Is Lots Of Fruit Good For You
When talking about fruits and fatty liver, people usually get mixed responses and that can be confusing if you have just been diagnosed with a fatty liver.
Some say that some fruits are better, some are worse. Some say you should eat as many fruits as you want, other say that you shouldn’t eat any because they are high in carbs and sugar is bad for your health.
Too much sugar of any kind could still thwart your weight-loss goals, and lots of fruits pack a ton of it. If you're trying to lose weight, Shapiro recommends having no more than two servings of. Fruit juice is high in sugars and comes without the other benefits you get from eating a piece of fruit. Fruit juice is high in sugars and comes without the other benefits you get from a piece of fruit The juicing process releases sugars from the cells of the fruit, turning them into free sugars – the type we all need to cut down on. Low-calorie and high-fiber fresh fruit is good breakfast food. Plus it offers vitamins A and C and potassium. Pair it with protein for a complete meal.
For somebody who has been diagnosed with a fatty liver and even for those who have been fighting it for a while, this can be pretty discouraging. This is why I have decided to talk about fruits and NAFLD in today’s article.
And most importantly, answer the million dollar questions: What fruits should you eat to help reverse your fatty liver?
Disclaimer: Please note that this article is based on my own experiences, opinions and personal research.
This is not medical advice and you should always talk to a doctor before making a decision. However, I did reverse my fatty liver so you might want to hear what I have to say too.
I’ll start by saying this: there is no fruit that is better than another when it comes to reversing a fatty liver. Although extremely healthy, fruits are not medicine.
While some are said to have better effects on the liver and help it heal faster, you should never think that eating that fruit alone will be the only thing you have to do to reverse your condition.
Fruits should be part of a varied, healthy diet – as that is the foundation stone for reversing your condition. You can read more about my recommended fatty liver diet – the one that I followed to get rid of my NAFLD.
At the same time, in my opinion, there is no fruit that is bad for a fatty liver. This is where many experts tend to disagree: some say that fruits with high sugar content (like bananas, grapes, watermelon and such) should not be eaten, while others say that all fruits are healthy.
I tend to agree with the latter. It is true that if you do have the choice, you should always go for the fruits that offer the least amount of sugars per 100 grams. Without a doubt!
BUT this doesn’t mean that you should totally stay away from bananas, for example. I’ve written a full report on them here since they’re usually the first that you’re told to avoid if you have a fatty liver and you will see that they’re not that bad, actually!
Is Fruit Good Or Bad
Long story short, even though bananas have a relatively high content of carbohydrates (which are indeed bad for a fatty liver, especially if consumed in excess), one medium banana only has 10% of the recommended intake of carbs for an adult, most of which is dietary fiber. And dietary fiber is actually extremely healthy.
In other words, in theory, you could easily eat 10 medium bananas per day (and nothing else) and still be right on spot with the recommended daily intake of carbs.
Of course, I am not saying that you should only eat bananas to reverse your fatty liver. Hopefully nobody will eat 10 bananas per day. We need other minerals and vitamins that these fruits don’t have. A balanced diet is key.
But one or even two per day won’t be too bad at all as long as you are on a healthy, varied diet and you keep track of what you eat and stay within your daily numbers.
I ate one to two bananas every other day as a snack during my fatty liver reversal regime and I had no problems reversing it. I also didn’t stay away from any other type of fruit. All I had in mind was moderation.
All fruits out there can be consumed and considered healthy. It is true that some of them have more sugars than others, but they have what you could call “healthy sugars” (it’s an exaggeration, though so don’t consider them healthy!).
Unlike the refined sugar that our body started to consume very late on our evolution line, fruits have been eaten by humans ever since they appeared on earth.
This means that our body is used to dealing with the fruits and all their carbs better than they are with sugar.
Fruits also have high fiber values and are filled with vitamins, minerals and other goodies for our body and liver. Therefore, you can’t even compare the carbs in fruits with those in cookies, raw sugar or other processed foods because they are assimilated differently.
And this is exactly the reason why you can safely eat fruits each day – with moderation when it comes to the sweetest ones – in order to reverse your fatty liver.
When it comes to my own diet, I have days when I eat a lot of fruits: 2 bananas, 2 apples, some strawberries and blueberries, pears and oranges.
I actually try to eat at least two large fruits per day as part of a varied, healthy diet – and lately I’ve been eating at least 3 per day without problems (or the equivalent: 2 or 3 cups). I consider the vitamins, minerals and fiber they contain extremely helpful overall.
Do have in mind that I am only talking about fresh fruits here (or fresh fruits that were frozen).
Dried fruits are completely different: they have very high carb contents, usually extra sugar added and you should stay away from them or consume with extreme care. They are very sweet and lose most of their fresh counterparts’ benefits.
What fruits are better than others when you have a fatty liver?
While I consider that all fruits are healthy and can be had if you are fighting against NAFLD, it is true that some of them are better choices. These are the fruits that have the lowest amount of carbs per 100 grams.
So, if you have the option to choose, choose these instead of the sweeter fruits out there. Or at least try and mix them with the sweeter ones to keep things under control.
– Avocado (I know it’s not the first thing you think about when we say “fruits,” but they are a fruit so I had to list them, especially since they have a huge amount of healthy fats and pack a very small punch in terms of sugars)
– Lemons (and limes)
– Cranberries
– Raspberries
– Strawberries
– Blackberries
– Guava
– Kiwis
– Apricots
– Rhubarb
You can check out a list of most fruits available to purchase and their sugar contents on Very Well Fit.
The berries are, as you can see, considered the safest bet when it comes to low amounts of sugar and carbs. It’s usually pretty easy to tell simply by tasting the fruits.
I am surprised to see the apricots there though: I thought that they had a lot more sugars than they apparently do. This is great news for somebody who loves eating them (like myself)!
Do fruit juices count as fruits?
Unfortunately, fruit juices do NOT count as fruits as they don’t have all the health benefits eating whole fruits have. Some people go as far as saying that they are as unhealthy as store bought juices and pops, although I wouldn’t go that far.
But the truth is that most of the beneficial stuff you get when eating fruits disappears when you juice them.
The pulp – the place where all the fiber is stored – is no longer part of the equation and instead you get a delicious liquid full of sugar that is not healthy.
If you really want some sort of variety, go for smoothies instead: as long as the pulp of the fruit remains there, it’s all safe and healthy, as if you were eating the fruits themselves.
Is Fruit Good For Your Teeth
Bottom line about this: juices are not safe, smoothies are still good, as long as you kep all the pulp of the fruit.
Conclusion
I would say that, in my opinion, things are pretty simple when it comes to fruits and fatty liver. You can eat any fruit without having to worry too much about it.
Keep the quantities under control though as part of a healthy, varied diet and don’t eat pounds of fruits per day considering them healthy. Anything in excess is bad for you!
But for regular daily consumption, you can choose your favorite fruit and enjoy it.
If it’s one of the sweetest fruits out there, don’t overdo it – but even with bananas, most people should be perfectly fine with eating one per day as part of a healthy diet.
You can also use – like I started to use recently – a calories and nutritional value counting app.
I am using the popular MyFitnessPal (which is available on iOS and Android) which is perfect for helping you keep track of all the numbers: not just calories, but also fats and carbs and even vitamins and minerals although here they sometime lack data.
Originally published in February 2016; updated September 2020.
While February is American Heart Month and is dedicated to celebrating heart health, we feel that taking care of your heart should always be front of mind!
Feeding your body with the proper nutrients will keep you fueled and feeling good. As fruit experts, we often get asked questions about the health benefits of fruits, so we rounded up a few we thought you might like. Read on to learn more about fruits, specifically apples and pears, are heart-healthy foods.
- Which fruit is best for your heart? According to a study conducted by Harvard Medical School, the more fruits and veggies you can incorporate into your diet, the better. Some of the top fruit contenders include apples, pears, oranges, and other citrus fruits.
- Do apples clear arteries? Apples can certainly help keep your arteries clear due to the amount of fiber they contain. Both apples and pears are high in fiber. A medium apple with the skin has 4 grams of fiber, and a medium pear has 5. Researchers from Harvard University found that for every 10 grams of fiber you eat, your risk for coronary heart disease drops by 14 percent—and fruit fiber was found to be especially protective.
- What are the health benefits of pears? Pears are a great healthy snack option! They are full of fiber, a good source of vitamin C, sodium-, cholesterol-, and fat-free and contain 190 mg of potassium! And that’s not everything! Check out the full study conduct by USA Pears that share the potential health benefits of pear consumption.
- Are some pears or apples healthier than others? This is a question we often receive, and the good news is: no! All apples and pears are created equal when it comes to health and nutritional benefits.
Besides these FAQs, we also got some help from our friend Sally of Real Mom Nutrition, who has rounded up all of the latest health research that favors our two beloved Stemilt fruits and how they may improve heart health.
- These fruits are low in calories: A medium pear and a medium apple have roughly 100 calories each, making them both low-cal choices for snacking. A diet rich in low-calorie, high-nutrient foods can help you keep your calories in balance and your weight from creeping up—and that will help keep your heart healthy.
- Apples & pears crowd out unhealthy snacks: When you’re snacking on fruit like pears and apples, it means you’re not reaching for chips and other high-calorie, low-nutrient munchies. Bonus: Fruit is also stellar at satisfying a sweet tooth!
- They’re rich in antioxidants: A study at The Ohio State University found that eating an apple every day for four weeks lowered levels of a kind of “bad” cholesterol that triggers hardening of the arteries. Researchers say the kind of antioxidants in apples—called polyphenols–may be the reason why.
- They contain vitamin C: Both apples and pears contain vitamin C, which does more than bolster the immune system. In one study, people with high blood concentrations of vitamin C (a sign for high fruit and veggie intake) had lower BMIs, lower blood pressure, and lower levels of c-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), all of which are linked to a lower risk for heart disease.
- Apples and pears are free of saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol: Pears and apples are naturally heart-healthy not only because of what they do contain, but also because of what they don’t—namely saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol, which may all be harmful to heart health in large amounts.
- They fill you up: Pears and apples are both rich in two things that fill your belly and keep you fuller longer: fluid and fiber. These fruits are particularly rich in soluble fiber, which slow digestion—which may help you avoid overeating (and gaining weight!).
- They pack potassium: This mineral is like kryptonite to sodium’s effects and may help keep blood pressure at a healthy level. That’s why potassium is a cornerstone of the DASH diet, a diet plan that emphasizes lots of fruits and vegetables and that’s been proven by research to help lower blood pressure.
- They’re full of flavonoids: Flavonoids are plant chemicals that that can help safeguard health. In a study of nearly 200,000 men and women, regularly eating apples and pears—both rich in a kind of flavonoid called anthocyanins–was associated with a lower risk for type 2 diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease.
- They’re key to a heart-healthy diet: Fruits like apples and pears are mainstays of a heart-healthy plan. The American Heart Association actually recommends getting 4-5 servings of fruit a day, and each medium Stemilt apple or pear counts as one of those servings.
Feeling motivated? Check out some of these heart-friendly recipe options:
Read more about the research studies mentioned in this post, here: