The fructose in fruit often gets confused with added sugar, but they're completely different things. When I gave up sugar, I replaced all added and processed sugar with fruit and berries. It didn't get in the way of my weight loss at all. If anything, it helped me break my sweet cravings.

Why you shouldn't cut fruit out

1. A medium piece of fruit, like an apple or an orange, contains no more than about 10–15 g of fructose. That's much less than a soft drink or a serve of sweets, which can have 30–50 g of sugar. The fibre, water and other components in fruit also slow down how fast fructose is absorbed, so you avoid sharp glucose spikes and your liver isn't flooded with it. Sweets often also come with trans fats and ultra-processed ingredients.
2. The fructose in fruit comes with fibre, vitamins and antioxidants. Fibre slows down how quickly sugar is absorbed, and antioxidants help protect your cells from damage. Added sugar, on the other hand, is "empty calories" with no nutritional value. It pushes your blood glucose up fast and then lets it drop, which leaves you hungry, tired and low on energy.
3. Eating fruit in normal amounts (3–5 pieces a day) isn't linked to problems with liver health, blood fats or blood sugar in healthy people. In fact, eating whole fruit is linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Problems are linked to very high fructose intakes (over 100 g a day, mostly from added sugars) and to a rare fructose intolerance.
4. In sweets and soft drinks, fructose often comes as a concentrated syrup. It's absorbed quickly and puts a heavy load on the liver, and it's linked to weight gain and metabolic problems. Fruit, by contrast, packs fructose in its natural "wrapping" of fibre, which makes it a completely different food.
5. Fructose from whole fruit isn't the same as added fructose. In sensible amounts (2–3 serves of fruit a day), it's good for you.

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General information only, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, please talk to your GP.