A healthy diet consists of whole foods, making fruits an integral part of healthy eating. Fruits are extremely nutritious, loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber, water, and antioxidants.
Fruit has also been shown to reduce heart diseases and diabetes, but even these findings are not black and white
However, fruit also contains high amounts of natural sugars compared to other wholefoods, raising the question of whether fruit can help you lose weight.
Fruit Contains Low Calories
Fruits are nutrient-dense, having high nutritional value with low caloric impact. In fact, one large orange contains nearly twice the daily recommendation of vitamin C while only containing around 50 calories.
Fruit Keeps You Full For Long Periods
Aside from being nutrient-dense and low in calories, fruit is also packed with fiber and water.
Fiber is digested slowly, which assists in the feeling of being full.
There are also studies showing that fiber can reduce appetite, leading to less food consumed.
Fruits high water content, combined with the fiber, helps you feel full for longer periods.
Eating Fruit Is Associated With Losing Weight
A study of 133000 adults over a 24-year period found that losing weight was associated with eating fruit, whereas berries and apples affected weight the most.
If Fruit Is High In Sugar, Should I Cut It Out?
Not all sugars are created equal! Fruit contains natural sugars, a mixture of fructose, glucose, and sucrose. Added sugars (table sugars, sweeteners, etc) contain extremely high amounts of glucose and fructose. To reach harmful levels of sugar through fruit alone is very difficult, as seen through fruitarian diets.
However, fruit juice can be quite loaded in calories, and if you’re already near your maintenance calorie intake, fruit juice can become detrimental to your days calories. It should also be noted that fruit juices can contain added sugars, and fruit juice has been linked with obesity and heart problems.
Try eat whole fruits instead of fruit juice and dried fruit.
Bottom Line
In order for a caloric deficit to occur, you need to use more calories than you consume, making fruit an ideal choice for snacks and small in-between meals. The daily recommendation for fruit is two cups per day, which is equivalent to around 2 apples. So next time that bag of chips calls you from the cupboard, break its heart by reaching your arm for a brightly colored nature-snack!
