How Much Fruit Should You Eat? What About the Sugar?

+ recipe for Oranges With Rosemary Honey, Ricotta & Hazelnuts

What have we come to when people are afraid to eat an apple!? That is what a dietitian friend of mine lamented to me after hearing yet another client say they thought fruit was unhealthy because it has too much sugar.  

You certainly can’t blame them – at least they were seeking clarity on what they kept hearing from friends, and on social media. But this fear of fruit has gotten out of hand. It’s true, fruit has sugar, and most of us need to cut back on sugar. But it’s added sugars we need to reduce (the concentrated sugars put into foods to make them taste sweet), and fruit can actually help us do that by providing delightful, sweet taste while protecting our health in a multitude of ways. Here’s the scoop on why fruit is something to say YES to and how to make the most of it.

About That Sugar

All sugar is processed similarly by our bodies—it doesn’t matter if it is derived from fruit, as in gummy candies sweetened with fruit juice concentrate, or sugar cane, as in table sugar.  That’s why all concentrated sugars, no matter the source, are considered added sugars and are best eaten sparingly.  

But whole, minimally processed fruit offers so much more than just sugar.  In whole fruit, the inherent sugars are naturally “packaged” with fiber and water, which dilute them and slow their absorption while providing gut-health benefits and hydration. Plus, fruit contains a spectrum of health protective antioxidants and nutrients such as vitamins A and C, potassium, folate, and more.   

You can (and should!) enjoy fruit even if you have to watch your blood sugar (like I do).  While the fiber and water in whole fruit slow the absorption of the inherent sugars to a large degree, you can take it a step further by pairing the fruit with a protein and/or fat (such as a piece of cheese, Greek yogurt, nuts or nut butter) or by eating the fruit as dessert right after a meal. Doing so will temper any blood sugar rise even more.  

Bona Fide Health Benefits

There are piles of evidence pointing to the benefits of eating whole fruit—I have included a few references below if you want to dig deeper. But in a nutshell, thanks to all the nutrients mentioned above, eating fruit has been shown to be protective against heart disease and cancer, and it is linked with brain health, gut health and more.  Contrary to all the noise online that fruit makes you gain weight, fruit consumption is actually associated with long-term weight management and healthy weight loss.

How Much Fruit Should You Eat?