Disadvantages of fruit salad

You can't have as much as you want.

Many people use the fruit weight loss diet to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, but run into health issues soon afterwards.

Fruit salad is by no means bad for you - but there are health consequences if you eat too much of it (just like anything else). Practice moderation for the following reasons.

Disadvantages of fruit salad

1. Fruit is high in sugar
2. There isn't enough protein, iron, zinc or calories in fruit
3. Food-borne illnesses spread easily through fruit
4. Fruit can greatly reduce appetite in people with anorexia
5. May cause diarrhea, bloating, gas and other digestive issues

Practice moderation with everything.

1. Fruit is high in sugar

Dietary guidelines say that you should limit sugar consumption to 200 calories or 12 teaspoons (50 grams or 1.8 ounces) on a 2 000 calorie diet per day.

Let's simplify that to 50 grams for the sake of fruit comparison. 

A medium apple contains about 18.9 grams of sugar. A medium banana contains about 14.4 grams of sugar. Your fruit salad probably has 5 different fruit (with an average of 16.6 grams of sugar per fruit). You would therefore consume 83 grams of sugar.

That's 66% above your maximum daily recommended limit (from a single fruit salad)!

You should still eat at least 5 fruit and vegetables a day

You must eat at least 5 fruit and vegetables every day. The fiber prevents the sugar from destroying your blood sugar levels. Fiber feeds the good gut bacteria that keep you healthy.

The numbers aren't meant to scare you off from eating fruit and vegetables. The point is you can't eat as much as you want because it is 'healthy'.

You can overdo anything, even water. Practice moderation and variety for optimum health.

If you eat too much 'healthy food' like fruit salad and fewer other healthy foods like legumes, whole grains, animal products; you can run into severe nutrient deficiencies (more on that below).

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2. Fruit salad is low in protein, iron, zinc and calories

These important nutrients come from foods that are high in protein. Fruit salad is not one of them.

Animal products like eggs, dairy, meat, fish and seafood along with plant proteins like whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and lentils are good sources of these nutrients.

Fruit are not good sources of these nutrients. If you eat too many fruit and too little of these nutrients, you risk nutrient deficiency - which can lead to a whole array of health issues.

One billion people worldwide don't get enough protein. Ten million people are iron deficient in the US alone. Over one billion people worldwide are deficient in zinc.

Eat more protein-rich food at every meal if you want to avoid one of these deficiencies. A fruit salad might have a ton of their own essential nutrients; but definitely not enough of protein, iron, zinc or calories.

What happens if I don't eat enough protein-rich food?

Protein deficiency can lead to muscle wasting, poor wound healing, recurring infections, low energy, pale skin, brittle hair and nails, dry and itchy skin and constant hunger cravings.

Iron deficiency can lead to an overall pale or whitened appearance, lack of energy, low immune system, impaired brain function, shortness of breath, a fast heartbeat, poor blood circulation (like cold hands and feet), brittle hair and nails, hair loss, mouth and tongue sores and difficulty swallowing.

Zinc deficiency can lead to a low immune system, loss of appetite, hair loss, diarrhea, impotence, skin lesions, longer healing time (cuts take abnormally long to heal), lethargy and unexpected weight changes.

Calorie deficiency (not getting enough calories or not eating enough calorie-dense food) can lead to a slow metabolism, decreased energy, mental decline, decreased physical performance, emotional distress and lack of motivation, extra fat stores, weak immune system, hormonal imbalances, inability to sleep properly and overall weakness.

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3. Diseases spread through plant foods like fruit

Plant products are one of the biggest mediums for the spread of diseases. One of the advantages of processed food is the fact that it can last almost indefinitely without going bad.

Healthy, natural food carries the risk of disease contamination because germs thrive on them just as much as our bodies do.

One of the simplest ways to know what is healthy or unhealthy is to check how long a food item lasts before getting spoiled. The longer it takes before going off, the worse it is for your health.

You can't keep a fruit salad in the fringe for longer than a day. If you store fruit salad for longer than that, you put your health (and you family's health) at risk.

Place extra fruit salad portions in the freezer to prolong its lifespan. Wash all fruit and vegetables before you cook them or eat them.

Respect the cycle of nature.

4. Fruit can greatly reduce appetite in people with anorexia

Fruit is full of fiber and water. Fiber locks the nutrients away and prolongs the amount of time that it takes for your body to absorb the nutrients. Water adds calorie-free bulk and keeps your digestive system full until your body can get to the nutrients in the fiber.

This will decrease appetite and prolong the amount of time that it takes before you are hungry for your next meal.

If you are overweight and want to cut down on your daily caloric intake, this is a good thing. If you struggle to eat enough food already, however, this can be a bad thing.

Plant foods lead to weight loss

This is why many people run into extreme weight loss or nutrient deficiencies when they start following a plant-only diet. You can definitely thrive off a plant-only diet - just balance it out with protein-rich food like nuts, seeds, lentils, legumes and beans.

Eat more natural food like fruit, vegetables and leafy greens like spinach and lettuce if you want to decrease your appetite and lose weight. 

You'd need to eat less of these foods and focus on more nutrient-dense food if you need to put on weight.

There are other great things that you can do to put on weight if you are too skinny or underweight. Eat more frequently, have a banana shake, increase protein consumption, stay hydrated and focus on strength training to curb muscle loss.

Eat according to your needs.

5. Fruit salad may cause diarrhea, bloating, gas and other digestive issues

Bad gut bacteria feed on the added sugar that is found in junk food. Good gut bacteria feed on the plant compounds (called polyphenols) that are found in natural plant foods like tea, fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices.

Gut bacteria eat the parts of food that we can't digest (fiber) and turn them into useful nutrients and hormones. Did you know that most of your serotonin (happy hormone) is made by gut bacteria?

Every person's gut bacteria profile looks completely different. It is as unique as a fingerprint. Junk food encourages the growth of bad gut bacteria. Healthy food encourages the growth of good gut bacteria.

Gas and bloating from gut bacteria

Gut bacteria produce gas as a by-product of food digestion. This is why it is completely natural for everybody to fart from time to time. This is more likely to occur when you eat foods that you don't usually eat because new bacteria need to colonize your gut to digest the foreign food. This leads to flatulence.

You will notice, for example, that you fart more if you haven't eaten beans for a long time. You will fart less as your digestive system grows accustomed to the new food.

Since gut bacteria eat the fibrous parts of plant foods, you can expect gas when you eat fiber-rich foods like fruit. You will produce more gas if you aren't used to eating as much fruit as there is in a fruit salad. The excess gas can also lead to pain and bloating.

If your digestive system is not accustomed to digesting so much fruit, you may also experience other digestive issues like diarrhea or constipation as well.

Eat a smaller quantity of fruit salad at first to give your digestive system time to adapt if you suffer from digestive issues brought on by fruit salad.

Start small.

The disadvantages of fruit salad might sound numerous after reading this article. Fruit salad is very good for you because it contains fiber, vitamins and minerals. Eat it in moderation and balance it out with other healthy food to stay as healthy as possible. Stay Strong!

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Disadvantages of bok choy

Don't eat too much bok choy.

Bok choy is a super food. It is low in calories and high in fiber and water. Bok choy gives your body almost all of the micro nutrients that it needs. Everybody should eat green leafy vegetables like bok choy.

This doesn't mean, though, that you can have as much as you want or eat it exclusively instead of other foods. Just like with any food group, green leafy vegetables become unhealthy when you eat too much of them. This can lead to serious health problems.

Disadvantages of bok choy

1. Low in key nutrients: protein, fat, carbohydrates and calories
2. Diminished appetite when eaten in excess
3. Diarrhea, bloating and gas and other digestive issues when introduced into the diet
4. One of the worst foods to eat before, during or after exercise
5. Contamination, toxic pesticide residue and disease risk

Make it a part of a balanced diet.

Nutritional content of bok choy

100 grams of bok choy contains:

1. 95.32 grams of water
2. 13 kilo-calories (or 55 kilo-joules of energy)
3. 1.5 grams of protein
4. 0.2 grams of fat
5. 0.8 grams of ash
6. 2.18 grams of carbohydrates
7. 1 gram of fiber
8. 1.18 grams of sugar
9. 105 milligrams of calcium
10. 0.8 milligrams of iron
11. 19 milligrams of magnesium
12. 37 milligrams of phosphorus
13. 252 milligrams of potassium
14. 65 milligrams of sodium
15. 0.19 milligrams of zinc
16. 0.021 milligrams of copper
17. 0.159 milligrams of manganese
18. 0.5 micrograms of selenium
19. 45 milligrams of vitamin c
20. 0.04 micrograms of thiamine
21. 0.07 milligrams of riboflavin
22. 0.5 milligrams of niacin
23. 0.088 milligrams of pantothenic acid
24. 0.194 milligrams of vitamin b 6
25. 66 micrograms of folate
26. 6.4 milligrams of choline
27. 0.3 milligrams of betaine
28. 0 micrograms of vitamin b 12
29. 223 micrograms of vitamin A
30. 0 micrograms of retinol
31. 2 681 micrograms of carotene
32. 0 micrograms of lycopene
33. 40 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin
34. 0.09 milligrams of vitamin e
35. 0 micrograms of vitamin D
36. 45.5 micrograms of vitamin k

You get almost all your micro nutrients.

1. Low in protein, fat, carbohydrates and calories

Bok choy (and other green leafy vegetables) is a great source of micro nutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber). Due to the fact that they are over 95% water, they aren't very good sources of macro nutrients.

Low in protein

You need protein to make new tissue (brain, muscle, joint and heart, lung, skin, hair and nail tissue), antibodies, enzymes and blood. Low protein can diminish the quality of any of these parts of your body. In fact, low protein leads to many diseases, frequent infections, brittle nails, hair loss and depression.

The minimum daily protein intake protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram or 0.36 grams per pound. There are about 1.5 grams of protein for every 100 grams of bok choy.

If you weighted 70 kilograms (or 154 pounds), you would need to eat 5.8 kilograms (or 13 pounds) of bok choy to get your minimum daily protein requirement. This figure would increase if you weighed more or if you exercise regularly.

Compare that to 438 grams (or 15 ounces) of nuts or 302 grams of chicken for your daily, minimal protein requirement.

Bok choy just doesn't cut it as far as what you need regarding protein.

Don't miss out on key nutrients.

Low in fat

Fat is extremely important to your health. It is a stable from of energy. Fats give us essential fatty acids that can't be produced within the body. It is an important component of cell walls and gives us the means to absorb fat-specific nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K.

Fat regulates your hormones and provides you with energy when you aren't eating food. It prevents energy burnout, insulates your body and protects your organs from damage.

You should eat 44 - 77 grams of fat per day, on average.

There are 0.2 grams of fat per 100 grams of bok choy. You would need to eat 22 kilograms (or 48.5 pounds) to 38.5 kilograms (or 85 pounds) of bok choy to get your daily fat requirement.

Avocado will give you 15 grams of fat per 100 grams. You would only need to eat 293 grams (or 10 ounces) to get your daily fat intake.

Learn about the types of fat - and which ones you should eat.

Eating too little fat can lead to excess hunger, dry skin, poor temperature regulation, mental fatigue and hormonal disruptions (loss of menstrual cycle in woman and low testosterone in men).

Good sources of healthy fats include avocado, cheese, dark chocolate, eggs, fatty fish, nuts, chia seeds, extra virgin olive oil, coconuts, coconut oil and full-fat yogurt.

Good fat foods come with other nutrients.

Low in carbohydrates

Bok choy is an extremely low carbohydrate food at 2.18 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams. This makes it a great option for people who want to eat a low carbohydrate diet or follow the keto diet.

It is not a good source of carbohydrates, however, for people who want to follow the health dietary recommendations.

This is how you can work out how many carbs you should eat. A moderate carb intake would be 75 to 150 grams per day.

Bok choy simply doesn't have enough carbohydrates to meet this carbohydrate goal. You would need to eat 2.78 kilograms (6.1 pounds) - 6.88 kilograms (15.2 pounds) of bok choy to meet the above goal.

Good sources of carbohydrates include vegetables, fruit, legumes, nut, seeds, whole grains and tubers.

You would only need to eat 429 grams (15 ounces) to 857 grams (30 ounces) of potatoes to get the right amount of carbohydrates.

Eat the healthiest type of carbs.

Low in calories

Bok choy does not have enough calories to fulfill your daily caloric (energy) requirements, either.

100 grams of bok choy has 13 calories. If you plan to consume the recommended 2000 calories per day, you would need to eat over 15 kilograms (more than 33 pounds) of bok choy!

While this makes it a great food to reduce your caloric intake and feel full, relying too much on bok choy has the disadvantage of starving your body of the energy that it needs.

Low calorie diets can be dangerous. They can cause fatigue, mental decline, muscle loss, diarrhea and constipation, eating disorders, depression, hormonal imbalances and gallstones.

Unhealthy diets that limit calories too much lead to more weight gain in the future. Your body will adapt by increasing appetite and lowering metabolism. This will cause greater weight gain as soon as you stop your unhealthy diet.

A good weight loss diet should make you feel more energized - not lacking for energy. It should improve your health so much that you never want to go back to unhealthy eating.

The best diets are sustainable.

2. Diminished appetite when eaten in access

One of the disadvantages of bok choy is the fact that it can reduce your appetite. This might be great for people who want to lose weight, but it is not so good for people who struggle to eat enough as it is.

The large water content of bok choy adds bulk to the food without any nutritional value. Fiber takes longer to break down and sits in your gut for longer. This will prolong the time that it takes before you feel the need to eat again.

If you eat too many low-calorie, high-fiber foods; you won't feel hungry often enough to eat all of the nutrients that you need. This can lead to nutrient deficiencies and a weaker, undernourished body.

My appetite plummets as soon as I have my daily 5 fruit and vegetables (which are so important for all of the micro nutrients). To overcome this disadvantage, I eat my calorie-dense foods (that are high in proteins, fats and carbohydrates) first. I save my fibrous foods for the end of the day so that they don't stop me from eating all of the foods that my body needs.

Bok choy, as we have already seen, is high in so many beneficial nutrients. This doesn't mean that you can rely on it as your primary food source. Always choose a variety of different foods from different food groups so that your body gets all of the important nutrients.

Too much of any food can hurt you.

3. Digestive issues caused by bok choy

Green leafy vegetables like bok choy are actually very good for your digestive system. The fiber feed good gut bacteria that regulate your immune system, turn food into nutrients and produce important chemicals that we can't get without them.

Fiber is hard to digest. It takes more work to break it down to access the nutrients. In the long run, this improves your digestive health.

Junk food is easily digestible and leaves you craving more in a short space of time.

If you have only recently started eating more healthy foods, green leafy vegetables like bok choy can be harder to digest than it should be because your digestive system is used to breaking down easily-digested nutrients.

This can lead to numerous digestive issues like bloating, diarrhea, gas, constipation and cramps.

Don't change your diet too dramatically in a short space of time. Give your body time to adapt. Eat smaller portions of fibrous food, at first, so that your digestive system has time to rediscover how to break it down.

Implementing dietary changes incrementally can negate the risk of digestive issues that big changes can cause.

Small changes are good for you.

4. Bok choy is not good before or after exercise

Fiber and other food that is hard to digest causes blood to pool in your digestive system. This isn't a bad thing - this is a vital part of your digestive process. 

The problem is the fact that your body will have less blood (with nutrients like energy and oxygen) for movement when it focuses on digestion. This is why we feel lethargic after a large meal.

Less blood flow will decrease the amount of exercise that you can do if you eat bok choy before exercise. Decreased blood flow will also reduce the amount of recovery that you get from exercise if you eat it afterwards for the same reason.

If you eat right before or after exercise, focus on food with less fiber and more carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Choose foods like peanut butter and bread, pasta, eggs, chocolate milk, yogurt and fruit (like grapes and bananas). Here are great workout snacks for people on keto.

Eat smart.

5. Bok choy may present a contamination and disease risk

Fresh plant produce like bok choy is one of the leading mediums for the spread of food-borne diseases.

One of the disadvantages of healthy food is the fact that bacteria and other pathogens tend to love them just as much as our bodies do.

Healthy food tends to spoil easily. This is not only an inconvenience, but a health risk to you and those around you.

Avoid bok choy that looks a little off at the store. Throw it out when it starts to spoil and wash it before you cook with it. This will help to reduce the risk of contamination.

There is also a risk of toxic ingestion of the pesticides and fertilizers used to grow bok choy. This is another important reason to wash all of your fresh produce.

Eat clean.

Bok choy will remain one of the best healthy foods to eat. The disadvantages show that you can't eat it exclusively, or in too high quantities, because you need to get all of the nutrients that your body needs through a variety of different foods.

Include it as part of a balanced, healthy diet and you are all set to go. Stay Strong!

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