I eat a lot too. Vegetables too. But mainly fruits and “fruit vegetables” (tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, etc.). Some nuts and seeds, plus some sour dough bread, beans and rice. That’s 95% of my diet… ! 
The thing about studies like this is that you have to 1. look at the population group used in the study, and 2. look at who paid for the study. Everyone’s metabolism is just not the same.
I agree with @fruitnut in that moderation is the best rule. The most impressive piece of info I picked up at a nutrition conference was that longevity inversely correlates with caloric intake. Moderation is a very simple rule. 
No diet is complete without vigorous daily exercise. Just as Alan said,
calories in and calories out. I’m also a firm believer in eating plain yogurt.
It’s essential in maintaining a balanced digestive system.
vigorous daily exercise is easier said than done. I just walk to my commuter van meeting place and back, plus soccer once a week. After I will retire it will be different, but right now is all day in front of a computer.
I agree about the longevity calorie connection. It is very well established.I believe that traditional cuisines have a lot of wisdom in them, and moderation is part of that. I agree about checking the quality of the studies, which I did. The idea that no one should have more than one fruit per day doesn’t work with moderation, traditional cuisine, or the studies.
John
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but it works with evolutionary history, and it works also in the tradition of some very long lived groups (3 of the 5 described in the Blue Zone book). At some point in our evolution we were eating lots of fruits during parts of the year. Moderation is probably less or of order 100 grams of sugar a day, which is a lot more than one apple. What are you going to replace fruits with? Wheat? Dairy? Vegetable oils?
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These were not studies paid by corporations to pull out a specific result, obviously. They were simple studies showing how the metabolism reacts to fructose bound in cellulose and likely applies to all human beings in my not very well educated opinion. That is the sugar spiking aspect I’m talking about.
I would agree that large quantities of fruit in ones diet could have different effects on different people in other ways (such as helping some people to lose weight while having the opposite effect on a minority of study participants). Epidemiological studies simply provide statistical analysis that suggest outcomes but don’t prove them, especially, as you suggest,that they are consistent with every individual in the population studied.
I eat huge quantities of fruit when the orchards I’m tending have fruit to pick, which is about a quarter of the year here. I don’t notice any difference in how my body functions from the addition of all this fruit. It doesn’t even effect the number of “trips to the bathroom”.
All I know is that it is a lot more fun when all my orchards are loaded with fantastic fruit and this is not a very fun season.
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I believe we agree on most things, Alan. The people I work with generally know if fruit, or too much of it, is a problem for them. So it is individual. Glad you can enjoy it without ill consequence.
Being a scientist, and finding out about data manipulation in scientific journals was a shock to me, and finding out how common place it is, was a real kick in the gut. But it is widely reported nowadays, like here, and here, and here, for example. My intent is not to bash but to make people aware that science is for sale. Perhaps it is worse in some fields than others. Here is one quote that sums it up.
“All journals are bought—or at least cleverly used—by the pharmaceutical industry,” says Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal, who now sits on the board of Public Library of Science (PLoS), a nonprofit open-access group publishing scientific journals that eschew corporate financing and are freely available online to the public.
I agree. We need to be wary. This doctor/scientist accepts no ads on his site.
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I somehow don’t think we have to worry all that much about the fruit growing industry gaming research to trick Americans into eating more fruit. As far as this link, I believe the man is basing his comments on the research already posted here.
Whatever one may say about the state of scientific research in this country and the world, the net effect is simply amazingly positive. There will never be an ideal world and money and power will always have their due. I’m glad I wasn’t raised with false expectations about the world or the infallibility of adults.
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There’s an irony in this, no?
I missed it I guess.
I wanted to add my two cents to this old post. I, too, eat a lot of fruit and my doctor expressed concern for all the sugar…So she had me tested for hemoglobin A1c and a lipid panel among other tests. My hemoglobin A1c was 5.1% and triglycerides were 68…Actually every test was perfect and my blood pressure is 115/67 and BMI of 21.6 (it never changes). My point is…I hardly think that eating natural fruit is an evil. But I am firmly convinced that eating processed foods are really bad for good health.
Fruits are the ONE FOOD that nature designed to be eaten. And it is critical to the survival of the fruit tree species to not only have it’s fruit seeds dispersed, but also keep the animal healthy that is spreading those seeds.
I was pleased to see so many posts that show such an enlightened bunch of forum bloggers…Maybe fruit is the real brain food!
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In my case dropping from 6 apples to one apple a day I got from 5.7% to 5.2%. But there were other moving parts, that is i quit eating rice and substituted it with potatoes, squash and beans, and I am also eating way more fermented foods (and fat). The TG/HDL ratio went from 5 (bad!) to 2( good). As I say many moving parts, fermented foods definitely lower the glycemic index of the whole meal, but apples do have the highest fraction of fructose of all fruits.
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Glib-
My brother radically changed his diet (he was getting pretty big/started having back issues) a few years ago, started walking a lot…lost probably 50/60lbs…every time i see him its weird because i almost don’t recognize him. One thing he does eat is apples like a horse. Not sure if he still does, but i swear he was eating 10 a day or something crazy like that.
I tend to eat mainly dark fleshed fruits because of the higher anthocyanins. I avoid fruit juices.
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apples are still much better than processed foods with sugar obviously. I was already not eating those.
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A couple of things. Almost every nutrition doctor I’ve heard said that one of the reasons that people in Europe are healthier than us is that instead of fruit flavored pop tarts, they eat apples, or pears, or some kind of actual fruit. A lot more than we do.
Also, Mercola did a test on himself a few years back. He uses those strips to test his blood sugar. He ate some fruit, I think mulberries, at different times of day. When he ate them before he did his 45 minute walk, they had absolutely no effect on blood sugar. I will often eat fruit, but it’s usually while I’m still moving, like out in the garden, skateboarding, playing baseball, riding bike, etc.
John S
PDX OR
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Hi there! I don’t mean to be rude, but do you have any idea what 30 pounds of fruit is??! Perhaps you are just giving the average person the benefit of the doubt, but it’s extremely unlikely the average American eats even 5 pounds of fruit per week! For reference, 15 pounds of fruit would be 20 bananas (5lbs), 18 medium sized apples (approx 5lbs), and 12 oranges (approx 5lbs). All in one week!!!
To have 30 pounds you would need 40 bananas (approx 10lbs), 36 apples (approx 10lbs), and 24 oranges (approx 10lbs). This is insane! This amount of fruit would be 9,500 calories or almost 5 days or normal calorie consumption in fruit alone!!
Maybe you eat this amount of fruit, but I consider myself to be someone who eats an above average amount of fruit per week and I hover around 8-11 pounds.
In conclusion I love your enthusiasm about fruit and the influence you are having to get people to eat more, but this is a shockingly ridiculous standard to set for an average person:joy:
Nice that you did the math Hoders.
I must agree that it seems like a lot.
But i am usualy amazed when i see how little fruit my friends eat. But that also has to do with the “way” you consume your fruit. If your only used to eating fruit pure out of your hand. You have to try a bit to consume 10 pounds a week.
However if you trow 3-4 pears and a few handfuls of frozen raspberry’s or strawberry’s in the blender, and drink that wonderfull smoothie. You’f already consumed 2 pounds. Do that daylie and eat an apple or banane during your lunch brake. And you are at 15 pounds+ a week.
I would aim for a pound a day minimum (7 pounds a week) and ideally more.
It is usualy hard to find good tasty, especialy ripe fruit. And quite expensive. Fruit in most countries is way less subsidesed than other food catogory’s (like meats and cereals/corn)
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