What is a reasonable amount of fruit? page

[chemlabmom]

I am very lucky to live in an area where fruits and vegetables are locally grown and available year round. We follow the seasons here; starting with strawberries and greens in the spring, then apricots, cherries, peaches, figs, melons, grapes, apples, persimmons, and citrus. Fresh and ripe vegetables are also available from nearby farms. So we eat a LOT of fruit here because it's both cheap and delicious. I fear however that eating so much fruit is hindering my weight loss. What do you think?

[LauraSB]

I have been eating a cup of mixed berries and a small apple, banana or cup of cut up melon nearly every day and I'm pretty satisfied with my rate of weight loss. However, I count calories religiously, so theoretically, I could be substituting Twinkies for the fruit, even though that would probably make me feel like crap.

One thing I have noticed is that calorie for calorie, fruit doesn't keep me satisfied as long as most vegetables and I think it has more to do with the blood sugar spike and drop with fruit rather than the additional fiber in the veggies.

[carlvennt]

No eating fruits is never bad for health.Doctors advice everyone to take fresh fruits and vegetables as much as you can.So stop worring and enjoy every fruit you get.



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[AMonkey]

I really don't believe the anacdotes on here about people who eat two cups of blueberries a day, and suddenly thats enough to make them gain weight or stall loss.

Eat as much fruit as you can tolerate, without displacing other important foods (veggies, meat). I could happily snack on fruit all day, though snacking isn't something I tend to do if I have regular meals.

[vespersonicca]

I aim to eat all the fruit I want but try to eat more veggies than fruit. I had a MAJOR sweet tooth before going primal though and I will guiltlessly eat fruit if I feel it coming on since it is SO much better for me than all that refined sugar from before!

[noodletoy]

No eating fruits is never bad for health.Doctors advice everyone to take fresh fruits and vegetables as much as you can.So stop worring and enjoy every fruit you get.

doctors will also advise you to eat lots of whole grains, low-fat foods and lean meats. to avoid eating eggs and organs. i don't take nutritional advice from doctors or cw anymore.

fruit, in-season, in moderation, should be fine. you may want to track how much you are actually eating though to get a better handle. counting and reducing is the only way to know for sure if the fruit is the culprit for you.

grapes, apples, citrus are all pretty high-sugar fruits. they are so sweet to me now i can't even have a bite. when i do have fruit, i have it with some kind of fat, like cream, to mitigate the potential insulin spike.

[primalrob]

yeah, fruit is sugary, but it's not really giving you a ton of calories. eat fruit...just don't build your diet around it. try to fill up on veggies and fat with some protein, and all of a sudden fruit feels like a treat more than a staple. if you're concerned, i would follow noodletoy's advice of tracking for a while to see what the results. track everything thing for a couple of weeks with your current diet, then track a couple weeks without the fruit. i doubt you'll see much of a difference

[noodletoy]

previously, my "normal" breakfast was a container of berries with some fat-free yogurt. later in the day i would often have a couple of apples or pears. maybe some grapes too. sure, not loads of calories, but tons of carbs and eventually more sugar than my metabolism and insulin response could handle. part of why i started gaining weight that wouldn't budge after i hit 42.

now i eat berries, or in-season local stone-fruits, with cream, once or twice a week and it's a great treat. most fruits are simply too sweet for me now, and my body thanks me for that.

[Owly]

OP, by hindering your weight loss, do you mean that you are stalled or do you mean it's not super fast? If you are stalled, you might want to track a bit and consider that you might cut down on fruit. However, if you are seeing gradual fat loss and are enjoying eating fruit and feel more satisfied including it, then keep some in your diet. Magnolia points out that the best diet is useless if you can't sustain it, so if including fruit isn't totally stalling things or making you binge and you feel better/happier including it, then I think you're better off keeping on the way you are.

[BestBetter]

Everyone has their own views on fruit and health and weight loss.

Personally, every time I've lost weight, I was eating A LOT of fruit. Often, as much as I could possibly eat in one sitting. I have never experienced anything that feels like an insulin spike from fruit, and I feel healthier and happier when eating fruit.

There are a thousand things that can hinder weight loss, and while it's possible that for some people it's fruit that does this, I'd take a closer look at some of the other potential factors that could be interfering (stress, sleep, movement, etc...).

Ultimately, the only way you'll know for sure is to cut back on fruit and see what happens, there is no one answer-fits-all, unfortunately.