The FastDay Forum

Are there any fruits that are an absolute no-no when on a fast day?

I ask because as far as I'm aware, part of the process of fasting causes your liver to use up it's reserves of glucose for energy and then start working on our fat stores. If we eat certain fruits, does that not affect our glucose levels and therefore retard the livers progress to using our fat stores... or am I so freakily wrong that I should go find a corner and wedge a finger up my nose?!?

Hahahahaha that made me laugh! Fruit can be high calorie so on a day of no more than 500 cals you may not want use up a big chunk of your 'allowance' that way. I stick to something nutritionally dense like tuna and salad and enjoy blueberries in yogurt on a feed day.

Berries and apples are good, things like grapes are not, that's what I remember from reading the book!

You are right in theory, fruits will just top up the readily available sugars in your bloodstream. But so will any high carb food, so it also applies to grain products, pasta's, rice and even potatoes. When you look at a plate of vegetables or salad with a nice lean piece of meat, and then compare it to the equivalent in calories of a high carb food (fruit grains etc) you don't get much food bang for your calorie buck.

Even worse is fruit juice.

Yes you can get a sugar rush from high GI fruits making you hungry an hour later. So stay clear of tropical fruits like banana, mango, pineapple, and fruit juice. Stick to berries (but don't put them up your nose)

rawkaren I have never actually thought of doing that with a berry - might have to try now just to see how far I could shoot it across a room when I breathe out

Thanks for the help here, guys - honestly wasn't sure if I was making a mistake having strawberries/raspberries/kiwi during the day. I have bought some grapes (because I love 'em) but I'll steer clear of them on fast days now

[carorees]

Nothing is actually forbidden as long as you keep within your fast day allowance, but as Julie says, avoiding all carbs on a fast day is a good idea because by sticking with protein and veggies you will feel a lot fuller, plus you won't stall the weightloss (if only briefly) as you switch from fat burning to carb burning until the carbs are all either used or packed away as glycogen or fat. If you must have fruit stick to low GI fruits like berries.