Can You Eat Too Much Fruit?

Fruit has long been suggested as a healthy source of calories, fiber, and a variety of nutrients. Is it possible, however, to consume too much fruit?

A large meta-analysis looked over 350 research from throughout the world to try to determine the diverse impacts of eating fruits and vegetables. They examined health outcomes such as cardiovascular events, malignancies, and premature mortality. Because all of the investigations were prospective cohort studies, the results demonstrated a correlation between the previous events and the outcomes but did not show causality.

The study concluded that persons who ate 800g or more of fruit and vegetables per day - which, at 10 servings, is far more than the 5 presently advised - had a decreased risk of bad health issues. Cancer risk was actually lowered around the 600g threshold. This study also attempted to determine the advantages of various fruits and vegetables in various health situations. However, this study is unlikely to result in a contemporary recommendation because most individuals nowadays do not consume even the 5 servings recommended by public health authorities.

This is a typical example of practicality trumps scientific correctness in selecting what advice is offered to the public populace, on the grounds of not putting unreasonable objectives on them. However, in one study, the simple intervention of physically providing food to a target group of very young adults, with no other reminders or nagging, immediately increased the number of portions in this group by 1.2 servings per day, while also producing significant improvements in many aspects of their mental health. This was in contrast to the lack of benefit observed in a control group that received vouchers to purchase roughly the same amount of fruits and vegetables of their own choosing and to prepare them for consumption as they wished, with twice-daily reminders, despite the fact that these latter messages were perceived as helpful rather than irritating. The final line is that rather than constant teaching programs, making fresh fruit available and free wherever people congregate to eat may be the greatest strategy to promote consumption.

Fruit and vegetable consumption was examined in 200g increments in relation to:

In other words, 5.6 million people died prematurely in the study year (2013) because they ate fewer than 500g of fruits and vegetables each day. On the other hand, consuming 800g of them per day might save the lives of 7.8 million people each year.

Of course, it goes without saying that merely eating more fruits and vegetables would not cure sickness. However, it is one of the greatest ways to make your food work for you rather than against you, and if you also stay physically active and avoid hazardous substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and other pollutants, you are likely to live longer and be healthier than those who do not.

Eating fresh fruit can even help prevent diabetes mellitus and reduce the chance of some minor vascular consequences of diabetes, such as kidney disease or diabetic retinopathy, by 28%. Aside from having a 12% reduced chance of developing type 2 diabetes, diabetics who ate fruit on a regular basis had a 14% lower risk of mortality or secondary cardiovascular disease compared to those who ate fruit less than once a week. Because of their low glycemic index (GI) and sustained gradual release of sugar into the blood, apples and pears are chosen. In comparison, bananas, grapes, and tropical fruits have a higher GI.

The worldwide picture is bleak, with less than 20% of people consuming fruit on a daily basis and more than 6% admitting to eating it just seldom or never.

Health Benefits

Fruit does a lot of things for the body:

How Does Fruit Reduce Body Weight?

Many strategies have been proposed for enhancing fruit consumption's anti-obesity effect:

Fruit succeeds in both reducing overall energy intake and sustaining satiety via these various routes, which leads to a net decrease of fat reserves (particularly central) via their use inside the body for daily energy and metabolic demands, and therefore reduces body mass. Furthermore, its nutritional content promotes adipocyte non-differentiation, which decreases obesity.

Apples and pears have regularly been linked to lower risk of numerous diseases. It's worth noting that they have 6% fructose and less than half the quantity of sucrose. Because fructose is poorly absorbed, it is largely digested in the colon. The increase in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) generation that results is extremely beneficial in many metabolic and physiological processes.

In contrast to the numerous population-based studies that demonstrate its anti-obesity action, the few trials that suggest a pro-obesity impact of fruit frequently fail to discriminate between natural and processed forms of fruit and are frequently restricted to a single age-group or category. A single experiment found that eating too many high GI fruits during the second trimester increased the risk of gestational diabetes, but the authors advocate more research to confirm and investigate the findings. Another study found that eating more fruit at supper time boosted body mass. It is yet unknown if fresh fruit, rather than preserved or juiced fruit, poses such a danger.

In brief, increased fruit consumption has few health risks and provides a plethora of advantages, which only rise with more fruit in its natural form, regardless of the glycemic load of the specific fruit.