Fruit sugars and 80/10/10 diet

[dime]

Skimming through this book I came across an article about this diet, 80% carbs, 10% fat, 10% protein.

His idea is - we were designed to eat fruits so this is what we should do. Which is fine. And then he says something like:

Fruit is believed to cause high blood-sugar, which can cause
diabetes, candida, chronic fatigue, and other illnesses. Eating fruit puts
too much sugar into our blood. But Graham argues that fruit is not the
problem, but fats.
Fruit, when eaten naturally, becomes a sugar in our body and then
goes into the blood stream quickly and out of it into our cells, where
it provides us nourishment. No problem. Primates eat enormous
amounts of fruit in their natural habit.
The most significant contribution that Dr. Graham makes to our
conversation here is this: a high-fat diet, one which nearly all of us
have, makes it nearly impossible for fruit to get out of the blood stream
and into our cells. Too much fat in the blood makes it difficult for fruit
sugars to get out of our blood, causing high blood sugar.

Does this make any sense to anyone? Fat in the blood stops sugars to get out of the blood? Additionally "fat in our blood makes it difficult for oxygen to reach our cells". This is the reasoning behind the diet (only 10% fat) plus that 80/10/10 is in general the ratio in fruits.

I couldn't find anything more scientific on this, and my knowledge on this matter is still a bit limited So any comments?

[RRM]

Fruit is believed to cause high blood-sugar, which can cause
diabetes, candida, chronic fatigue, and other illnesses. Eating fruit puts too much sugar into our blood.

Eating fruits does not do so.
Yes, a large single meal intake of simple sugars (as in fruits) will cause a blood sugar spike,
in as much as drinking much cola or similar in one meal will cause a blood sugar spike.
Equally so, a large meal of starchy food (pasta, bread, potatoes etc), will lead to a prolonged period of elevated insulin secretion.
But, if you sip from cola all day (or eating fruits), in according to your need for energy,
this will not at all cause blood sugar spikes, but will only constantly replenish your blood sugar,
which is a very good thing.
so, its not about what you eat, but how much you eat of it in one meal.
Eating fruits / drinking cola does not 'put too much sugar into our blood'.
Consuming too much in one sitting 'puts too much sugar into your blood',
and then it doesnt matter what the source of that easy-to-digest energy is: sugars do so as much as protein does.
So, a big steak will do the same thing.
Or drinking much soy milk in one sitting,
etc etc
The only thing that is safe, in that respect, is fat.

But Graham argues that fruit is not the problem, but fats.

Fat is never a problem regarding 'putting too much sugar into the blood'.
Actually, an elevated intake of fatty acids makes it easier for the body to combine excess glucose (>glycerol)
with excess fatty acids into triglycderides, and store them as bodyfat,
Which decreases the blood sugar level.

Fruit, when eaten naturally, becomes a sugar in our body

Fruit is mainly fiber and water, which fills up your stomach.

No problem. Primates eat enormous amounts of fruit in their natural habit.

Sure.
And they dont sit down for 3 or 4 meals a day;
you see them eat all day long.

Too much fat in the blood makes it difficult for fruit sugars to get out of our blood

In the blood we dont have fruit sugars, but glucose and fructose.
Most sugar in any diet is sucrose, which is glucose+fructose.
In the small intestine, sucrose is split into glucose and fructose, and absorbed into the blood.
So, in the blood, there is no such thing as 'fruitsugars'.

The fructose is utilized in the liver, not under the influence of insulin. (Insulin does regulate glucose utilization in the liver.)
Partially, the uptake of fructose in the blood is restricted by our limited capacity to absorb free fructose.
(no such thing regarding the fructose in sucrose)
Excess glucose is stored as glycogen in the muscles (1200 kcal) and liver (400 kcal)
or as glycerol (in triglycerides).
Excess fructose is stored as glycogen, converted to a fatty acid (palmitate), or even converted into glucose.
Excess fatty acids are stored as triglycerides (bodyfat).

So, 'too much fat' will be eliminated by storing body fat,
and by doing so, along the way excess fructose and glucose will be stored as well (triglycerides).
So, fatty acids actually provide a means of readily storing glucose.

Does this make any sense to anyone? Fat in the blood stops sugars to get out of the blood?

Not at all.

"fat in our blood makes it difficult for oxygen to reach our cells".

Sure, the levels for triglycerides and fatty acids fluctuate, and one may have elevated levels,
but excess fat is stored as body fat.
The remaining fat is functional (energy and constructive material) and completely normal.
So, there is no sense in this reasoning.

[cmf]

but oil is thick as fat is thick. Like if I pour cola on my hand there will be little to no residue after it drips off. But if I pour olive oil on my hand, there is always a residue and it will coat the skin. So won't oil if taken internally coat the artery walls and even the cells. Hence making insulin's job harder since there is this coating? Thanks in advance RRM

[cmf]

Also, I understand that excess fat is stored as fat, but if there is a high blood fat for a period of time, that period of time may cause a high blood sugar "temporarily" until it is moved out of the blood and stored. People are putting this into practice, and candida will flourish when fat is eating with sugar. BUt when people lower their fat intake, glucose is metabolized quickly due to less interference from the oil or fat. Plus I have read from some moderator on here that high triglycerides can cause insulin resistance. Please RRM

[overkees]

Insulin resistance is when there is too often too much insulin secreted. Blood sugar is the amount of glucose (where all sugar and carbs get converted into) in the blood. When it's low, it creates a sense of hunger. Okay this is what is all about, how we should eat (like wai):

1)
Your body uses energy (in the form of fat and sugar) constantly.
So your body asks for the energy it needs.
You will feel hungry.
The sense of hunger however is(mostly) created by low glucose levels naturally.

2)
Because you are hungry, you decide to eat.
If you eat fat, you will be satiated easier.
So if you take in fat you are less likely to overeat.
But because you also took in sugars with the fat, you will still meet your energy needs. And you will be less hungry and more energetic.

3)
Fat slows your gastric emptying* down.
So sugars taken in with fat will take a longer time to get absorbed in your blood.
(The amount of sugar in your blood will be the same as without the fat, it just takes longer.)

Taking in small meals every once in a while prevents the stomache from being completely empty and you will meet your energy needs every time, so you won't overeat because you never are really hungry.

This is how it should be. But most of the people don't listen to their original sense of hunger and just eat till they are stuffed, belly full. They overeat. They forget how to listen to their energy needs. What happens?

1)
Hungry
Before eating a meal you will often snack in the meanwhile in the form of easy sugars (soda most of the time) to fulfil some of your energy needs.
This is because you are feeling weak and really NEED something to eat.
This will cause the blood sugar to rise.

2)
Dinner's ready
Eating until your belly is full (remember in a SAD diet there is more fat than wai)
This results in a slow gastric emptying

3)
Then after a while all the sugars that were in the meal get released into the blood at once (because the fat in the meal delayed it).
Blood sugar will be extremely high, so alot of insulin is secreted.
Due to the complex sugars, such as in pasta or in rice that take a while to digest, you will be feeding your blood with sugars for a long time.
So insulin keeps getting secreted.
Your energy needs are all met, so all the remaining free sugars and free fats in your blood will be converted to body fat.

4)
But after a while you will use energy by just living and all the sugars and fats from the meal are already stored.
The body prefers new energy and likes to keep stored energy
You will get low energy again and start to snack attack to prevent it.
And the same cycle repeats again.

* if gastric emptying is slowed down it will take longer before you will give the nutrients from your meal to the blood.

Diabetes is not about the type of nutrition, but it's about how much you eat at once. Your output of energy needs to match your input at all times.

[cmf]

Great stuff, thank you.

[sunmaiden]

Hi, I'm new and just wrote a testimonial to the powers of the Wai diet - hurray - no more acne!

I come from a background of trying out 80-10-10 for 1.5 years. Great points in this post. Dr Graham is correct (in a way) eating large fruit meals (he advocates 2-3 meals a day, not grazing) do work best with a low fat intake, because there is such a large amount of fruit sugar consumed at one time. Eating small meals enables one to eat plenty of fat with no issues. It is indeed the size of the meal that matters.

Also, re: oil/fat coating arteries, that is the absolute wrong way to think about it. Our food travels only through our digestive system, in the mouth, out the other end. We're truly like a donut shape with our digestive track being almost outside of us! There is interchange between digestive tract and blood vessels/arteries for sure, as the different types of food we ingest are used as energy, but the oil itself does not enter our blood:) Hope I got my point through intelligibly, I am not good with the scientific mechanics of it.