Are you on a quest to lose weight? Are you already on the ITG Diet Plan? Many people ask us why they can’t have fruit on the program. Sorry to tell you… but fruit is not your friend!

Why is fruit not your friend? Fruit is high in fructose, which is simply sugar.

Fructose can only be broken down and metabolized by the liver, and the liver converts it to fat. We all know about alcoholic fatty liver disease in which fat is deposited and stored around the midsection. This is the most dangerous type of fat. Did you know that you could also develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? It happens when you eat too many foods and fruits containing sugar or with a high sugar and high-carb diet.

Fruit was placed on the same nutritional level as vegetables many years ago, but they are not equals. Here at ITG we refer to fruit as "nature's candy" and it should be treated as such. Many foods claim to be all natural and made with fruit juice or fruit products, but they still contain a lot of sugar as well as added sugars. Fruit would be the obvious healthy choice over a candy bar or junk food any day, but should be counted toward your daily sugar intake.

How about dried fruits? Dried fruits such as raisins and dates are usually refined sugar free, but this wording can cause consumers some confusion into thinking they are healthier. Yes, dried fruits can be refined sugar free but sugar, plain and simple, is still sugar. It doesn't matter if the sugar comes from table sugar, a farmer's market, is all-natural, organic, or any other similar terminology, your pancreas treats it all the same and pumps out insulin to take care of it, storing away excess as fat.

How about those fruit juices and fruit smoothies? They can contain more sugar than a can of soda. The small amounts of nutrients found in fruit do not outweigh the damage that the high levels of sugar can do to your body, so use fruit sparingly as a treat and stay away from the processed versions. Berries are lower in sugar and more nutrient dense so it would be a wise choice to stick with them and their recommended serving size while not on a diet program, or when fruit is added back to your diet after losing weight.

How many carbs are in my fruit?
(typical servings: ¼ cup of berries, 1 cup of chopped fruit, 1 small to medium size of other fruits)

Blackberries - 5 carbs
Raspberries - 5 carbs
1 Lemon - 6 carbs
Strawberries - 6 carbs
Cranberries - 7 carbs
Watermelon - 8 carbs
Cherries - 10 carbs
Orange - 10 carbs
Peach - 10 carbs
Plum - 10 carbs
Tangerine - 11 carbs
Apple - 12 carbs
Blueberries - 12 carbs
Kiwi - 12 carbs
Pear - 12 carbs
Pineapple - 12 carbs
Mango - 13 carbs
Passionfruit - 13 carbs
Figs – 16 carbs
Grapes – 16 carbs
Banana – 21 carbs
Dates – 67 carbs
Raisins – 75 carbs
Dried Cranberries – 76 carbs

Fact: 4 grams of carbs is equal to 1 teaspoon of sugar!