Is fruit good or bad for fat loss?

There's no debate that fruit is good for you with the large amounts of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and enzymes. However, there does seem to be a debate out there about whether
fruit is good or bad for fat loss.

Some people claim that fruit is mostly sugar, so it will spike your blood sugar and insulin levels and prevent fat loss. I disagree.

I do agree that fruit juices and processed canned fruit are NOT good choices and CAN hamper your fat loss. However, whole fresh fruit is an entirely different story.

Yes, fruit is mostly made up of sugar (natural fructose and other sugars). However, whole fresh fruit also contains a good dose of fiber to keep the digestion of those sugars at a moderate pace and control blood sugar. A typical orange, apple, pear, or peach typically contains 3-5 grams of fiber depending on the size.

In addition, the sugars in whole fresh fruit typically have much lower glycemic responses than processed sugars or refined starches in white breads and cereals.

Also, it would be VERY hard for you to eat enough quantities of whole fresh fruit to ingest any significant amount of calories. Consider that those typical sized oranges, apples, pears, and peaches usually average between 60-100 calories each.

You could eat a couple cookies, cakes, or a donut and eat 500 calories without even thinking about it. However, to try to get 500 calories from whole fresh fruit, you'd have to eat 5-8 pieces of medium sized fruit in one sitting... this is pretty hard to do as that's a high volume of food in general for most people.

My point of this is that a couple servings of whole fresh fruit daily (preferrably organic if possible) are not going to ruin your fat loss efforts. In fact, it will usually help due to the fiber and high nutrient density of fruits, so they help to stave off cravings for other sweets.

My top rated fruits: any and all berries... blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, cherries, etc... they generally have some of the highest ratios of fiber to total carbohydrates, and also have the highest quantities of antioxidants.

However, each type of fruit has specific nutrients that others may lack, so don't be afraid to mix up your fruit intake for variety and to keep yourself interested. A couple of my favorites are kiwi, fresh whole pineapple, yellow mangos, and whole pomegranate.