Summer is Here! Incorporating Fruits Into Your Healthy Diet

Most of us are aware that fruit is part of a healthy diet, and now a recently published study adds more evidence that fruits are truly beneficial.

By Susan B. Sloane, BS, RPh, CDE

During summertime, it’s easy to find a variety of fresh fruits that satisfy our cravings. Not only are these foods tasty and appetizing, they can help constitute a healthy and well-rounded diet.

A new study, titled The EPIC Heart study, followed over 300,000 participants for an average of 8.5 years, measuring their fruit and vegetable consumption while monitoring various health parameters.

The results were quite impressive: Participants who consumed eight or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day were 22 percent less likely to die of heart disease than those who ate three or fewer servings.

This by no means signifies you need to eat eight servings of fruit, but the benefit of fresh fruit cannot be ignored.^[1]

When incorporating fruits into your meal plan, the challenge is finding fruits that have the right amount of carbohydrate and, of course, taste, that fit into what I like to call your total meal plan “budget.”

Most of the calories in fruit come from the sugar or carbohydrate content. Remember that a serving of fruit can be fruit juice as well. I like to advise patients to eat the fruit rather than drink it because that will generally give you more fiber, thus making you feel fuller.

Keep in mind that not all fruits are created equal. Certain fruits should be avoided if you have medical conditions such as kidney disease or diverticulitis. Some fruits have high-fat content and should be eaten more sparingly than others. One single avocado, for example, has about 12 grams of carbohydrate and 20 grams of fat. Coconut is also quite high in fat, with one cup of shredded coconut yielding 25 grams of fat and 285 calories.

Some fruits are also higher in sugar. Bananas, for example, have a lot of carbohydrate content compared to some other fruits such as apples. The carbohydrate content in fruit comes from glucose and fructose. The fructose in fruit is not the same as high-fructose corn syrup.

Some fruits tend to raise blood sugars quickly, causing “spikes,” which is why I recommend eating the whole fruit rather than drinking the juice and eating the fruit with other foods such as whole grains or nuts to blunt the glycemic effect. I like adding fruits to salads, for example, which may also allow you to cut down on the salad dressing.

A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in April 2013 found that consumption of blueberries and apples reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.^[2] This may be because these two fruits are rich in flavonoids called anthocyanins which may have antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory properties.

Remember that mixing foods of different types makes the taste more interesting and healthy. It is great during this season to pile healthy foods onto great salads. Dried fruit can be a danger because of the concentrated sugar content, which can cause fast spikes in blood glucose.

Experiment and share your recipes with us, as we are all on this journey together. And keep in mind that a registered dietician is one person you should try to meet with on a regular basis.