The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 recommends eating 2 cups of fruits every day, based on a 2,000-calorie diet. The fruit food group contains whole fruits and 100% fruit juice. Some examples that fulfill the daily fruit recommendations is one small banana or one large orange or ¼ cup of dried peaches/apricots. It varies from person to person so an individual may need to eat more or less, depending on your calorie level. Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet may reduce your risk for:
- stroke and other cardiovascular diseases.
- coronary heart disease.
- type 2 diabetes.
- certain cancers, such as mouth, stomach, and colon-rectum.
- kidney stones.
- bone loss.
Foods in the Fruit Group
Fruits are represented by the red band on MyPlate, USDA’s food guideline introduced in 2011, which serves as a reminder to strive for a healthy diet daily. One’s daily fruit need can be obtained with fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits. Fruit juices do not provide as much dietary fiber and, when consumed in excess, can contribute to extra calories. Therefore, it is recommended half of the recommended intake should come from some source of whole fruit.
Commonly eaten fruits include: apples, apricots, avocado, bananas, berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries), grapefruit, grapes, kiwi fruit, lemons, limes, mangoes, melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), fruit cocktail, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, papaya, pineapple, plums, prunes, raisins, and tangerines.
Nutrients in Fruits
Most fruits are rich in dietary fiber and nutrients while being cholesterol-free, low in fats, sodium and total calories.
Fruits Contain Several Nutrients:
Potassium —may help to maintain healthy blood pressure.
Dietary fiber —helps reduce blood cholesterol levels, may lower risk of heart disease, proper bowel function (helps reduce constipation and diverticulosis), and helps provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
Vitamin C —Immportant in growth and repair of all body tissue. Specifically, it helps heal cuts and wounds, keeps teeth and gums healthy, and aids in iron absorption.
Folate (folic acid) —helps to form red blood cells, and is important duringpregnancy to reduce a woman’s risk of having a baby with a spinal cord, anencephaly, or neural tube defects.
Phytochemicals —help protect against diseases, serve as antioxidants, detoxifiers, immune boosters and anti-inflammatories. Inflammation plays a major role in heart attacks, some cancers, allergies, Alzheimer’s, and autoimmune diseases.
Fruit Sources of Each Nutrient:
Potassium —bananas, prunes and prune juice, dried peaches and apricots, pomegranates, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, grapefruits, oranges/orange juice.
Dietary fiber —whole or cut-up fruits, with skin. Fruit juices contain little or no fiber.
Vitamin C —pomegranates, guava, kiwi, oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, papaya, pineapple and mangoes.
Folate (folic acid) —oranges and avocados.
Phytochemicals —two common ones are anthocyanins (in blueberries, cherries, blackberries, and raspberries) and quercitin (in apples). Deeply colored fruits and vegetables contain the most vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. This includes all purple, deep red, bright orange, bright yellow, and dark green plant foods. Enjoy some of every color daily.
How Much is Needed
Most people should eat about 2 cups per day. The exact amount you need depends on your age, sex, and level of physical activity. The following amounts are appropriate for people who get less than 30 minutes per day of moderate physical activity, beyond normal daily activities. If you are more physically active, you may be able to eat more while staying within your calorie needs.
Daily Fruit Needs
What Counts as a Cup
1 cup = 1 cup fruit
1 cup= 1 cup 100% fruit juice
1 cup= ½ cup dried fruit
1 cup= 1 medium-sized piece of fruit
Other amounts that count as 1 cup of fruit:
Banana: 1 cup, sliced or 1 large (8″ to 9″ long)
Cantaloupe: ¼ of a medium melon
Grapes: 32 seedless grapes
Peach: 1 large (2¾” diameter) or 2 halves (canned)
Plums: 3 medium or 2 large plums
Raisins: 2 small boxes (1.5 oz. each)
Strawberries: about 8 large berries
Watermelon: 1 small wedge (1″ thick)
Easy Ways to Get Your Fruits
- Keep a bowl of fresh, whole fruit on the counter, the table, or in the refrigerator.
- Breakfast cereal is delicious topped with bananas, peaches, or berries. Top waffles and pancakes with fruit, also. Another tasty breakfast choice is fresh fruit mixed with low-fat or fat-free yogurt. Add chopped or mashed fruits to muffins, quick bread, and other baked goods. At lunch, choose fruits from a salad bar. If you take your own lunch to work, include a fruit every day—a small container of applesauce, a banana, orange or grapes.
- Serve fresh fruit salads often. To keep the apples, bananas, and pears from turning brown, add acidic fruits like pineapple, oranges, or lemon juice.
- As an alternative to a fruit salad, serve fruit kabobs. Pineapple and peaches make delicious kabobs with a barbecue meal.
- Want a healthy snack in seconds? Keep a supply of dried, frozen, and canned fruit, as well as pre-cut packages of fruit pieces such as pineapple and melon chunks.
- Since dried fruit carries and stores well, it is an excellent snack choice to tuck in a purse or backpack. Remember that ¼ cup dried fruit equals ½ cup fresh fruit.
- Enjoy 100% fruit juice as a snack drink.
- Experiment with new combinations for dinner. Try tossing mandarin oranges, grapes, or dried cherries in your salad, or add crushed pineapple to coleslaw.
- Vary the texture of the fruits you eat to make meals and snacks more interesting—juicy oranges, crunchy apples, and smooth, creamy bananas.
- Enjoy baked apples, pears, or a fruit salad for dessert instead of cake, pie or cookies.
All Fruit Drinks are not Equal
Only 100% real fruit juice has all the vitamins and minerals found naturally in fruit juice. Other fruit drinks have less real juice and more added sugar and water.
How Much Orange Juice is in Your Glass
Drink | % Real juice |
Orange juice | 100% |
Orange juice drink | 50% |
Orange drink (such as Hi-C® and Hawaiian Punch®) | 10% |
Imitation orange juice Orange soda Imitation orange drink (such as Tang®) Powdered fruit ade mixes (such as Kool-Aid®) |
0% |
Always read labels and check the list of ingredients. Remember that the ingredients listed first occur in the greatest amount. |
Fruit Tips for Children
- You are the role model for your children. Set a good example by eating fruit every day with meals or as snacks.
- On their bowl of cereal, make a smiley face with sliced bananas for eyes, raisins for a nose, and an orange slice for a mouth. Or, sprinkle some berries on top.
- Children enjoy helping in the kitchen. Depending on their age, kids can help shop for, clean, peel, or cut up fruits.
- At the grocery store let children pick out a new fruit to try later at home. Provide cut-up fruits for snacks and desserts.
- Spread peanut butter on apple slices, or sprinkle frozen yogurt with berries for a nutritious snack.
- Let children dip fruits like strawberries and melons into low-fat pudding or yogurt.
- Cut a banana into chunks and freeze for a snack or dessert.
- Make frozen treats by freezing 100% fruit juice in an ice cube tray or small paper cups. Just before the juice hardens, wooden sticks may be inserted. Children enjoy frozen fruit cubes or “fruitsicles.”
- Make your child a fruit smoothie by blending fresh or frozen fruit with fat-free or low-fat milk or yogurt.
- Decorate children’s plates with fruit slices.
- Pack a juice box (100% juice) in their lunch box, not a sugar-sweetened drink or soda.
- At fast food restaurants choose fruit options, such as sliced apples, mixed fruit cup, or 100% fruit juice.
- Instead of candy, offer raisins and other dried fruits, as well as fruit pieces and 100% fruit juice. Chewy fruit snacks and “fruit-flavored” beverages contain very little fruit.
- Make fruit kabobs using pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes, and berries.
Nutrition Tidbits
- Fruits differ in nutrient content, so vary your fruit choices every day.
- Choose canned fruit that is packed in 100% fruit juice or water rather than syrup.
- Make gelatin by substituting 100% fruit juice for the cold water.
- Choose 100% fruit juice rather than fruit drinks that have sugar added and contain very little fruit juice.
- Some fruit juices, such as grape and apple, have little natural vitamin content. Check labels for brands that have been “enriched with vitamin C.”
- Frozen juice bars (100% juice) are healthy alternatives to high-fat snacks.
- For a morning business meeting, replace the donuts with cut-up fresh fruit and a yogurt dip, or offer a variety of fresh whole fruits.
- Check out the restaurants close to work and choose those that offer a good variety of fruits and vegetables on their menu.
- On a long commute, pack fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables, string cheese sticks, or a handful of unsalted nuts so that you won’t be tempted to eat a quick, less healthy snack.
- Select fruits with more potassium often—bananas, prunes and prune juice, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, dried peaches and apricots, orange and pomegranate juice.
- Applesauce is a fat-free substitute for some of the oil when baking a cake.
How to Ripen Fruits
These fruits continue to ripen at room temperature after they are picked: apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, kiwi, mangoes, nectarines, peaches, pears, and plums. For faster ripening, put them in a loosely closed brown paper bag or a ripening bowl at room temperature. Ripening bowls are sold at many stores that sell home kitchen supplies. (Note: Plastic bags do not work.) Some fruits will not ripen further once they are picked. Buy or pick the following fruits fully ripened and ready-to-eat: apples, cherries, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, strawberries, tangerines and watermelon. Once fully ripened, fruits may be stored in the refrigerator to lengthen storage time. Refrigerated bananas will turn dark brown on the outside, but the inside will remain light-colored.
Fresh-Cut Produce News
USDA researchers have developed techniques to prolong the shelf life of already-cut fruits available in grocery stores. Storing your cut fruit in cool water and replacing it every couple of days is one tip. Another is adding lemon juice or another additive to increase the acidity of the fruit also increases shelf life. Storing your cut fruits in an airtight container with a paper towel helps as the paper towel takes away the moisture, diverting it from the fruit. Freezing them and cooking them are also techniques proven effective.
Originally published 09/05