jasoncroce- Ultimate Human Performance

    Okay…so without being hyper-redundant I’d like to edify the truth about fruit.  As I insinuated (w/ the redundancy remark), I’ve written about fruit in the past, yet it’s always one of the first inquisitions people make when the word “diet” is mentioned.  Before I begin, I’d like to clarify upfront…I am NOT against fruit!!!  I’m only against the discordant effects to overall health when an individual’s consumption of fruit is incorrect.  How’s it possible to consume fruit incorrectly??  Glad you asked….
    Fruits are what I personally refer to as “performance carbohydrates” which I differentiate from “cosmetic carbohydrate” in a previous article (performance nutrition vs. cosmetic nutrition).  If after reading this article you learn nothing else, remember this…Fruit MUST be consumed on an EMPTY stomach (at least 2-3hrs after previous meal or before meal 1), otherwise the nutrient value is not only greatly diminished, the fruit becomes rancid and ultimately toxic to the body.  Fruit requires immediate gastric emptying, this is obviously a problem if there is already food in the gut blocking the fruits path directly into the small intestines.  The fragility of fruit, coupled with the highly acidic environment of the stomach are the two glaring factors from a physiological standpoint that illustrate why fruit MUST exit the stomach and enter the intestines (where nutrient uptake occurs anyway) upon consumption.  When considering the notion of fruit becoming rancid in the gut, you can draw a parallel by imagining (better yet do this as an experiment) what happens if you set a glass of orange juice in the sun for the day.  
    Another aspect in the misunderstanding of fruit worth mentioning is that skeletal muscle tissues lack an enzyme to convert fructose (the type of sugar that accounts for approx. 40+ percent of carbohydrates in fruit) into “storable” glycogen, fruit can only be “stored” in the Liver (Hepatic), which unless you’ve been in a carbohydrate depleted state for days or even wks, it’s (the liver) fully loaded, aka NO VACANCY at the inn.  The ideal times to consume fruit in order to maximize all the great vitamins and nutrients they do contain, are upon wake about 30 minutes prior to meal 1, intra-workout or game w/ whey protein, or immediately following the workout or game, also w/ whey protein.  Not to say there aren’t other times of day that fruit may be consumed without problems, I simply find the information more applicable when it’s narrowed down to the most IDEAL times to OPTIMIZE the value fruits provide to the body!….Hopefully this sheds some light on the myths and misunderstandings surrounding one of natures oldest delicacies….Fruit!!