Steve, thanks for reminding me not to take for granted the abundance of wholesome fresh fruit we enjoy in Italy. Actually, our present issue is distribution. Sometimes fruit is not so fresh and comes from north Africa or from other faraway parts of the world.
I've been lucky in that I found a Sicilian guy in my area who provides mostly fresh produce he directly grows or selects from his region. Sicily is far south and has an ideal climate for fruit and many vegetables. I ate some oranges and tangerines which were of such an exquisite and sattvic taste that after you eat them youthink you can die satisfied.
Some currents of dietary thoughts now in America affirm that fruit contains too much fructose which is heavy on liver metabolism. It is also rich in simple carbs, which are allegedly bad for blood sugar. Well, I'm an an experimenter at hearth, so I cut my fruit intake and even measured my fasting blood sugar and after a fruit +yogurt meal. The variation in blood sugar content was minimal. I tried that twice. That means that in people who are tolerant to carbs, like myself, fruit causes no significant peaks in blood sugar. Some other people who tend to obesity may have a metabolic syndrome, also called insuline resistance. If they wish to loose weight, many of them must relinquish fruit together with all carbs but the few contained in vegetables. At least until their balance is reestabilished (it may take years).
Apparently, it all depends on our individual variations. This is from the site of my Sicilian friend:
