Is Fruit Good For You?

• As a rule of thumb, fruit should be fresh or frozen, whole, seasonal, organic and ideally local whenever possible. Great resources to help you eat locally in your region are the Eat Well Guide and Grown NYC.
• We recommend eating fruit in the morning so your body has plenty of time to use the natural sugars. When eaten later in the day or at night, the sugar in fruit is more likely to be stored as fat, and can cause blood sugar fluctuations overnight, affecting sleep quality.
• However, if after-dinner or late night cravings hit, we much prefer you reach for fruit than any other kind of sweet.

OK, bear with us while we get technical for a moment — this will help explain why we recommend certain fruits over others: You may have heard of the “glycemic index,” which rates a food’s ability to raise blood sugar levels. A better predictor of our body’s response to fruit is “glycemic load,” which takes into account the serving size of that food we typically eat in a sitting.

This is why we recommend focusing on fruits like berries and kiwi, and limiting fruits like bananas and grapes — it’s not just about how much sugar they contain, it’s about how that sugar impacts your blood sugar levels. People are often surprised that we recommend eating fruits like apples and watermelon because they have a lot of sugar — but in fact, they have a low glycemic load, so they’re good choices!

Individuals looking to:

• Lose weight
• Regulate blood sugar
• Avoid aggravating yeast issues in the digestive tract, like Candida overgrowth

In these cases, we typically recommend avoiding or limiting these higher glycemic load fruit:

• Bananas
• Grapes
• Mangoes
• Oranges
• Dried fruit
• Fruit juice

Most people can enjoy 1-2 servings per day of any fruit, but we tend to recommend these lower-sugar fruits:

• Apples
• Berries: blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries
• Cherries
• Grapefruit*
• Kiwi
• Papaya
• Pears
• Watermelon

Lemons, limes, and vegetable-type fruits like avocados and cucumbers can be enjoyed freely!

*Individuals on certain medications, like statins, should not eat grapefruit as it interacts with the drug’s metabolism in the body. Check with your doctor if you’re not sure whether it’s right for you.

Blueberries are a great example of a highly beneficial fruit. They’re known as a “superfood” because of their high polyphenol levels, a type of antioxidant.

• One study found that getting plenty of polyphenols in your diet can reduce your risk of death by 30 percent! Polyphenols have also been shown to decrease the risk of cancer and diabetes.
• This 2019 study showed that eating 1 cup of blueberries daily improved cardiovascular health and reduced the risk of heart attack and stroke by boosting HDL (good cholesterol) levels and improving blood vessel function.

Fruit has many benefits — no one should fear it! We just want you to understand which fruits provide the most nutritional bang for your buck. Although it might be necessary for certain people to keep an eye on fruit sugar consumption at times, this may not be the case for everyone. It’s all about finding your personal sweet spot!

Keep in mind that this is generalized information, so please consult with your doctor or nutritionist. Or better yet, come see us at The Morrison Center for dietary recommendations that specifically caters to your health goals.

ROBIN FOROUTAN, MS, RDN, HHC

Robin is a registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in Integrative Medicine, Functional Medicine and holistic healing modalities. She helps her clients address complicated conditions and return to wellness.

STEPHANIE MANDEL, NC, HEALTH COACH

Stephanie is a Holistic Nutrition Consultant and Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner with a passion for helping her clients fulfill their potential through both emotional and physical optimization.