If vegetables are the monarchs of nutritious eating, fruits have always been part of the royal court — not quite as important, but still worthy of respect. But now that nutrition guidelines are cracking down on sugar, some people are questioning fruits' estimable role in a healthy diet. 

如果说蔬菜是营养饮食的君主，水果应该也算皇室成员之一——虽然不是举足轻重，仍然不可或缺。然而近来膳食指南正在清算打击饮食中的糖，人们不禁要怀疑水果对健康的作用。 

One need only go to Twitter to see the confusion. "Pilates instructor started talkin about how fruit has so much sugar and a banana has the same as a Snickers bar," reads one tweet. Other users come to fruit's rescue: "Fruit sugar and sugar in processed foods is not the same thing," one user explains.

只需去推特看看混乱，这边说“普拉提教练开始警示水果的含糖量，一根香蕉相当于一块士力架”，那里讲“水果里的糖与加工食品里的糖不是一回事。”

Sugar in fruit and added sugar are not the same thing, says Lauri Wright, a nutritionist, public health specialist and spokeswoman for the Academy  of Nutrition and Dietetics. 

水果里的糖和添加糖不一样——营养学家、营养学专家、营养与营养学院发言人Lauri Wright如是说。 

"There's so much confusion," Wright says. "I think this comes from the idea we've had for some time now that all carbs are bad, and that's not the case. Carbs are required for energy."

“混淆视听”， Wright说，“近来我们总是被告知碳水化合物是坏家伙，言过其实，碳水化合物是能量的基本需求。”

There are lots of kinds of sugar. Fruits have fructose, glucose and a combination of the two called "sucrose," or "table sugar." But the sugars in fruit are packed less densely than in a candy bar, according to Elvira Isganaitis, a pediatric endocrinologist at Joslin Diabetes Center and a Harvard Medical  School instructor. This difference is important for people with diabetes, a disorder which interferes with regulating sugar in the blood. When people eat something sweet, they usually have a spike in blood sugar levels. Then the spike plateaus and the amount of sugar in the blood eventually drops back to normal. Fruits generally cause a lower spike than sweets, Isganaitis says, making it less dangerous for people with diabetes monitoring their sugar levels. 

糖的种类很多，水果里面有果糖、葡萄糖以及这两种糖复合起来的“蔗糖”。然而水果里糖的密度要比糖果中低得多——Elvira Isganaitis, Joslin糖尿病中心的儿科内分泌专家兼哈佛医学院教员说。这种差异对于糖尿病患者是重要的，糖尿病患者存在血糖调节障碍。当人们吃甜的东西时，血糖水平上升形成高峰，稍后，血糖高峰和血液中的糖含量恢复正常。 Isganaitis说，水果的血糖高峰比糖果低，对需要监测血糖的糖尿病人更安全。

But even for people without diabetes, sugar in fruit is a healthier option than sugar from other sources, according to nutritionist Wright. A can of soda, for example, has about 40 grams of sugar. "And what else are you getting with that?" Wright asks. "You're getting no protein, no minerals and no fiber. You get nothing but the sugar and the calories."

即使是没有糖尿病的人，水果中的糖也比其他来源的糖更健康——营养学家Wright说。例如，一听碳酸饮料，含糖40克。 “除了糖你还能得到什么？”Wright问，“没有蛋白质，没有矿物质，没有纤维，只有糖和卡路里。”

A serving of fruit, by contrast, usually contains no more than 20 grams of sugar, has fiber and has nutrients like vitamin C. As Wright puts it: "You're getting a lot of bang for your buck." And fiber and lower sugar amounts can also decrease sugar spikes in blood levels. 

相反地，吃一个水果，通常不会超过20克糖，更有纤维素和维生素C等营养。Wright说“可以说是营养大爆炸了”。纤维和低糖量还可以降低血糖峰值。 

That doesn't mean there aren't possible pitfalls for fruit freaks. Dried fruits, Wright says, tend to pack more sugar into a bite because they're so concentrated. She advises people with diabetes in particular to consume dried favorites with caution.

水果也并不是万全之策，Wright提醒大家注意干果，因为脱水浓缩而含糖量上升，糖尿病人尤其要谨慎食用。

Both Wright and Isganaitis also warn that smoothies can commit sugar sabotage. That goes for juices, too. "I have a little bit of a bee in my bonnet about fruit juices, because they really masquerade as a health food," says Isganaitis, "but you can get a whopping dose of glucose [and calories]." She advises that people eat whole foods, including fruits, and steer clear of processed foods, especially those sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, concentrated apple juice, or the like.

Wright 和 Isganaitis都警告水果冰沙可能破坏水果营养。果汁也一样。Isganaitis说“对于果汁我有点胡思乱想，它们真的太貌似健康食品了，然而，含糖量其实相当高。”她建议人们吃完整的全食物，包括水果，并且回避加工食品，特别是那些添加了高果糖玉米糖浆的浓缩苹果汁等等。 

Similarly, Wright advises smoothie lovers make smoothies at home and throw in some vegetables.

同样的，Wright建议在家自制冰沙，还可以在做水果冰沙时添加些蔬菜。

Wright says she hopes people with diabetes in particular are not frightened off fruit by warnings about added sugar in other types of food. As for herself, Wright frequently eats fruit at her home in Florida: "I live in the Sunshine State, and you may think my favorite is oranges, but actually, we have wonderful blueberries."

Wright说，她希望特别是糖尿病人不会因为对添加糖食物的警告而远离了水果。 Wright自己就经常在佛罗里达州的家里吃水果，“我所在的洲阳光丰沛，你可能认为我最喜欢的是橘子，实际上，我们有特别棒的蓝莓。”