Though we generally tend to believe all fruits and fruit products are healthful, some should be approached with caution. Though most nutrition experts do not like to categorize foods (or fruits in particular) into “good” and “bad” category, a general agreement suggests there are fruits that should be implemented into a daily diet more than others.
Bite into These Best Fruits to Eat
1. Apples
When it comes to eating apples, eat the whole product. The totality of an apple contains both insoluble fiber (promoted for digestive health) and soluble fiber (encouraged for lowering cholesterol). The fiber content and antioxidant properties apples contain ultimately creates a powerful combination to lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
2. Bananas
Though individuals may scurry away from bananas relative to their sugar content, bananas are quite beneficial when it comes to easing digestion and offering high amounts of potassium. Being naturally low in sodium and high in potassium, bananas can foster healthy blood pressure levels.
3. Blueberries
These small berries are nothing less than mighty! Blueberries contain some of the most powerful antioxidants within the food supply. Antioxidants keep cells healthy, thus minimizing chronic disease and maximizing longevity. Eat blueberries on their own or sprinkle into oats or yogurt!
4. Grapes
Specifically, red and purple grapes, as they contain higher amounts of resveratrol much like red wine. Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that fights against cellular damage and may reduce the risk of heart disease.
5. Lemons
Though simply biting into a lemon on its own is up to an individual’s own discretion, incorporating this fruit into the daily diet can be quite beneficial. The freshness of squeeze lemon naturally flavors food products while igniting a sense of energy, limiting the need for sugary, caffeinated “pick-me-ups!”
6. Olives
Though treated mostly as a vegetable, olives are technically a fruit! Olives bring much more than natural sugars to the table, as they are recommended for their healthy fat contribution as well as iron content. Healthy fats are shown to be heart-protective while iron oxygenates blood, dynamically constructing a h3 cardiovascular system.
7. Oranges
Just one orange serving drives home a whole day’s worth of vitamin C! Also offering potassium, oranges are a refreshing, low-calorie fruit to eat in your daily meal intake!
8. Pears
Commonly hidden behind apples, pears should take the spotlight, too! They are also high in fiber while offering potassium and vitamin C. When it comes to the best pears for eating, consume ones found in fresh produce bins rather than the ones found in the aisles. Canned pears are likely to be absent of their fiber-filled skin while soaking in syrups and added sugars
9. Tomatoes
Tomatoes are low in calorie but packed with nutrients. They are most noted for their high lycopene content, a pigment responsible for tomato’s red color and may reduce blood pressure. When choosing tomato products such as ketchup and pasta sauce, be leery of added sugar and salt.
It is important to understand all fruits fit into a well-balanced diet! But even more importantly, consume the whole product rather than fruit juices and concentrates. These fruit products generally offer nothing more than sugar, as they are often stripped out of fiber and nutrients. Two to three servings of fruit each day is commonly recommended!
In many ways, asking which fruit is healthiest is sort of like asking which exercise is best: the answer changes based on the benefit you’re after.
"Depending on what characteristics a person is looking for in a fruit—whether it is a higher fiber content, more vitamins like vitamin C, or more minerals like potassium—one fruit might be nutritionally superior to another,” says Lisa McAnulty, PhD, a professor of nutrition at Appalachian State University.
But even this idea of nutritional "superiority" is kind of silly when we're talking about fruit. All fruit is good for you. All fruit is rich in nutrients. All fruit is loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants and a good source of stomach-filling fiber. All fruit is superior.
If anyone has ever told you not to eat fruit for any reason (fruit is high in sugar, fruit is high in calories, blah blah blah), know that they are flat-out, totally and completely wrong.
No legitimate registered dietitian we have ever talked to at Men's Health has ever, under any circumstance, recommended that you stop eating fruit.
In fact, you're probably not eating enough fruit. Only 12 percent of adult me are eating the recommended goals of at least 2 cups of fruit and 3½ cups of vegetables each day, according to the CDC.
Which means that any fruit that you may eat—apple, orange, banana, blueberries, pears, mango, dragonfruit, whatever—you should probably just eat the dang thing.
But, if you want to go deeper on the health benefits of specific fruits, so be it.
Here we go.
What are the healthiest fruits to eat?
Well, if you skipped over the intro, it's important. So go back and read it.
(Pause for reader to follow instruction.)
Welcome back.
According to USDA nutrition estimates, these are the healthiest fresh fruit sources for different vitamins and nutrients.
- Fiber: Raspberries, 8 g per cup
- Protein: Passionfruit, 5 g per cup
- Calcium: Dates, 96 mg per cup
- Iron: Persimmons, 3.75 mg per cup
- Magnesium: Dates, 81 mg per cup
- Potassium: Guava, 688 mg per cup
- Zinc: Blackberries, 0.76 mg per cup
- Vitamin C: Guava, 377 mg per cup
- Folate: Guava, 81 mg per cup
- Choline: Clementines, 21 mg per cup
Again, these are nutrient-specific rankings and ultimately kind of useless, but there you go.
The bottom line: Eat fruit, and a wide variety of it, to reap all the many benefits.
Is the sugar in fruit bad for you?
Despite what you might have heard, there isn’t a big difference among whole fruits when it comes to their effect on your blood sugar levels.
Fruits that are high in sugar also tend to contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, which slows the absorption of these fruit sugars and so prevents big blood-sugar spikes, says Robert Lustig, M.D., professor emeritus of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco and author of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease. "So even if you’re taking in a lot of sugar with some fruits, you’re not absorbing that sugar," he adds.
Also worth noting: blending fruit (like in a smoothie blender) breaks down its insoluble fiber, and so allows your body to absorb a lot more fruit sugar in a short period of time. "The blades of the smoothie machine shear long strands of insoluble fiber to smithereens," Lustig says.
While you’ll still get all the fruit’s vitamins and nutrients, you need to be careful about overdoing it with smoothies, he says.
Which single fruit is the best to add to your diet?
All of them.
But assuming you’re sticking to whole fruits, and you’re wondering which kind is the absolute best to add to your diet, there is one type that should top your shopping list: berries.
"Berries of all kinds—including blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, goji berries, cranberries, black currants, and bilberries—are an excellent type of fruit to consume because they are low in fat and calories and are a good source of fiber and several key vitamins and minerals," McAnulty says.
Berries are also packed with a variety of healthy plant chemicals called polyphenols, she says. These include anthocyanins and anthocyanidins, which research has linked to improved heart and brain health, reduced cancer risks, improved insulin sensitivity, and better blood pressure scores. More evidence has tied the antioxidant bioactive compounds in berries to lower levels of inflammation and other health benefits.
Raspberries in particular may be king of the hill when it comes to good-for-you fruits. Along with all the healthy berry attributes mentioned above, raspberries contain more fiber than sugar, per USDA estimates. That’s a very good thing. Research has consistently linked dietary fiber to lower rates of disease and death, but most Americans aren’t getting nearly enough of it. (The Institute of Medicine advises adult men to eat 30 to 38 grams of fiber a day, but the average man eats half that much.) That makes raspberries an especially healthy addition to your diet.
To get your fill of these and other berries, McAnulty says fresh-picked are best because fruit tends to lose some of its healthy nutrients the longer it sits around in shipping containers or store shelves. “Another good option would be to consume frozen berries because, generally, the berries have been harvested and then immediately frozen, maximizing retention of their nutrients,” she adds.
Finally, keep in mind that eating a variety of fruits is optimal. “Since different fruits possess different phytochemicals with the ability to exert a wide variety of beneficial health effects, it would be unwise to consume only one type of fruit,” McAnulty says, adding that a healthy diet should include about two cups a day of assorted fruits.
Markham Heid is an experienced health reporter and writer, has contributed to outlets like TIME, Men’s Health, and Everyday Health, and has received reporting awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. Press Association.
Paul is the Food & Nutrition Editor of Men’s Health. He’s also the author of two cookbooks: Guy Gourmet and A Man, A Pan, A Plan.