Fiber and sugar: why don’t nutritionists recommend overeating cherries?

Strawberries and cherries are the first and perhaps the most long-awaited summer fruits. But their season does not last long, many try to “eat for the future” and eat them literally in kilograms at the beginning of summer. But the doctor, nutritionist Andrey Korolev, co-founder of the healthy food delivery service SVEJO.RU warns: With excessive consumption, the harm of fruits will be more than good. A large number of berries in the diet can negatively affect weight.

“Once the berries are available, we eat them at every opportunity, because we find them useful: Each serving of strawberries and cherries seems to prolong life and restore strength. At the same time, we forget that fruits contain not only vitamins and fiber, but also sugar. Unfortunately, sugar doesn’t get “good” from what grows on a branch, she says.

According to the nutritionist, it is especially important to control the consumption of strawberries for people with diabetes. He explained that the sugar content in fruits depends on many factors, including variety, maturity and growing conditions, and that without analyzing the content of natural sugars in a particular product, it is only possible to approximate their amount.

Elena Sviridova, nutritionist at Grow Food meal delivery service adds: “Eating strawberries only in the first half of the day benefits the body. “They contain fructose, a natural sugar that has the same effect on the body as sweets,” she says. The specialist also recommends eating berries on an empty stomach – an hour before or after the main meal, as they affect the acidity of the stomach and can worsen digestion. Equally important, he says, is diversity.

“Try to eat different fruits and berries so you get all the essential vitamins in optimal doses,” Sviridova says.

The berries need to be evenly distributed throughout the day, and according to Polina Koroleva, a nutritionist, endocrinologist of the Atlas clinical network.

Better as a snack or before main meals, but not in the evening. Because they’re rich in carbohydrates, they should be consumed when they’re most active, and we can use glucose when we’re active,” he explains. And he adds that the optimal consumption rate is no more than 500 g per day.

Cherries and cherries in irritable bowel syndrome can cause bloating and gas. In case of occurrence of these symptoms, a nutritionist recommends giving preference to strawberries, blueberries, blueberries or raspberries. “These fruits are not fermented by the microbiota and do not cause discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract,” explains Polina Koroleva.

The most “dangerous” fruits for losing weight, according to Polina Koroleva, are strawberries and cherries.

“Many people eat cherries in large quantities. By the way, for 1 kg of sweet cherries on average there are more than 500 calories – it depends on the variety – that is, in a glass of sweet cherries there can be up to 20 g of sugar. Even if you cannot lose weight, it is not recommended to eat more than one or two glasses a day, otherwise you may have gastrointestinal upset,” she warns.

Andrey Korolev adds that yellow cherries contain more natural acids and less sugar than dark cherries. And the white varieties are hypoallergenic.

“The sugar content varies in different varieties: for example, the domestic dark red berry variety “Yaroslavna” contains a record 14.2% sugar. Interestingly, cherries and cherries have the same amount of sugar on average, but cherries have a lot more fruit acid, so they seem a lot more acidic,” she says.

Strawberries, according to Polina Koroleva, are less “harmful”: 100 g of berries contain a little more than 30 kcal, so you can eat them without fear of gaining weight, but if you do not add sugar or whipped cream to the berries , as many like to do.

“Strawberries are usually washed with milk, eaten with sour cream, poured with whipped cream to taste. Therefore, there is an indefinite risk of weight gain, and there is a significant risk. And strawberries are a strong allergen, ”says Andrey Korolev.

According to experts, the most “safe” fruit for losing weight is watermelon, which is 90% water. Andrei Korolev explains that watermelon pulp contains a lot of simple carbohydrates, so blood sugar levels rise quickly and fall just as quickly. “There are 30 calories in 100 grams of watermelon, so you won’t gain weight with moderate consumption: the main thing is not to eat the whole fruit by itself,” she adds.

But Polina Koroleva does not recommend leaning on watermelons. “They can be eaten, but in moderation and only if there are no problems with edema and fluid retention in the body,” she says.

Nutritionists also consider blueberries a healthy fruit. According to Andrei Korolev, blueberries are rich in anthocyanins, compounds that reduce the risk of malignant tumors.

“150 g of blueberries contain only 57 kcal. But if you’re on a diet and decide to replace breakfast, lunch, and dinner with blueberries, you risk consuming too many calories,” she warns.

The nutritionist also talked about the consumption of grapes, the season of which will begin a little later. In his opinion, the most high-calorie variety is raisins – 100 g of berries contain 270 kcal, that is, about three teaspoons of sugar.

“The skin of red grapes contains resveratrol, a compound that lowers blood sugar, but that’s not a reason to eat a fruit by the kilogram: calories are calories,” Korolev summarizes.