri
Thanks for your contribution. Something being natural does not mean it is good for you - some of the most deadly substances on earth are natural. I never said that fruit does not have vitamins and minerals contained within them, but they are full of sugar and sugar is very detrimental to our health.
I guess it is the same argument that red wine and chocolate are supposed to be ‘good for you’ because they contain antioxidants - but they are antioxidants coated in stuff that is far worse for you than the antioxidants are good.
Make sense?
Cheers
Ross
We all have to remember everyones body is diffrent and requires more and less of certain things. What Ross says has alot of validity to it, but you have to choose what out of everything you hear will work for your body and your life style. You have to remember hundreds of years ago unless you lived in tropical/fruit rich enviorments where fruit was abundant, fruit was the dessert/the treat. Are you killing yourself if you eat fruit everyday….no. Would Ross agree … maybe/maybe not. But you make the decisions and pay the consequence for your own body. A diet in alot of refined sugars, grease and fats…there is a consequence. A diet in veggies and fruit (regardless of the sugars Ross is talking about) gives you a healthier consequence. There are pros and cons to everything. I also think you have to keep in mind that there is a contradicting argument to everything, and testing that shows both sides to every story.
You just need to do your research and do what is best for your body.
Nice post, thanks for contributing. A bit of fruit every now and then won’t kill you, true. But the mantra from govt. and other health folks about eating as much fruit as possible is frankly very poor advice. That much sugar does not do you any good.
Thanks again for contributing - I like what you say and you are spot on - moderation is key to everything and everyone is different
Ross
I had a question about raising the pH in my drinking water making it more alkaline which right now is probably 6.0 or lower (very acidic). Would putting Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) in my drinking water be safe and a wise thing to do? If so, how much would you recommend? I put it in my Jacuzzi to raise the pH, so I thought it would be good to do the same to my drinking water. Thanks for your help.
Hi Ross, and thanks for posting the article. I know that Dr Young agrees with you, but I’m left feeling rather confused, because this information is at variance with what some other health experts say.
I’ve also heard of people recovering from cancer on a diet rich in fruit. I read that cancer can only thrive in an acid environment, so surely this would suggest that fruit consumption does not actually result in an acidic internal environment? Also I’ve never heard of a high fruit eater developing cancer.
Can you please explain how come loads of people report that they are thriving high fruit diets such as Doug Graham’s 80/10/10 diet? You probably know that this particular diet is high fruit with lots of greens as well.
Looking forward to your answer.
Andrew
Hi there!
This is so true! Great advice and article.
I’m 18 years old and an athlete. About 6months ago I became a vegetarian as I don’t like meat and hurting animals. Many believed that athletes can’t be vegetarians because they dont get enough protein. This is rubbish if you eat the correct diet. Ive always been a big fruit and vegetable eater. I’ve been trying to lose some body fat and recently went to a sports dietician who unlike everyone else who gave me advice, advised me to cut out fruit from my diet. Even though I was shocked I took his advice and just like he said dropped the body fat. Never looked or felt better.
Fruit is good for you no ones doubting that, but it is incrediably high in sugar! This guy knows his stuff, listen to him! People dont like listening to advice because its not what they want to hear.
Stack up on the green leafy vegetables and you will get your vitamins without the loaded sugar. We all need to just eat to survive and go back to the days of the cave men.
Mel
I eat a grapefruit a day. Is that okay, I don’t eat other fruit. I will cut the grapefruit out if it’s bad to eat one a day.
Hey Kim
Grapefruits are actually fine as they are a low sugar fruit and moderately alkalising!
Hope this is good news!
Ross
thanks so much for the response and i feel better eating them! they are one of my fav snacks!
This post is a little over the top…
Many things in excess are bad for you, fruits, water, even all the fruits you mentioned which are low in sugar.
The problem with our current diets is that most of us don’t even eat fruit in any quantity at all! This is where your argument doesn’t make much sense already, and yet the majority of Western civilization is suffering from obesity. Is it from too much fruit?
I would argue that if you went completely to the other side, cutting out fast food, meat, fried packaged foods, preserved foods, microwaved foods… and you ate fruit instead, I’d bet anything that your next health check up will be remarkably improved.
Bottom line, everything in moderation, no need to go to extremes on ANY side of this particular argument.
Patrick,
Did you not read all the previos posts?
No one is saying be drastic and extreme and never have any fruit, Ross is just pointing out the simple and very true fact that:
Sugar is bad for you.
Fruit is high in sugar.
Therefore:
Fruit is bad for you.
That’s the truth.
What you choose to do about it, or which excuse you tell yourself about why you’ll keep eating it, is up to you.
Personally, I absolutely hate the saying “everything in moderation”. EVERYTHING? In moderation?
Shall I let my 4 year old have alcohol, and maybe one sigarette, just the one? Only once a week or so?
thanks. i always thought there was something fishy w/ fruit. i eat some and in just a few minutes feel the energy drop away and leaving me lower than where i was before i ate it. i had likened it to the energy rush/drop that follows a coca-cola. i am worse off after ingesting it. right?