Is Too Much Fruit a Bad Thing?

tamwins
tamwins Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
I absolutely LOVE fruit. All my friends know that I have an disgustingly huge sweet tooth. I love cookies, cakes, muffins, you know name. One of my best friends and I have brunch together often, and he knows that my favorite thing for breakfast is a bowl of fruit, and preferably a brain or blueberry muffin to go with it. Although I indulge in sweets, I found that fruits often satiate my sweet tooth the best. My last semester, I visited my university's nutritionist regularly for advice on diet and weight loss. She recommended that I have two servings of fruit today, and I was shocked. Only two servings? I have at least 4-5 servings a day. I was thinking to myself that a good portion of my carbs and sugars come from fruits, but is it really a bad thing? I've been reading articles on this topic, but I want to know what you guys think. If you're a nutritionist, doctor, etc. I would really love your input.

I'm going to the grocery story either later today or tomorrow. I usually buy a lot of fruit. Last week I bought bananas, apples, peaches, strawberries, and grapes! I didn't eat it all myself. My dad visited and he usually doesn't like sweets, but he loves fruit.

Also, what are some foods (other than fruit) that you guys eat to satiate your sweet tooth? I haven't bought yogurt in awhile, and I was thinking that could probably help.

(Note: I am a college student living independently, so if you can suggest foods that typically aren't too expensive, that would be great!)

Replies

  • lukewind
    lukewind Posts: 177 Member
    I absolutely LOVE fruit. All my friends know that I have an disgustingly huge sweet tooth. I love cookies, cakes, muffins, you know name. One of my best friends and I have brunch together often, and he knows that my favorite thing for breakfast is a bowl of fruit, and preferably a brain or blueberry muffin to go with it. Although I indulge in sweets, I found that fruits often satiate my sweet tooth the best. My last semester, I visited my university's nutritionist regularly for advice on diet and weight loss. She recommended that I have two servings of fruit today, and I was shocked. Only two servings? I have at least 4-5 servings a day. I was thinking to myself that a good portion of my carbs and sugars come from fruits, but is it really a bad thing? I've been reading articles on this topic, but I want to know what you guys think. If you're a nutritionist, doctor, etc. I would really love your input.

    I'm going to the grocery story either later today or tomorrow. I usually buy a lot of fruit. Last week I bought bananas, apples, peaches, strawberries, and grapes! I didn't eat it all myself. My dad visited and he usually doesn't like sweets, but he loves fruit.

    Also, what are some foods (other than fruit) that you guys eat to satiate your sweet tooth? I haven't bought yogurt in awhile, and I was thinking that could probably help.

    (Note: I am a college student living independently, so if you can suggest foods that typically aren't too expensive, that would be great!)

    Eating too much of anything can be bad for you. Granted eating too much fruit would be less harmful then eating too much of other things.

    Fruit is good, but it does have a lot of sugar and if you eat a lot you can actually gain weight eating too much fruit.

    Eating too much fruit can also give your stomach issues due to so much fiber.

    I have to wonder what you think too much fruit is though? Just make sure you are getting enough protein either from meat or nuts if you are vegan. If you go all fruit it can lead to certain deficiencies, but at least you will never get scurvy lol.
  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
    One to two servings a day.

    http://www.precisionnutrition.com/workout-nutrition-infographic
  • chelseababy22
    chelseababy22 Posts: 81 Member
    Too much of ANYTHING is a bad thing
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    Make sure you are getting your Protein, fat and carb goal appropriate for you. If you only ate fruit and nothing else you might start having stomach problems and not sure how you'd get the right amount of protein in your diet.

    Remember fruit has calories too, make sure you measure and weigh accordingly.
  • hellsbells3272
    hellsbells3272 Posts: 128 Member
    I eat lots of fruit too. I used to eat lots of cookies and cakes, and now I eat fruit instead - yeah there is a heap of sugar, but its natural sugar (not added and processed sugar), and the fruit has lots of nutritional value. I limit the high sugar fruits like grapes and bananas, but have plenty of satsumas, blueberries, other berries and melon etc. I have lost 1 1/2 stone so it can't be all bad! I have also adjusted my diet in some other ways such as high protein breakfasts and no eating late at night too.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    It's better than tons of cakes and chocolate, but like above posters said, too much of ANYTHING is bad. Even water. Keep it balanced.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    If you are eating so much fruit that you arent able to meet your macronutrient goals without exceeding your calorie goal, then it is a bad thing.

    Additionally, if they are high acid fruits then you may need to be concerned about longterm dental health.
  • crossfire266
    crossfire266 Posts: 25
    A lot of fruit can be good or bad for you depending on your weight goals. Like any other food out there they contain calories, usually the sweeter it tastes the more carbs it posses aka more calories.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    If it fits into your daily calorie goals, and your main goal is weight loss, eat away.
  • easeintofitness
    easeintofitness Posts: 25
    Watch your ratios on the MyFitnessPal app and keep < 50-60% carbs while still eating a balanced diet (vegetables, bread => all carbs). Eating way too much fruit all the time can affect your insulin regulation. If you are going to be consuming a lot of fruit that day, make sure you are eating some of that fruit with healthy fats and proteins as well (not just a starchy muffin).

    Overall, I commend you for replacing your sweet tooth with fruit! Just watch the carb ratio because that is where you can start going wrong. Also, don't make all of those carbs fruits or you will be depriving yourself of useful vitamins and nutrients found in vegetables.

    Hope this helps?
  • brista128
    brista128 Posts: 17 Member
    If you think about it, our ancestors probably did not have constant access to fruit -- it was seasonable, it varied in quality, and you didn't always get a huge sweet ripe piece. They weren't getting giant perfect bananas shipped in from South America to their grocery store during the winter, you know? So to ME, having fruit less often makes sense and seems healthier than 4-5 servings a day. If the WORST thing you eat is three extra servings of fruit a day, then you're probably doing a lot better than most people, but it's definitely something I personally keep an eye on.

    Maybe you could transition away by replacing some of the sweeter fruits (pineapple, bananas) with fruits that have lower sugar content (like berries), if you decided to cut down.
  • turpenoid
    turpenoid Posts: 73
    Girl, I sympathize with all of this so much. I also go against most suggestions and eat a LOT of fruit. (But that is just me!!!) I find that if I have a few days a week where I really just eat all the fruit that I want, other days I'll have 1 or 2 servings and feel satisfied. I do try to pay attention to my macros via MFP. If my sugar intake is crazy high, I try to figure out what fruits are the strong contributors. You could research "fruit macronutrients" and make a list of foods that seem appealing for what you're wanting your intake to be. I'm definitely still learning, and I'm sure there are other posters on here with much better advice haha.

    Lately, I've been hooked on having a Yasso frozen greek yogurt bar at night for dessert (100 cals + protein). It curbs my craving for sugar the next morning.

    These are just things that have worked for me, and I wish you luck with your adjustments! :smile:
  • BreeJaxon
    BreeJaxon Posts: 128
    It can be it contains a lot of sugar
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  • tamwins
    tamwins Posts: 22
    Thanks for all your input! I agree on the "too much of anything is bad for you" statement. I have been making a conscious effort of keeping track of my carbs, fats, and protein. I noticed that a good chuck of my carbs come from fruit. I think overall, I'm doing alright with my diet as far as college students go. Definitely think I could improve in a lot of ways. I think I do need more protein for sure. I think I could probably start replacing some of fruit snacks (not the artificial gummies, actual fruit) with vegetables instead. With the choice of vegetables or fruit, I'd go with the fruit, but I feel motivated to add more vegetables into my diet. I only have one serving of vegetables a day, when I could easily replace one serving of fruit with another serving of vegetables.

    Don't worry, my whole diet instead just fruit. I'd go crazy! Thanks for all the awesome input. You guys rock!

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