I’m new

[Martha2005]

I am confused about the whole sugar thing.

Is having items that have the bound up in fibre good or bad for you?

I have developed a taste for the lovely large fresh oranges which has a high sugar content,how good are they for you, things like dried fruit ,dried apricots are very sugar rich do you count them in your sugar allowance?

[Chappychap]

All things in moderation, dried fruit is so calorific that eating anything more than a small handful each day would likely see your weight shoot up.

Fresh fruit, such as the oranges you like, are a better bet. For one thing it's just physically harder to eat them to excess, although temperate zone fruits like apples are always going to be a better bet than tropical fruits like bananas or mangos.

The sugar content in fruit is locked within the fruits own cells, so it's not as bad as the free sugars you find in say processed sugar or even in fruit juices where the cell structure has been destroyed which liberates the sugars.

Incidentally, I believe honey isn't a great diet option despite being so natural, it's basically just sugar, so even though it's not processed it is massively calorific.

One final point, lots of processed carbs, such as pasta or white bread, are nearly as problematic as sugar. Once they hit your stomach they're turned into sugar so quickly that there's not much practical difference between eating bread and sugar.

It's not what any of us wants to hear, but it's things like spinach and broccoli that really are your friends!