Why Fruits Are Better Than Sweets

Sugar cravings, we all have ’em. So when we do, what’s better to eat: fruit or sweets?

The answer is obvious, sweets are better! They taste much, much better than fruit. But apart from taste, fruit is the far better option between the two.

But why?

Ummmmm, the reason why fruit is better and you should always pick it over sweets is because your mother said so!

Oh, your mother has lied to you before about things like you being her favorite child and your parents loving one another? Okay, that explains more than enough why you need more proof than just her word!

While both fruits and sweets have sugar, the amount of sugar in one serving of fruit is generally far less than that in a candy bar, slice of cake, or doughnut. Additionally, the sugar in fruit is less concentrated than the refined sugar found in sweets. As such, it doesn’t spike blood glucose levels, which can trigger fat storage from the insulin response.

Blood sugar levels remaining steady is not only a product of the loose nature of fruit sugar but also has to do with fiber. Fruits are rich in fiber, unlike sweets, resulting in the body taking longer to break down the sugar to convert it into energy. From this slow digestion comes another benefit of fiber, as eating it helps with feelings of fullness rather than feeling hungry again almost immediately after eating sweets.

Lastly, other than just fiber, sweets are devoid of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals, all of which have beneficial properties. So if sweets weren’t bad enough being higher in calories and sugar, as well as fat, cholesterol, and sodium, this lack of nutritional value should further compound matters in showing why they’re not so *cough* sweet!¹My apologies for the pun at the end. You’ve come to expect more from me, but hey, you can’t strike comedic gold all the time!

Choosing fruits over sweets is always the smart choice, except for when it isn’t.

Except for when it isn’t?!?!

Yeah, that’s right! There are times when eating sweets might be better than fruits.

And when’s that?

Well, one instance is when making smoothies. Depending on the servings of fruit and other ingredients used, a smoothie can quickly become a nutritional nightmare. Be mindful of canned fruit, as well. The canning process causes fruit to lose its natural flavor profile, so manufacturers add the sweetness back in by canning the fruit in sugars, all of which can add calories if you’re unaware.

Another example when sweets might be better is when it comes to dried fruit. When fruit is dried, the removal of water concentrates the nutrients into a smaller package. This is why dried fruit contains more fiber and micronutrients than fresh fruit but also more sugar. To make matters worse, the bite-size nature of dried fruit makes it very easy to overeat the suggested serving size, as it takes far less fresh fruit than dried fruit to fill you up because of the difference in stomach volume created by the fluid in fresh fruit.

So the solution?

Always eat fresh (or frozen) fruit as close to its natural state as possible and be mindful of the amount you’re consuming to ensure the calories fit within your daily calorie needs. But if consuming canned fruit, choose fruit packed in its own juice, water, or light syrup. Avoid fruit canned in heavy syrup.²Oh, but what if you drain the fruit and then rinse the syrup off?, you say. Well, draining heavy syrup will help cut down on the sugar but rinsing the fruit won’t do shit to remove any of the sugar that’s been absorbed by the fruit. So your best bet is to avoid canned fruit in heavy syrup, LIKE I FUCKING SAID TO!!!

As for dried fruit, check the label for hidden sugar, as some dried fruit products are soaked in juice, poached in syrup, or candy coated to add sweetness. Something else you can do is dry your own. That is, if you have a particular hankering for acting like modern convenience doesn’t exist so you can pretend like you’re living out on the prairie in the 1800s and one of your chores for the day is fruit preservation, in addition to tanning your own leather and encroaching on property that isn’t yours but you feel entitled to based on skin color and questionable theories of land appropriation formulated by members of your group for the express purpose of justifying the property theft.

Glossary: calories, dietary fat, fat