Fruit for weight loss: how much fruit should you be eating to lose weight?
When you think of weight loss, no doubt your mind immediately flashes to eating a whole lot of fruits and veggies instead of carbs and fats. You think that cutting back on grains is the key to weight loss. Fruits and veggies are all natural, so they should help you lose weight, right?
Slow your roll! Fruits and veggies are not created equal, and they’re not going to have the same effect on your weight loss. If you’re trying to eat vegetables and fruit for weight loss, you need to understand the difference between the two…
Veggies for Weight Loss
When it comes to a weight loss diet, nothing beats vegetables. Veggies are low in calories, rich in nutrients, and high in fiber. Fiber is very filling, so you can pack your stomach with veggies and feel full far more easily. If you are trying to lose weight, you should eat as much veggies as you possibly can. There really is no such thing as “too much” vegetables in a healthy diet!
Fruit for Weight Loss
Fruits, on the other hand, are a bit trickier. They may be loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fiber, but they’re also rich in the enemy of weight loss: sugar.
All fruits contain sugar, which is why they taste so sweet and delicious. Yes, the sugar may be all natural, but it’s still fairly high in calories and it will be turned to fat just like refined sugar would be. The average fruit has a whole lot more calories than your average vegetable. For example, a stick of celery has almost no calories, while a single apple can have up to 100 calories. It’s all thanks to the sugar.
READ MORE: Mushrooms for Weight Loss
Which is why eating fruit for weight loss isn’t always the way to go. If you eat three or four pieces of fruit in a day, that’s 300 to 400 calories you’re eating. While the fruit is filling, it’s giving your body more sugar, which means more glucose being turned into fat. If you are already eating whole grains and other sources of glucose, adding fruit into the mix can just cause weight gain rather than weight loss.
That’s not to say that eating fruit is a bad idea if you’re trying to lose weight. On the contrary, fruit will be ideal to help you avoid snacking and cheating on your diet, as the sugar in the fruit will cater to your sweet tooth. But, if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to limit yourself to a piece or two of fruit per day.
The best fruits to eat for weight loss are:
- Watermelon. This fruit is both low in calories and rich in water and fiber, making it a highly filling fruit that will do wonders for your waistline. As a bonus, it’s loaded with lycopene, which is great for preventing prostate cancer.
- Guavas. High in fiber, low in calories, this is a powerful weight loss fruit that you should add to your diet.
- Apples. Yet another great fruit for weight loss, apples can help to suppress your appetite. Some of them can be fairly high in calories, but it’s worth it!
- Pears. Similar to apples, they’ll do wonders to stop you from being hungry, but they’re loaded with healthy digestive fiber.
- Bananas. Loaded with potassium, bananas are highly effective at suppressing your appetite and helping you to feel full with less food.
- Citrus fruits. Lemons, oranges, and limes are all great sources of Vitamin C, and they can be fairly low in calories.
Add these fruits to your diet in moderation, and you may see some pretty epic weight loss results!
