Fruit OK at night?

I'm not eating carbs at night at the moment, but I have a couple of pieces of fruit after dinner and my friend said that it's a carb - is she right?

Yes, your friend is right.

Carbohydrates are a group of foods made from ‘sugars' (sugars is slang for the type of molecule which makes carbohydrate) Depending on the structure of the molecules and how they're connected they will form a different ‘type of carbohydrate'

Milk contains the carbohydrate lactose and galactose
Fruit contains fructose
Beer contains maltose
Table sugar contains sucrose
Bread contains starch, tightly packed together ‘sugar' molecules
Fibre is a carbohydrate which cannot be digested

The upshot is, that all of these will end up as the same thing in your body - blood glucose, aka blood sugars.

When we're trying to lose weight, the theory behind low carb or no carbs at dinner is that when we reduce our blood glucose levels it reduces our insulin release and promotes the release of fat burning hormones.

At this time of year, if you need a wee sweet treat after dinner, then strawberries are a great choice - low in calories, lower in ‘sugar' that other fruits. And if you don't feel like a normal dinner, try mixing your chocolate protein powder with a little hot water to make a sauce and dip your strawberries in....tasty and low carb.

And just as an aside, flavoured water is also a carb.

Stacey 2009

Fruit OK at night?

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