Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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When having a fruit snack, is it ok/good to eat it alone or should you add a protein or a fat to the snack with the fruit?

Different "diets" suggest different answers to that in relation to insulin response, hunger satiety, digestion etc., and I wonder if it makes a difference while on Paleo. I don't remember it being mentioned in any of the Paleo/Primal books. Thanks!

edited Dec 9 2011 at 21:11

asked Dec 9 2011 at 20:36

Missi
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The insulin response to nearly all kinds of fruit is negligible, unless you're eating huge amounts of them. – Travis Culp♦ Dec 9 2011 at 22:42

AndyM · Answer 1 · 2011-12-09 23:47:59Z UTC

Unless you have a particular problem, you should be able to handle the occasional bit of fruit if you're on full paleo. Contrary to the way most live, your glycogen stores aren't full all the time, so there's no problem with insulin coming out to store the fructose away in the liver for you to use over time - assuming you don't continue eating fruit all day and night. Just try and be realistic about the relative prehistoric availability of different foodstuffs and don't worry about micromanaging food combinations. It's only you that can determine specific digestion issues etc.

Rogue Nutritionist · Answer 2 · 2011-12-09 22:46:29Z UTC

It really depends on your personal sugar handling system. If you can handle sugars pretty well, eating some fruit alone is probably fine, but if you're like me and can barely tolerate sugar, eating it with fats and only eating it occasionally will be your rules of thumb.

Nance · Answer 3 · 2011-12-10 17:06:05Z UTC

I can eat grapefruit in mass quantities by itself. Pineapple is more likely to cause a BG spike so I usually eat fat first.

I can't remember the reference (but I'll come back if I find it in history) but I read an article yesterday that said to always eat fruit first as it goes right through your stomach and if you eat meat first the fruit will be stalled because meat takes longer to go through.

But I've also read opinions saying fruit should be the last item in a meal.

UPDATE: I found the article I mentioned above; I have areas of disagreement with him on nutrition overall, but many sources seem to agree with his advice to eat fruit first or alone. He seems to have credibility re: his knowledge of fruit and at least he doesn't recommend living on fruit alone.

coprophagous · Answer 4 · 2011-12-10 07:10:08Z UTC

i only eat fruit at bed time just in case i spike insulin and then crash im asleep and will not eat again. my first meal of the day is all protein so its long lasting, meal two is all raw nutrition vegtables and meal three of the day is some fruit to sleep on. this works for me. i lost 45 pounds quickly without hunger.

gydle · Answer 5 · 2011-12-10 08:23:21Z UTC

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here's an interesting article about how glucose tends to lower orexin, which makes you feel sleepy and lethargic. If you eat protein with it, it doesn't get lowered as much. I don't know if and how this would apply to fruit, though, because isn't the sugar in fruit fructose?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/why-sugar-makes-us-sleepy-and-protein-wakes-us-up/

answered Dec 10 2011 at 8:23

gydle
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	sugar in fruit is 50/50 fructose/glucose – cliff Dec 10 2011 at 13:12
	The article is BS if you read the actual study. If you feel run down and tired after a carb/sugar meal that indicates a glucose handling problem, I personally have a lot more energy after eating a meal of carbs. – cliff Dec 10 2011 at 13:18
	"In particular, we identify three unexpected features of orexin/hypocretin networks. First, ≈70% of orexin neurons exhibit adapting firing responses to glucose (Fig. 1). This allows a large proportion of the orexin system to maintain electrical excitability irrespective of ambient glucose levels. Second, adapting and nonadapting orexin cells are also significantly different in their innate firing properties and anatomical distribution (Fig. 2). This reveals an intrinsic electrophysiological dichotomy among orexin neurons.... – cliff Dec 10 2011 at 13:18
	....Third, glucose adaptation is mediated by closure of leak-like K+ channels (Fig. 6 C and D) and acts as an automatic “sliding scale” that allows orexin cells to shift their firing sensitivity to match different ranges in glucose levels (Fig. 5C). This way of sensory encoding potentially suggests how the orexin system can track a wide range of sugar fluctuations without destabilizing consciousness." from the study – cliff Dec 10 2011 at 13:19
	I agree thought that eating fruit with protein is best. – cliff Dec 10 2011 at 13:19

cliff · Answer 6 · 2011-12-10 13:21:03Z UTC

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Since your probably only eating a little bit of fruit eat it with some protein so your blood sugar doesn't dip into hypoglycemia which can happen with small amounts of sugar.

answered Dec 10 2011 at 13:21

cliff
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Not sure about a little bit, I eat about a regular serving of fruit at a time, but because it sometimes doesn't satiate as much as I think it should, doesn't hold me till dinner, that's a reason I wonder about adding the protein. – Missi Dec 10 2011 at 18:35

Edward41397 · Answer 7 · 2011-12-10 16:57:54Z UTC

I enjoy eating fruit, however, I am attempting to heal bowel wall inflamation and possible SIBO. My digestion has improved as a result of following a SCD/GAPS version of paleo diet. I eat small amounts of fruit in the morning on an empty stomach and after I have been awake for awhile. Through trial and error, I realized eating fruit after protein or fat would almost always produce significnat gas.

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