How much fruit is too much fruit?
Spoiler alert: for most of us – it’s not a thing.
Too much fruit is not a problem most of us will struggle with. However, this is a question that I get asked often because I say eat more fruit and my patients are saying: but it’s full of sugar. The first thing to know is that 75% of the population does not eat enough fruit. The recommendations are for five different pieces of fruit and vegetables per day, meaning one or two pieces of fruit a day. And 75% of the population are not eating one or two pieces of fruit a day!
This is astounding because fruit is delicious, and colourful, and beautiful, and lovely. So why why are we not eating it? Part of the reason is that we’re terrified of how much sugar is in it.
But in reality, is this an issue?
Let’s talk banana versus chocolate bar: the banana has fewer calories, less sugar than a chocolate bar, and has fibre, vitamins, and minerals which, no offence chocolate bar, but it does not contain. What we see from the research is that when you increase your intake from two fruits a day to five fruits a day, there is a 30% less risk of death from any cause. We see lowered risk for heart disease, we see lower risk for cancer, we see lower risk for respiratory disease. Basically – better health.
Why is this?
It’s because of the fibre. If you pick up an apple or a banana or a pear or a kiwi and you eat it as is, then you’re getting all of that fibre. And what does this do? Okay, so the first thing is that we’re increasing tremendously the amount of vitamins and the amount of minerals and the amount of antioxidants that we’re getting. What are these do? First – they make us happy because they’re colourful. We also eat through our eyes, right? We see this colourful food and it makes us happy, but it also genuinely makes us happy because of a biochemical response. So the more fruit we eat, the happier we feel. It helps relieve anxiety, it helps relieve depression, it helps reduce stress levels in our lives. It also makes us look better and feel better physically, not just mentally, although it does work on our mental health as well. When we look and feel better everything, else just seems that much nicer in life. But we’re also adding all the fibre. What the fibre does is it helps you poop properly! Together with the added water, because fruit contains both fibre and water, we’re making better poop. The result is literally getting rid of the crap in our body. It’s the best form of detoxification, and it replenishes our body with all the things that needs.
If you’re a diabetic, and we’re counting how many carbs you’re having, then this does not apply for you. But if you’re a generally healthy person, when you add all of the fruit what we find is that your blood sugar levels don’t rise, they go down. And we’re lowering all of the other things that you want to be lower, like your cholesterol and your blood pressure, which generally helps with health in all directions, reducing your risk of heart disease and metabolic syndrome. And as I said before, cancer and pulmonary disease and respiratory disease.
So eat more fruit, eat more fruit, because it is delicious.
If you’re thinking, oh, I shouldn’t eat more than an apple a day, I say eat an apple, and a pear and a kiwi and a banana and some raspberries and blueberries and whatever else you can think of, and have all of these every day, because it will help you feel better.
If you’re worried about it, if you need specific consultation, then you know where to find me.
How much fruit is too much?
