The zoo has issued a "fruit ban", how should we eat fruit? | Ficus microcarpa

Eating fruit in the zoo can cause diabetes . Is fruit still a healthy choice?

Hello, I am Rong Ge from the China Science and Technology Museum. Welcome to Rong Ge's Ou Ke. In the last issue, we talked about how fruits are getting sweeter and sweeter. Is eating fruits still a healthy choice? Around 2018, keepers at the Melbourne Zoo found that horses' hooves were inflamed and ulcerated, red pandas had cavities, and primates became bloated and obese. The reason for this was that the fruits became too sweet. These carefully selected and cultivated fruits are much sweeter than those in the wild. Not only did they make the animals fatter, but the primates, especially those with "many tricks", became more picky eaters, only loved to eat fruits, and ignored other foods. Since then, the Melbourne Zoo has stipulated that all animals in the zoo are no longer fed fruits, but green vegetable leaves instead. Even bananas, which monkeys love the most, are not allowed to eat.

Even these little animals have developed diabetes from eating too much, can we still "show off" fruits? Hey, Brother Rong has been saying that eating too much of anything is not good. In fact, it is not just the sugar content that determines whether a fruit is sweet or not, and how sweet it is. Sweetness has a lot to do with acidity and the sugar-acid ratio. For example, hawthorn is "sweeter" than watermelon, do you believe this? The sugar content of watermelon is about 12%, while that of hawthorn is 22%. However, the acid content of watermelon is low, so it is useless for hawthorn to have a high sugar content, and the sour taste overwhelms the sweetness. Do you see the trick? If you want to make the fruit taste sweeter, it is not necessarily to increase the sugar content. Reducing the acidity or balancing the sugar-acid ratio also works. To put it bluntly, the sweetness in the taste is actually the result of the combined effect of sugar and acid in the taste buds. Fruits that taste strong in flavor generally have a higher sugar and acid content.

In recent years, the sugar content of fruits has generally increased. The sweetest Sunshine Rose can reach about 25 degrees when ripe, while the sugar content of ordinary grapes and raisins was about 14 degrees. Apples have also increased from about 12 degrees to 15 degrees, or even higher. Back to the health issue discussed at the beginning, there are two key indicators to evaluate the impact of food on blood sugar: glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). The sugar in fruits is wrapped by plant cell walls. Some fruits are rich in dietary fiber. After eating, the sugar in fruits will not enter the small intestine quickly and be absorbed, but will be released slowly and continuously, so as not to cause a sharp increase in blood sugar. Generally, the GI of apples is about 36, pears are 38, and cherries are 22, all of which are low-GI foods. The GI value of pineapples and grapes is about 60, which are medium-GI foods. Some high-GI fruits, such as watermelon, have a GI value of 72, but don't worry, the GL value of watermelon is not high. After all, watermelon is mainly water, and the proportion of carbohydrates is relatively small, so you can't eat much at one time. But we must be wary of jackfruit and durian, which have "solid" flesh, so people who control their sugar intake should be extra careful. It should be said that most fruits are of medium to low index or load. In addition to sugar, they also contain vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and other nutrients, so they are still a relatively healthy choice. But you have to pay attention that fruits should be eaten "whole". If you want to make them into juice, the nature is different. The sugar originally included in the fiber component will break through the "barrier", causing a sharp rise in our body's blood sugar concentration, which in turn stimulates the pancreas to secrete more insulin. In the long run, it will cause the pancreas to be overloaded, thereby increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

In addition, we must also pay attention to the amount of fruit we eat and how it matches other foods. We cannot be like the monkeys in the zoo, who eat fruit as their staple food, as that would inevitably increase the risk. The "Balanced Diet Pagoda for Chinese Residents" recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that normal adults consume 200 to 300 grams of fresh fruit per day. If you have special requirements for sugar control, weight, etc., you can further control or adjust the intake and choice of fruit varieties. In short, fruits are indeed sweeter, but how to eat them healthily depends on ourselves. Rationality is the essential difference between us humans and animals!