A serving of fruit is:
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) fruit juice
- 1 medium whole fruit (banana, apple, peach, orange, etc.)
- 1/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, apricots, prunes, etc.)
- 1/2 cup fresh, frozen, or canned fruit (berries, melon, grapes, etc.)
A serving of vegetables is:
- 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables
- 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
- 6 oz vegetable juice
Actually, your serving sizes on the fruit are a little off. Small apple, peach, orange, etc. is a serving. Banana serving size is about 3 1/2 inches . Ten grapes is a serving and so is ten raisins.
Fruit juice is a really poor source of fruit as it takes multiple fruits to make a small cup of juice which makes it very high in sugar. And the filling fiber is just tossed away. 1/2 cup is a serving.
Yes, fruit sugar is healthier than table sugar. However, metabolically it creates the same kind of insulin response. Peaks and valleys in which you are hungry all over again. If you are eating fruits in between meals, apples and pears are your best choices as they are very low in sugar. Berries are the next best. Bananas are the worst. They are high in both carbs and sugars and most bananas are really two servings. Grapes and oranges are very high in sugar also. Therefore when a raisin is produced from a grape it is also very high in sugar. It only loses the water! All the sugar is still there. And it is smaller so it is less filling, to boot!
You're better off getting the larger portion of your fruit/vegetables servings from vegetables. Many are actually higher in vitamins and minerals than fruit.
If you eat a fruit with a protein source like plain yogurt or cottage cheeze, it binds up the sugar so you get less of spike in the insulin response. Or eat your fruit at the end of a meal as a dessert also will cause a lower insulin response. For snacks, cottage cheese, string cheese, a glass of skim milk, a boiled egg, a diet yogurt, etc. are better choices for snacks.
When I am dieting, I always try to fill 2/3 of my plate with vegetables. I'm highly partial to high quality green salads made of romaine lettuce, spring greens or raw spinach. Then I add cukes, red pepper, mushrooms, radishes, and tomatoes.
Also, do the 5-6 small meals thing. Big meals, with lots of carbs also cause big insulin spikes. 3 small meals with 3 snacks is optimal.
I highly recommend the South Beach diet. It really isn't gimmacky and you don't have to do the first phase if you don't want to. It's the only diet that I ever found that when you have an off day because of a party or such, you don't feel like you should scrap your whole diet. Most of the folks I know who have done it, say that such a thing just encourages to go right back on the diet the next day.
It also stresses the feel good aspect of food. Taste and other appeal issues. If the food you're eating doesn't provide an adequate level of satiety thru taste as well as quantity, you're not lucky to last long on any diet!
Actually, I wouldn't really call it a diet in the traditional sense. It's more about learning how different foods provoke metabolic responses and making better choices based on that info.
