As a sedentary executive, you likely avoid that beautiful fruit presentation at the big meeting. You may be aware that fruit contains many valuable nutrients and fiber, but the sugar content deters you from eating them.
Wouldn’t it be great to have all the goodie of fruit without any of their drawbacks?
Well, actually such fruits exist! They are called low carb fruits, which are low sugar fruits.
Therefore, you should grab for those low carb fruits and enjoy them all you want.
By eating low carb fruits, you will give your body important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants without getting excess sugar and weight in your sedentary body.
Do you pour yourself a glass of orange juice every morning before rushing out the door to your office? You’re going to want to rethink that and swap it for whole low carb fruits instead.
Read on to discover why that juice is doing your more harm than good and why low carb fruits are the way to go!
Discover all the delicious low carb fruits you need to add to your daily intake! CLICK TO TWEET
Why Sedentary People Should Eat Fruits
Fruits usually contain more carbs than vegetables because they feature more naturally-occurring sugars. These sugars though aren’t as bad for you as the sugar you might stir into your morning coffee when you get started at your desk (and if you’re adding sugar like that, STOP!).
Understanding the 3 types of sugars in fruit can help you make the right fruit choices to get all your food groups without the sugars affecting your sedentary lifestyle:
– Glucose
Glucose is what your body prefers to use to fuel your brain and muscles. It also uses this to help your other cells in your body keep going.
– Fructose
With fructose, your liver does the metabolizing. This is very different than how your body uses glucose. If you consume more fructose than your liver can process, it will get turned into fat.
– Sucrose
This sugar is often referred to as ‘table sugar.’ It can occur in a natural state in some fruits though. Your body has an enzyme that can break it down into fructose and glucose. From there, it can metabolize each of them separately through the normal processes.
So, you tend to avoid eating fruit since it can have high amounts of sugar
and avoid gaining fat and weight.
Based on the science of it, you’d think you were doing yourself a big favor by staying away from fruits while you’re busily engaging in executive meetings and business trips.
It’s so important for you to rethink fruit and enjoy it during your business day.
When it comes to fruits, you will see why eating them will be best for your health and won’t be quite the travesty you imagine:
1. Fruits Are Healthy!
You need to eat fruits even more as a busy executive than anyone else. Why? Because they give you vitamins and minerals plus fiber that your body needs to perform at its best.
There were nine separate studies conducted in 2006. All published in the Journal of Nutrition, these studies showed that eating a daily portion serving of fruit reduced the risk of heart disease by as much as 7%.
There was a study on metabolism with very interesting findings. The participants consumed 20 servings of fruit every single day for 2 full weeks. There were no negative effects found in blood pressure or triglyceride levels. What was extremely notable was that LDL cholesterol (that’s the bad one) had dropped by 38 points.
2. There Are No Studies That Support That Sugar From Fruit Makes You Gain Weight!
Despite containing sugar, the fascinating thing is that it does the opposite for those that are obese. In other words, it has a paradoxical effect. Instead of causing obesity, they benefit obesity. The study was conducted in human trials and focused on the relationship between eating fruit and obesity.
What scientists learned from this study was that fruit intake was inverse to obesity. This is because fruit can reduce your total caloric intake. It can also keep you feeling more satiated for longer because low carb fruits, in particular, are very high in fiber.
Another reason you should be grabbing fruit from that tray during the next board meeting? It helps keep your gut thriving, according to the mentioned study.
As an executive, you’re likely very keen on studying all the facts before making a decision. Here’s one more reason you need to eat fruits. According to a study published in the Nutrition Journal in 2013, if you eat less fruit, it doesn’t do anything to benefit your weight, waist size, or blood sugar levels, especially if you have type 2 diabetes.
Basically, eating the recommended daily intake of fruit by the official health organizations is good for you and will help you with your body weight and overall health.
There’s one small caveat here and that is not all fruits are low carb fruits. Some of them have more carbs or more sugar. With a sedentary executive lifestyle, tucked behind a desk for a good 7 to 8 hours per day at the very least, low carb fruits will be a better choice for you. Therefore, you’re not wrong in avoiding certain fruits.
Keep reading and you’ll discover the best low carb fruits you need to add to your daily intake!
15 Low Carb Fruits to Add into Your Diet
Here’s our list of the best low carb fruits:
1. Starfruit
This exotic low carb fruit that also goes by the name of carambola makes for pretty presentation on those big, catered trays for your boardroom meetings. Eat one and get more than half of the vitamin C you need in your day, all for just a total of 6.73 grams of carbs per every cup.
It’s the best low carb fruit you can eat!
2. Watermelon
It’s everyone’s favorite summer fruit! Refreshing and delicious, watermelon can satisfy your cravings for something sweet. Plus, it has the lowest carb content with just 7.55 grams per 100 grams while giving you tons of vitamin A to help you move through your workday.
3. Strawberries
Antioxidant-rich strawberries destroy free radicals, give you immunity-boosting vitamin C, and they have just 7.68 grams of carbs per 100 grams.
Strawberries should be on your list of your best low carb fruits!
4. Cantaloupe
Cantaloupe is another refreshing choice during that executive meeting on a hot day. With just 8.16 grams of carbs, it’s a very low carb fruit.
5. Avocados
If you cut out fruits from your diet but still ate avocados, surprise! They’re fruits! Not only do they have the healthy monounsaturated fats your body needs for great heart health, but they also have 8.53 grams of carbs per every 100 grams.
6. Honeydew
Delicious, juicy, green honeydew melon gives you 9.09 grams of carbs along with vitamin C for immunity and potassium for healthy blood pressure.
7. Peaches
For all the juiciness they bring, peaches are one sweet fruit you can feel good about eating. They’re very low carb at just 9.54 grams for every 100 grams!
8. Blackberries
Just 9.61 grams of carbs in blackberries plus plenty of digestive fiber, and you’ve found a friend in fruit. They also have manganese which will help you with bone health and collagen production.
9. Apricots
You get lots of vitamin C and potassium from apricots. And for all that wonderful flavor, you can enjoy them with only 11,12 grams per 100. To put it another way, you can eat 2 apricots and get only 8 grams of carbs!
10. Oranges
Keep your immunity strong with the vitamin C-boosting power of oranges. As you do so, you’ll only get 11.75 grams of carbs in a small-sized orange.
11. Raspberries
Raspberries are another sweet berry treat that you can enjoy no matter how many hours you have to work to run your office world.
They contain loads of flavonoids which are great for fighting age-related cognitive decline to keep sharp as a tack for years to come. Plus, they only have 11.94 grams of carbs per 100 grams!
12. Blueberries
As one of the top superfoods, it’s little surprise blueberries are on the executive low carb fruits list. They have calcium, magnesium, and potassium to help keep your blood pressure down and only 14.49 grams in carbs.
13. Kiwi
Most people don’t realize kiwi (or kiwifruit) comes from northern China. It’s more commonly associated with New Zealand where it has thrived since the beginning of the 20th century. This low carb fruit features only 14.66 grams of carbs per 100 grams (10 grams of carbs per fruit) and has a wonderful, sweet taste!
14. Lemons
Lemons also have plenty of vitamin C and can help you absorb iron when you have them with foods rich in iron. While you might not want to eat one whole, you can use lemons to flavor your water to keep hydrated and get only 16 grams of carbs per 100 grams of peeled lemon.
15. Cherries
With rich antioxidant content, cherries are a great choice to snack on in your corner office or during a meeting with only 16.01 grams of carbs.
Please keep in mind that low carb fruits are big on fiber too. Fiber not only keeps you full but when reading nutrition labels, you need to subtract the amount of fiber from the carbs to get your total net carbs. That means these low carb fruits listed above are even lower in carbs than you think!
Interested in more low carb foods? Don’t miss our post on high fiber, low carb foods!
Easy Ways to Eat More Low Carb Fruits
You might be busy with meetings and deadlines, but during your executive day, make sure you add more low carb fruits to your plate.
Here are some easy ways to make it happen without even thinking about it!
1. Eat the Whole Fruit, Peel Included When Possible
Of course, you can’t eat the peel of every fruit (think bananas!) but with most of the low carb fruits listed above, you can. Those peels are the most fiber-rich part of the fruit. Make sure to wash them well with clean water before you eat them.
2. Don’t Juice Them
You might think you’ll be able to consume more low carb fruits if you juice them, but that’s not a good idea.
When you juice your fruit, you’re getting just the sugar and not the fiber. This is definitely one of those “seemed like a good idea at the time” things.
You’re essentially eating many pieces of fruit in a small span of time and not getting any of the fiber your body needs from it. Furthermore, the majority of the sugar in your fresh-blended fruit juice is fructose.
Remember what we mentioned above about your liver not being able to process too much fructose? That extra bit turns to fat. When the fat buildup gets in your liver, it can lead to insulin resistance.
That’s exactly why we urge you to give up your orange juice habit, the one that many executives seem to share in common. Instead, choose a whole orange.
3. Read Labels on Dried Low Carb Fruits
Our last bit of advice to you is about dried low carb fruits. Because of the way they are dried out, they often contain more sugar than their fresher versions.
It’s not always the case though and they can be a lovely addition to your salads.
Always make sure you read the labels of dried low carb fruits first to ensure you’re not getting more sugar than you bargained for.
Which low carb fruits do you eat the most? Tell us in the comments!
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