How to Eat Fruit and This Week’s Detox Recipe: Tropical Burst Smoothie

Is fruit actually good for us? You may think this is a strange question. Surely, fruit is super healthy? Aren’t we encouraged to eat MORE fruit?

And whilst it’s true that fruit is packed full of amazing, life-giving nutrients, there is actually a right way and a wrong way to eat it.

For some people too much fruit can actually unbalance the body, feeding Candida Albicans overgrowth in the gut and causing symptoms such as thrush, eczema, bloating and a foggy brain.

If this rings bells with you, you are certainly not alone. It was these symptoms that prompted me on my raw food journey in the beginning, and many many people suffer from an overgrowth of Candida in their system.

When is it good to eat fruit?

If you are someone who exercises regularly then eating a lot of carbohydrate and vitamin-rich fruit is great for your body. All that super-clean sugar in the fruit gets burned up as you exercise and helps improve stamina and muscle recovery time. It’s much much better to eat fruit, drink fresh fruit smoothies and snack on dried fruit than on those refined-sugar energy drinks, gels and energy bars that are often full of additives and colouring.

If you aren’t someone who takes a lot of exercise, fear not! You can still eat fruit. Bear in mind that fruit digests much more quickly than any other kind of food. If you eat it after a meal or with other, heavier ingredients it is likely to ferment in your stomach as it waits its turn to be digested.

For this reason it is always best to eat fruit on an empty stomach. A fresh fruit smoothie first thing in the morning or mid-afternoon will get you feeling amazing, and fresh fruit is great for in between meals snacking too. It’s light and easy to digest and gives you a burst of super clean energy until the next meal.

How much is the right amount?

This will depend on how much exercise you are taking as well as if you have an excess of Candida in your system. I generally recommend eating 2 – 4 pieces of fruit a day unless you are burning up the fruit sugar at the gym. If you are working out, you can eat as much as feels satisfying to you. Remember that dried fruit sugars are very condensed, so try not to eat more than one handful a day.

If you eat really cleanly already and still don’t feel as energised as you want to, then try cutting fruit out for a few weeks and see how you feel. It may be that you need to address your Candida overgrowth before you can eat more fruit.

What about raw fruit puddings?

Of course lots of raw food desserts combine fruit with other ingredients such as nuts which, strictly speaking, is a no-no for the easy digestion of fruit. That said, if you keep these kinds of desserts for treats, and eat them in small amounts, your digestion is most likely going to deal them fine.

Today’s recipe is a super-clean way to enjoy fruit 🙂

This Week’s Detox Recipe: Tropical Burst Smoothie

This recipe is inspired by my current travels in Mexico. For the best flavour try and get fresh or unpastuerised coconut water if you can. Take it to work for a mid-afternoon boost, in a flask with a couple of ice cubes.

Enjoy this burst of the tropics!