Eat more fruits and vegetables to lose weight. Is it the right way to eat fruits? Which fruit should you choose, high GI or low GI?

Most people know that if you want to lose weight, you need to eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables, but are you eating the right fruits? Nutrition experts remind us that although eating fruit may seem lighter, we should still control the amount we eat, especially since fruit is not without calories and the GI values ​​of fruit vary, so we must distinguish them clearly.

To control your weight, you must first control the amount of fruit you eat; in addition, you can also measure it based on the glycemic index (GI value). Fruits with high GI values ​​will stimulate the secretion of insulin in the body, making it easier for the body to synthesize fat. Therefore, don't only eat high GI fruits, which can help you lose weight more effectively.

"GI value" is the abbreviation of Glycemic Index. Liu Zhenfang, a former professor of the Department of Health and Nutrition at Taipei Medical University, said that currently the international community uses the ratio of the increase in blood sugar caused by food to the glucose consumed, with glucose (GI=100) as the reference indicator for the GI value of food. Foods above 70 are high GI foods, between 70 and 55 are medium GI foods, and below 55 are low GI foods.

High GI foods make you fat if you eat too much

The impact on blood sugar is more significant, and starches and fruits belong to this category. Professor Liu Zhenfang pointed out that foods with high GI values ​​will cause blood sugar to rise rapidly and stimulate insulin secretion, which will then make it easy for the body to synthesize fat. Eating too much will indeed make you fat.

Professor Liu Zhenfang's research team once measured the GI values ​​of various fruits and found that the higher the fiber content of the fruit, the lower the GI value; seasonal fruits have higher GI values; as for the sweetness of the taste, it is not necessarily proportional to the GI value. The fruits with lower GI values ​​measured in the study include: cherry tomatoes, pears, Fuji apples, papayas, Thai guavas, bananas, oranges, pineapples, tangerines, and golden kiwis; those with relatively higher GI values ​​include grapes, watermelons, pomelo, longans, and mangoes.

Foods with relatively high GI values ​​include grapes, watermelon, pomelo, longan and mango.

However, Professor Liu Zhenfang emphasized that the GI value is a relative value, so the first priority for weight loss is still to control the amount of intake. For example, one serving of fruit is about 80% full of a cherry tomato in a bowl, about the size of a fist-sized orange, or half a large banana.

Professor Liu Zhenfang emphasized that the GI value is a relative value, so the first priority for weight loss is to control the amount of intake. For example, one serving of fruit is about the amount of a cherry tomato placed in an 80% full bowl.

Choose fruits with a relatively low GI value

If you want to control your weight more actively, you can choose fruits with relatively low GI values ​​to eat with your diet. For example, it is recommended that people who are losing weight eat about 2 to 3 servings of fruit per day. If one serving is grapes, try not to choose mangoes, watermelons and other fruits that also have a high GI value for the other two servings.

In addition, those who are losing weight are not recommended to drink fruit juice. Professor Liu Zhenfang pointed out that there are four disadvantages: less fiber intake than eating fresh fruit, it is more difficult to control the intake amount, other sugars are easily added to enhance the taste, and without chewing, the feeling of fullness and satisfaction cannot be achieved.

Therefore, drinking fruit juice not only has lower nutritional value than eating fresh fruit directly, but it may also affect the efficiency of weight loss.