3 ms·

Apples are a lot healthier than the same amount of fructose in isolation. they have a huge amount of fiber, which is both filling and good for your microbiome.

Apples are a lot healthier than the same amount of fructose in isolation. they have a huge amount of fiber, which is both filling and good for your microbiome. And I'd bet on some good vitamin content though I'm not sure which off the top of my head. Some fruits may be not much better than candy in that the sugar can metabolize quickly, but apples aren't one of those despite their fructose content.

legerdemain 4y ago
One hundred grams of apples (with skin) consists of 86 grams of water and 10.5 grams of sugar (mostly fructose), 2.5 grams of fiber, and negligible everything else. The only vitamin present in apples in non-trivial quantity is vitamin C. There is as much protein in broccoli as there is fiber in apples. To get your daily suggested intake of fiber (30 grams), you'd need to eat almost three pounds of apples a day.
- viridian 4y ago
  Assuming what you say is true, an apple provides you with about 1/27th the amount of carbs the FDA recommends in a day, and 1/12th the amount of fiber recommended in a day. I fail to see the harm. If I did feel wild one day and decide to down a dozen apples (I'm not sure I physically even could), I'd meet my fiber RDA for that day, and still have only eaten 504 calories worth of carbs. You may object that I'm not getting any micronutrients this way, but most sources of micronutrients are nearly irrelevant calorically, so they don't really matter when you talk about capacity planning for macronutrients and calories.
  - legerdemain 4y ago
    The harm is that the apple is acidic, damages tooth enamel over time, its nutrition value comes only from sugar (most of which is fructose), and it's not actually filling. Ask any fruitarian how soon after a meal of fruit they feel hungry again. Seeing no harm in eating apples is like seeing no harm in eating candy. Sure, eating a piece of candy once is trivial -- but you're insisting on candy as a part of my diet, not as an incidental, rare snack. Eating candy only has downsides.

legerdemain 4y ago

One hundred grams of apples (with skin) consists of 86 grams of water and 10.5 grams of sugar (mostly fructose), 2.5 grams of fiber, and negligible everything else. The only vitamin present in apples in non-trivial quantity is vitamin C. There is as much protein in broccoli as there is fiber in apples. To get your daily suggested intake of fiber (30 grams), you'd need to eat almost three pounds of apples a day.

viridian 4y ago
Assuming what you say is true, an apple provides you with about 1/27th the amount of carbs the FDA recommends in a day, and 1/12th the amount of fiber recommended in a day. I fail to see the harm. If I did feel wild one day and decide to down a dozen apples (I'm not sure I physically even could), I'd meet my fiber RDA for that day, and still have only eaten 504 calories worth of carbs. You may object that I'm not getting any micronutrients this way, but most sources of micronutrients are nearly irrelevant calorically, so they don't really matter when you talk about capacity planning for macronutrients and calories.
- legerdemain 4y ago
  The harm is that the apple is acidic, damages tooth enamel over time, its nutrition value comes only from sugar (most of which is fructose), and it's not actually filling. Ask any fruitarian how soon after a meal of fruit they feel hungry again. Seeing no harm in eating apples is like seeing no harm in eating candy. Sure, eating a piece of candy once is trivial -- but you're insisting on candy as a part of my diet, not as an incidental, rare snack. Eating candy only has downsides.