Avoid canned fruit and fruit sauces.

Weight Loss Tip 169 – Stick to whole fruit

Oh, wait, please tell me you are not going to attack my fruit cocktail and applesauce.  Applesauce and cans of fruit cocktail are a favorable memory from my childhood as I am sure it is from yours.  My family used to get together once a year to make applesauce and apple butter on our family farm.  Heck, it is not only a favorite food of kids, adults love it too.  Nothing is more convenient than one of those little cans or pouches of fruit that you can bring in your lunch or on trips, and picnics.  Unfortunately, I have to be the bringer of bad news because they are not only a poor source of nutrition, they are just plain terrible for you and full of added sugar and preservatives.    

I am going to illustrate this with a few graphics of the nutritional content of a couple of products.  I hope you find it educational.  

Comparisons of apples vs. applesauce:

Fresh Raw Apple	Motts Apple Sauce
Apple Nutrition	Motts Apple Sauce Nutrition

Applesauce

Applesauce, unless you purchase no sugar added or unsweetened, is full of added sugar.  This added sugar is unnecessary.  Apples are plenty sweet on their own.  Now many of you will look at this label and say: ” Wait, applesauce is a better source of vitamin C”.   That statement would be correct, but is a minimal benefit to buying through artificially added vitamin C and your sacrifice a lower sugar content.  By eating a whole Apple, you are adding four times the fiber and reducing the added sugar.  Fiber will keep you full longer, and by removing the sugar, the food will be a healthier choice. The worst part about the sugar is added in most Apple sauces is that the sugar usually comes in the form of high fructose corn syrup.  In researching this article, I found several manufacturers of applesauce that as it claimed their products to be gluten-free.  I found this to be very alarming because apples, in general, should not contain any wheat.  Any gluten in applesauce would have been added during the manufacturing process, and it would be completely unnecessary.  The only reason I can think to add gluten is to thicken it.    

Tips when buying applesauce:

If and when you purchase applesauce, look for a product as follows:

• Make your own applesauce.  It is the only way to know 100% of the time what is in it.  
• Read the label.  No sugar added is a must.  Avoid cans or pouches that have high fructose corn syrup added.  I suggest you avoid any that contain added sugar of all types.  
• Peals add fiber.  So only buy applesauce that contains the peals.
• Avoid preservatives.  Preservatives are not needed if you plan on eating it within a few months.  

Comparisons of homemade fruit salad vs. fruit cocktail:

Fresh Fruit Salad	Canned Delmonte Fruit Cocktail
Fruit Salad Ingredients: 45% diced peaches, 20% diced pear, 20% pineapple, 15% grapes.	Delmonte Fruit Cocktail

Fruit Salad

Fruit cocktail is pure evil.  I remember it was quite a treat to have a can of it while camping or with my lunch as a child.  Unless you purchase no sugar added or unsweetened, this stuff is full of added sugar.  The label above has hidden the sugar content by adding three types of sugar (high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, and plain old sugar).  Fresh fruits have low energy-density levels, which means they have high vitamin, mineral and fiber amounts per serving but low calorie counts. In general, the more fiber a certain food contains, the more filling it will be. Foods with lots of fiber take more time to chew and swallow and break down more slowly in the body, helping to stave off hunger pangs. A cup of canned fruit salad has just 2.5 grams of fiber, but 1 cup of almost any fresh fruit except watermelon has more fiber than that, making fresh fruit the more filling and nutritionally superior choice.  Fruit, like apples, is plenty sweet on their own.  By eating a whole fruit, you will add 2.6 times the fiber and reduce the added sugar.  I suggest you make your own fruit cocktail, add a couple of tablespoons of water to it to keep it moist and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  The blend of flavor will be every bit as good as the canned stuff.  If and when you have to purchase fruit cocktail, look for a product as follows:

• Make your own fruit cocktail.  No sugar added is a must.  The only way to ensure there is no sugar added is to make it yourself.  I suggest you avoid any ingredients that contain added sugar of all types.  
• Peals add fiber.  Don’t peak the fruit.  
• Avoid preservatives.  Preservatives are not needed if you plan on eating it within a few months.  

The bottom line: Whole fruit is very healthy and flavorful.  Fruit does not need added sugar.  It is plenty sweet by itself and by using whole fruit you will replace some of the sugar with fiber.  The best part about whole fruit is that it is already packaged and most do not need refrigerated.  You can pack them in your lunch or carry them in your hand.  They are the perfect snack to carry with you just about anywhere.