Questions about fruit

[Diana128]

Hi whole 30 people! I'm preparing to try this for the first time in January and have questions about fruit. I know that fruit is allowed, including dried, juice, and cooked- though it seems like every time these are mentioned it's in the context of ingredients in savory dishes. I also know that "treats" like pancakes with compatible ingredients are not allowed. Yet I haven't seen anything specifically saying whether drinking a glass of fruit juice or eating dried figs as a snack is allowed, in the official rules. 

I was also looking at the candida diet (allows pseudo-grains and yogurt, but does not allow  much fruit or starchy veggies) -- ultimately am trying whole30 because I have someone to do it with, and I think either option will help with controlling yeast/sugar cravings and getting a better sense of what works for my digestion and hopefully improving energy levels. So I'm trying to decide-- should I make an additional rule of no dried/cooked fruit? That would cut out things like snacking on dried fruit when craving sugar, baking an apple as dessert, or grabbing an RXbar as an easy to-go snack. It's already so limited, it seems crazy to add more rules, but at the same time, this seems like a significant gray area that would allow a lot of sweet snacking items to be on hand. What is the "official" stance of whole30 on this topic, and what are people's personal experiences with it? 

[ShannonM816]

Drinking fruit juice or eating dried fruit on its own is allowed, but it's recommended not to. It's discussed some on the Can I Have list: https://whole30.com/the-official-can-i-have-guide-to-the-whole30/.

The best way to stop craving sweets is really to limit how many sweet things you're consuming, and make sure you eat plenty of real food. You probably won't need a lot of snacks if you embrace eating enough at each meal that you stay satisfied for 4-5 hours at a time, but if you work long hours or just are hungry one day and need something more, we would recommend a mini meal with a little protein, a little fat, and some vegetables, or at least two of the three. This helps keep your snack from causing blood sugar spikes and will probably help you feel more satisfied, not immediately wanting more as sometimes happens with some sweeter items. I also found it helpful as an emotional eater -- if I thought I was hungry, but I didn't want the leftovers in the fridge or a hardboiled egg with mayo, but some dates or an RxBar or Larabar sounded good, I realized I probably wasn't really hungry, and I could try to figure out why I was wanting sweets, and then deal with whatever was actually bothering me.

You don't necessarily have to not have juice or dried fruit, they can be useful. A splash of juice in carbonated water when you're tired of plain water, tea, or coffee is a nice treat (and by a couple of weeks into Whole30 it will taste plenty sweet, even with just a splash), and dried fruit in a salad or with cooked greens is good if you like the salty-sweet combo. Just be mindful about how you're having it and how much you're having. Serving sizes for dried fruit are pretty small. The meal template recommends not more than two servings of fruit a day, where a serving of fresh fruit is an open handful -- so an apple or an orange, not the super huge versions, just the regular size, would be a serving. Figs, maybe two to three fresh figs in a serving, depending on how big your hand is, so the same with dried ones. They get smaller when you take the moisture out of them, but that doesn't mean you get to have more of them, because they still have the same amounts of everything else.

[Diana128]

Thanks! The "recommended not to" gray area is challenging for me but I will do my best without adding new rules for myself.