Walter Semerenko <[log in to unmask]>:
>I read Tom Billing's article "Selected Myths of Raw foods" in Beyond
>Vegetarianism, and I believe to have caught a Myth stated as Reality.

>In the article, Tom states "Sugar: Milk contains small amounts of lactose, a
>slowly assimilated sugar; fruit contains large amounts of glucose, fructose,
>sucrose, and can cause an insulin spike (and hypoglycemic symptoms)." [1]

>It does not follow that there is high amounts of sucrose or glucose in
>fruits.  The glycemix index is based on 50 grams of a substance, so for
>certain fruits like apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches, it does not

>I was under the impression that fruits contained mostly fruit sugar or
>fructose.  Using scientific knowledge by comparing the glycemic lists, I can
>take that for a fact.  I know I was wary of eating too much fruit because I

Tom:
Walter, thanks for your inputs. My text editor is acting strange so
if this letter looks weird, that is why.

My reply: if you want to know how much sucrose, glucose, and fructose
is in a fruit, you must rely on nutrient composition tables -- not
indirect information like the glycemic index.

In context, the remark you quote is based on a myth promoted by fruitarians.
Fruitarians typically eat 1 kg (net weight) of fruit per meal,  and
fruit is generally 10-15% sugar (all 3 kinds, total) by weight.
That means an all fruit meal would hit you with 100-150 gms or
more of sugar (total). The breakdown varies by fruit, so generalizations
are just that - limited to the usual constraints of averages.

If one takes the sugar breakdown as 1/3 each, that is 33-50+ grams
each of glucose and sucrose -- both rapidly absorbed, are supplied in
the typical fruitarian meal..

See "The Diabetic's Total Health Book", by Toohey and Bierman, for
comments on the major impact fruit (juices) can have on a diabetic.

My comments in the myth article were directed specifically at the
case of consumption of large amounts of sweet fruit, precisely
because the folks promoting the bogus crank science myth, "fruit
is just like Mother's milk", advocate diets of ~100% sweet fruit.

Note also the use of the word "can" in my statement. If you ate
1 kg of non-sweet fruit you won't be getting so much sugar.
Once again, as single word is important.

Tom Billings