Gone bananas
Why aren’t we eating fruit any more?
Some people cut out dairy. For others, it’s gluten, or maybe cafeine. While these aren’t necessarily the healthiest of decisions for everybody, they’re generally accepted in today’s world of dietary restrictions and rising intolerances. But one healthy just can’t wrap our heads around? Cutting out fruit.
Nonetheless, the past few years have seen declining fruit consumption alongside a rising trend for eliminating fruit from the diet as part of a sugar-cleanse – often fuelled by so-called ‘health’ bloggers. According to figures from Public Health England, only 31 per cent of adults and eight per cent of teenagers are eating the minimum five-a-day of fruit and veg.
SO, WHY THE BAD REP?
While irresponsible inluencers and alarmist headlines certainly play a part – indeed, a certain right-wing paper recently proclaimed fructose ‘the fattening carbohydrate’ – there are other factors at play. The sticking point is sugar. ‘The rise in low-sugar diets definitely contributes,’ says dietitian Faith Toogood. ‘In lots of these restrictive diets, like keto, fruit is restricted. Fruit obviously contains sugar, so people think it’s “bad” and fattening. But I think there’s been a miscommunication.’