- Jul 11, 2023

5 Ways to Eat More Fruit

We all know that we should eat more fruits and vegetables, but how do we easily add more fruits into our diet? It doesn't have to be complicated. As a matter of fact, the easier you make it, the more likely that you will be successful. In this post, my goal is simply to provide you with several options that make eating more fruit easy and straightforward. Hopefully, you can implement one or two of these ideas to bring more fruit into your daily diet.

5 Easy Ways to Eat More Fruit

Buy an assortment of whole fruit. Put together a fruit bowl and keep it in the center of your kitchen. Whether it's on the table or counter, just make sure it's easy to grab a piece whenever you walk by.
Keep a simple fruit juice on hand. Have a 4-6 oz glass of orange juice, grapefruit juice, apple juice, or other 'no-sugar-added' juice as an afternoon snack.
Add a serving of chopped fruit to oatmeal for breakfast. Whether it's cooked oats or overnight oats, a serving of berries, apples, or bananas makes the oatmeal taste great!
Throw an apple or a banana into your bag for an on-the-go snack.
Keep slices of cantaloupe or watermelon in the fridge to grab and go.

5 Additional Ways to Eat More Fruit

More ideas are always better, right?

Looking for a dessert idea? Try a fruit pie. Some of my favorites are cherry, apple, and mixed berry. Bonus points for homemade, because then you can control the amount of added sugar and avoid preservatives.
Make this banana & peanut butter 'ice-cream' .
Thaw frozen fruit, puree it in a blender, and then freeze it in a popsicle mold. A 100% fruit frozen treat!
Thaw frozen fruit, puree in a blender, and then stir into plain yogurt. Extra credit for using homemade yogurt to avoid any artificial flavors or preservatives.
Try a fruit soup as an appetizer. There are many options, but I like this one!

How Much Fruit Should I Be Eating Every Day?

The recommendations vary a little, but typically 2-4 servings of fruit a day is a good goal. I usually tell people to aim for 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables, and you want more veggies than fruit. So if 5 is your total goal, you would want 2 fruits, 3 veggies. If 9 is your goal, make it 3-4 fruit and 5-6 veggies.

What Is One Serving of Fruit?

1 medium piece of fruit (like an apple, banana, orange, or pear)

2 small fruits (like plums, kiwis, or clementines)

1/2 of a big fruit (ie. grapefruit)

1/2 cup of chopped fruit or berries

1/2 cup fruit juice

Can I Eat Too Much Fruit?

Yes, you can. While fruit is good for us, too much of a good thing is, well, simply too much. While fruit has vitamins, minerals, and fiber that we need, fruit has a fair amount of sugar (and therefore calories). Avoiding high amounts of sugar and calories is one reason we don't want to eat too much. In addition, eating a ton of fruit would mean we are forgoing other foods we need, like vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

The good news is that most adults should be eating about 1.5 cups of fruit, which is a fair amount. Since most Americans don't eat enough fruit, you probably don't really have to worry about eating too much.

Now What?

So now we know that we CAN eat too much fruit, but that our problem is more likely not enough fruit. How do we easily add more fruit to our diet? Hopefully, you didn't skip over the 10 ideas I gave you up above! If so, scroll back up!

If you still need more inspiration, here are 15 recipes to help you along. I would love to hear in the comment section which ones you try and what you think of them!

(these aren't necessarily all 'healthy' or low calorie and might not even be a full serving of fruit, but they are fruit forward)