- Diets high in fruit are associated with all sorts of health benefits,including a reduced risk of many diseases, althoughsome people are concerned about the sugar content of fruitand worry that eating too much might be harmful.
So how many servings offruit should you eat per day? And is it possible to eat too much? Let's have a look.
(bubbly chime) It's well established thatfruit is good for you, but can too much be harmful? First of all, when eating whole fruit, it's quite difficult to eat too much.
This is because fruits arevery high in water and fiber, which makes them very filling.
Because of this, it'svery difficult to eat large amounts of fruit every day.
In fact, fewer than one in 10 Americans meet the minimum dailyfruit recommendation anyway.
Even though eating largeamounts of fruit each day is very unlikely, a few studieshave examined the effects of eating 20 servingseach day and did not find any adverse effects.
In fact, research has evenfound possible health benefits.
So if you eat fruit until you feel full, it's almost impossible to eat too much.
Is fruit safe for people with diabetes? Current nutrition guidelinesrecommend that people with diabetes consume two tofour servings of fruit per day which is the same asthe general population.
But some people stillrestrict the amount they eat because they're worriedabout the sugar content.
However, studies show thatwhen sugar is consumed in a whole fruit, ithas very little effect on blood sugar levels.
What's more, fruit is high in fiber, which actually slows thedigestion and absorption of sugar, improving overall blood suger control.
Fruits also contain polyphenols,which have been shown to improve blood sugar controlat least in lab studies and animal studies.
That said, not allfruits are created equal.
Some of them will raise bloodsugar a lot more than others.
Those with diabetes areencouraged to monitor their blood sugar levels after eating so that they can recognizewhich fruits may cause more problems than others.
And for the record, really good choices are berries and bananas.
How much fruit is optimal? Though it is possible to eat healthy while eating very little orvery large amounts of fruit, the ideal amount liessomewhere in the middle.
The general recommendationfor fruit and vegetable intake is at least 400 grams per day,or five servings of 80 grams.
A one 80-gram serving isequivalent to a small piece about the size of a tennis ball.
For fruits and vegetables thatcan be measured by the cup, a serving is roughly one cup.
This recommendationstems from the fact that eating five servings offruits and vegetables daily is associated with a lowerrisk of death from diseases like heart disease, stroke and cancer, which are some of the biggest killers.
This large analysis of16 scientific studies found that eating morethan five servings per day provided no added benefit.
However, another systematicreview of 95 scientific studies found the lowest disease risk at 800 grams or 10 daily servings.
Keep in mind that thesestudies looked at the intake of both fruits and vegetables.
Assuming half of theseservings come from fruit, you should be looking to consume between two to five servings of fruit per day.
Recommendations fromdifferent health authorities vary slightly but generally seem to align with that current research.
For example, the United StatesDepartment of Agriculture, in their guidelines, theyrecommend the average adult consume two servings of fruit per day, while the American Heart Association recommends adults eat fourto five serving per day.
Eating whole fruit promotes good health and can lower the riskof many serious diseases.
While most studies suggest thateating two to five servings of fruit per day is the optimal amount, there seems to be no harm in eating more.
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