A fruit that I have inherited genetically. Until my fathers generation, our family had strived on in-season mangoes, because we had huge population of mango plantation in our village. And even today, my father relishes one at 80; and am only 48. There is inseparable love, genetically 🙂

Problem – culturally, we have it with food or post food, in which case, it mostly works as desert. All the vitamins it gives are consumed via our Indian diet anyway, and we wont starve out on them without a mango. Therefore, when we have a mango in fed state, say without the need of vitamins; it only works as sugar.

Mango has ‘Pure’ calories which are very good stand alone. But with food, they are additional load for the system that get stored as fat. The amount of fiber it gives becomes negligible, if taken post a meal. So unless it is adjusted for (calories) in a meal, it is just stored as fat.

Just like I had explained on sugarcane juice & watermelon; a mango is a fantastic fruit if absorbed in hunger state. Just by itself. The 100/150 or so calories that it possess will be put to use immediately by our metabolic machinery. Its nutrition value also stays intact if taken in hunger state as compare to fed state.

Therefore we should treat it as a meal. It could be breakfast or evening snack (after 3 hours so post meal). This way we can relish the taste, its sweetness, and squeeze out max nutrients from the delicious fruit.

Also, remember, fruit sugar is different from processed sugar because it’s balanced out by fiber and a host of nutrients for the body.

We are blessed with a mechanism to convert sugar into glucose; digest fructose and convert it to glucose (energy) or store it as pure calories(fat). So the worry pertaining to certain fruit has ‘X’ amount of sugar essentially only pertains to 100/150 calories factually speaking. This is nothing in compare to our daily requirements. But same amount if absorbed in fed state persistently, puts load on our machinery, and in many cases, compromises the metabolic health which is related to liver, gut, kidney, or any other organ in long run.

So problem with a ‘calorie’ is factually & logically not about its definition. Its more about what effect it can have in different metabolic states. The irony is, it stays as a calorie regardless, It is also the reason of a disease developing chronically, and it works as energy. It is up to us, or our metabolic machinery to be precise, what we make of it.

Argument – I am in fasted state. I need a pre-work out or a nice energetic breakfast; then why can’t a fruit work as good as anything else on our planet for a healthy body? It is pure calories because it is not processed – we often forget this! Its what I call pure calories just like ‘sugarcane’.

Pure calorie – my definition is any food that gets processed in the system quickly and doesn’t carry a buffet of nutrients. It is just calories that fills us up, provides us with energy, and/or get stored as fat in no time without any complicated hormonal interactions.


Learn and understand the difference between eating anything in fed state and in hunger state. If you are overfeeding then regardless, it tops nutritional list, & however must you think it is for your health; it will get stored as fat or worse, it disturbs some metabolic pathway chronically.

This is why ‘tea’ in India is never considered an antioxident because the way we prepare, it kills the benefits. But it is still a tea and it energies us or refresh us. Perhaps 20 calories. But same 20 calories taken after a wholesome meal in fed state; feels 200. Its our metabolic state that defines the effect a calorie have on our body.

Yes, I eat these. Do not go by my body 🙂

#sugar #mango #fructose #fruit