Fruit!

From World's Healthiest Foods!

Daily Food Tip

Can too much fruit cause weight gain?

Yes, too much fruit can cause weight gain. Too much intake of any food can cause weight gain—although some foods are much safer to eat in excess than other foods.

Fresh fruits contain about 15-20 calories per ounce; for example, a medium-sized apple contains about 120 calories. Most people would be able to include about 2 times that level of fruit calories in their daily meal plan without overeating.

Fruit juice is a little different story because many people could drink one 12-ounce bottle of fruit juice at a single meal, and that bottle by itself would contain about 200 calories. One bottle per day would probably work for many meal plans, but whole fresh fruits still provide better nourishment.

Dried fruit is the most problematic type of fruit in terms of calories. Six ounces of raisins contain about 500 calories. Most people would not be able to successfully fit this many calories of fruit into their daily meal plan.

Weight gain occurs when a person consumes more calories than they he or she expends. Therefore, let's say, hypothetically, that based upon your individual energy needs, you need to consume 2,000 calories to maintain your weight. If, in addition to your regular 2,000 calories, you ate 500 additional calories worth of fruit each day, in 7 days you would gain one pound (one pound is roughly equal to 3,500 calories of excess energy stored up in the form of body fat).

In general, although we encourage daily intake of fresh fruit as part of a healthy meal plan, it's much easier to "overdose" on vegetables versus fruits when it comes to weight management and maintenance of an optimally nourishing diet. Vegetables generally contain about 5-10 calories per ounce—about half the calories of fruit. Always remember, however, that it's your overall meal plan and exercise plan that determines whether you'll gain or lose weight.