What is the Best Fruit for Weight Loss

What is the best fruit to eat for weight loss? That depends on the way you look at weight loss. But for just the lowest calories, it appears lemons is the big winner. But there's more to losing weight than that.

Here's a sheet I put together listing all the most popular fresh fruit you'd find in most grocery stores, along with their calories and basic nutritional content.

This data comes from the USDA Nutrient Database...


Click on chart for larger size

• The numbers in this graph represent a 100 gram serving, which is about 3.5oz. Obviously, you're not going to measure out 3.5oz when eating an orange, but rather eat a whole orange. But I did this to create an equal comparison.


• The Sugars column is important because to lose weight, you want your body to burn fat. As sugar enters your bloodstream, your body stops burning fat, and tries to burn off the sugar. The more sugar you consume, the less fat you burn. So look for fruit with low sugar, not just lowest calories.


• The Fat column is largely unimportant, but I put in there to show you how high in fat avocados are. Even though they are very nutritious, your goal is to lose fat, not gain more fat.


• I added the Protein, Magnesium, and Potassium columns because I believe these three are the most important towards preventing muscle loss. Pick fruit with the highest values in these columns.

So here are my picks for the best fruit to lose weight...

1. Cantaloupe - Not the lowest in calories, and not the lowest in sugars, but yet it's still in the lower echelon of these columns, but still in the higher echelon of potassium. If you can have one whole medium sized cantaloupe for lunch, you'd consume only 188 calories, and gain 43gm of sugar (equivalent to half a pint of frozen yogurt). Moreover, you'd consume 40% of your daily requirement of potassium (for women), and about 15% of your daily requirement of magnesium.


2. Papaya - This comes in at a close second. If you prefer the taste of papaya over cantaloupe, definitely go with this one. A whole medium-sized papaya is only 119 calories (because its smaller in size than a cantaloupe), and just 18gm of sugar, which will help you spend more time burning fat. It's lower in magnesium and potassium than cantaloupe, but not much.


3. Strawberries - This is another close one, but could easily be the top pick on anyone else's list. It's even lower in calories and sugars than cantaloupe and papaya, but also lower in potassium, though actually higher in magnesium. If you bought a container of strawberries (measured at one US dry pint), you'd consume a measely 114 calories, and gain only 17gm of sugar. But you'd lose out on potassium.


4. Grapefruit - It has the same low calorie content as strawberries, but higher in sugars, and still relatively in the middle of the ballpark in magnesium and potassium. But grapefruit has also been reported to give people that feeling of being full, which should help curb your appetite. One medium sized grapefruit comes in at 172 calories.


5. Blackberries - While still lower in calories than most fruits, it's very low in sugar, comparable to strawberries. However it's much higher in magnesium than the four fruits I placed above it, and a bit higher in potassium than strawberries. If you bought a container of blackberries (measured at the standard 170gm), you'd consume 73 calories. But if you ate three of these containers in one sitting, which you can easily do and not feel full, you'd get 25% of your recommended daily intake of magnesium.

Watermelon gets an honorable mention for having an even lower calorie content than any of the above five. But due to its size it becomes a challenge to store, cut, and take to work. But you can go to grocery stores and find diced watermelon in sealed containers. If you can do that, definitely make watermelon a part of your diet.

And what about lemons and limes? Well I would've put them on this list but most people I know don't eat these things whole, and certainly not in enough quantities to suffice as a meal. But if you like to eat lemons for lunch, definitely do it. It's probably the best fruit to keep your metabolism going, and burn as much fat as possible. Just don't put any sweeteners on these please!

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