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Fruit and Your Health: Yay or Nay to an Apple a Day?
Should you worry about the sugars in fruit?
Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Once commonly accepted as a health boon, fruit is now seen by many people as something to limit, due to its high sugar content.
It’s true that fruits contain a lot of sugar. A medium apple, for example, contains about 20 grams of sugar, of which about half is fructose, the much maligned simple sugar. It’s also true that, in terms of macronutrients, fruits are basically pure carbs — they typically contain very little fat or protein (with notable exceptions, like avocados).
However, it is NOT true that we should be avoiding fruits for fear of negative health impacts.
What does the science say?
Eating more fruit is consistently linked with a lower risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers (see studies in appendix). This is the opposite of what you would expect if fruits were harmful.
While many of the studies behind these links are come from epidemiological studies, which can’t prove causation, and must be interpreted with caution, the scientific body of evidence has several confidence-inspiring features:
