The Fruit Fear and My Favorite Ginger + Greens Smoothie

Until roughly a year ago, I was "careful" with the amount of fruit I consumed. Why? Because fruit has sugar. I was led to believe that fruit has sugar, sugar is bad for us, therefore I should limit my intake of fruit. The part that I was missing was the fact that although fruit does contain sugar, it also contains SO MANY beneficial vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants, polyphenols, etc. The sugar in fruit is not the same sugar we consume if we are eating a candy bar that contains processed sugar or highly processed cookies/muffins/cupcakes that contain high fructose corn syrup. The sugar in fruit is naturally occurring, just the way nature intended, AND it comes along with so many other beneficial factors that fruit provides. At one point I was careful about how much of a banana I put in my smoothies and would limit myself to lower sugar fruits such as berries and green apples. Do you see the problem with this kind of thinking? Without even realizing it, I was creating a fear internally around a group of food that was made to be enjoyed in abundance for the pure fact that it tastes amazing and is amazing for us. I do believe that since fruit is metabolized by the body at a very quick rate, it is something that should be consumed separately from certain foods such as meat protein and dense carbs like potatoes, rice, and quinoa. The reason for this is that fruit gets digested really fast and if it is eaten with items such as meat or complex carbohydrates, then it sits there and starts to ferment in the digestive tract and can create am imbalance in the gut. Other than these exclusions, I think fruit should be enjoyed freely. I think it's silly to not add the entire banana to your smoothie along with a couple of dates and I think it's silly to not eat an orange and then a mango purely because these fruits contain a higher sugar content. Of course if you have some kind of medical condition that requires you to watch your sugar intake, then this is something you should talk to your doctor about and proceed with caution on. But the bottom line is, if I want to enjoy half a watermelon in the middle of summer, then I'm going to. And if I want to make one of my favorite smoothies with lots of mango and banana, then I'm going to. The way I see it is that if food is in it's pure and natural state, then we should be able to enjoy it abundantly. I have completely shifted my fear of fruit into a love a fruit. I'm curious to hear your thoughts: do you think fruit is something to be limited or do you believe it is something we can enjoy limitlessly? 

Here is one of my favorite smoothie recipes!

Ginger + Greens Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen mango

1 ripe banana

1 cup filtered water

1-2 cups spinach

1 inch ginger, peeled

optional: scoop the gel out of 2 inches of an aloe vera leaf 

Method:

Blend all the ingredient together and enjoy!