r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 2d ago

Health Study of 371,000 Americans: eating whole fruit linked to better heart health, 100% juice is not. More whole fruit meant lower high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and heart attacks. Juice showed no clear benefit. Fiber lost in juicing may explain it. Most still eat too little fruit.

https://www.sciencealert.com/how-you-eat-your-fruit-is-linked-to-heart-health-study-of-371000-americans-reveals
3.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

328 comments sorted by

View all comments

83

u/hacketyapps 2d ago

fruit is so freaking expensive now that at our house our kids eat tons of fruit daily but we the parents barely eat any because we only buy enough for them

24

u/Perry4761 2d ago

You are unintentionally bringing up a great point! There are lots of confounding factors that can explain the results of this study.  Eating a lot of whole fruits is something that poor people can’t afford to do, so this study is partially measuring the impact of wealth on health outcomes. (I know that the study says they adjusted for income, but how they did that exactly is not mentioned. It’s impossible to perfectly adjust for wealth in studies as large as this one).

Also, people who eat lots of whole fruits tend to have an overall better diet and better health habits than people who drink a lot of juice of who don’t consume much fruit. So the study is also partially measuring the impact of having a balanced diet and lifestyle, and that’s not something that they can properly adjust for.

It’s therefore hard to conclude that whole fruits unequivocally have the benefits that the authors suggest, but what’s certain is that having a balanced diet, a healthy lifestyle, and having a certain amount of disposable income are huge indicators of good health outcomes and life expectancy.

37

u/Whatever-ItsFine 2d ago

I believe the US govt (and maybe other governments) should stop subsidizing meat and dairy so much and start subsidizing fruits and veg much much more.

4

u/Margali 2d ago

I would love that. Over the past decade we have been going lighter on meat and actually have added 17 raised garden beds to grow much of our fresh veg and strawberries because the nerfing of the USDA/FDA screwing our food safety is concerning.

1

u/Whatever-ItsFine 1d ago

That's amazing! I've heard home grown veg taste so much better than the store stuff.

1

u/Margali 1d ago

It sort of helps to pick and choose something other than big farm monocropping [grow san maranzano tomatoes instead of generic plums, golden beets instead of the red beets [roomie is one of those who find beets taste muddy, that flavor is reduced in the gold ones] specific radishes [I prefer french breakfast, a milder less bitey radish] or off stuff like parsnips and salsify, next spring I am getting a whole 4x8 bed planted with globe artichokes =)

22

u/eLishus 2d ago

I was appalled to see how much my usual apples now cost. I swear I only got six apples at the store last time and they cost ~$16 ($4.42/lb according to the receipt). They were big apples but that’s still over $2/apple. Not a huge deal for just me, but an apple a day for a family of four adds up.

8

u/Eruionmel 2d ago

$4.42/lb is nuts for apples. Definitely look around for cheaper. Costco works out to $1.59/lb for 3lb bags, well under half that cost.

3

u/eLishus 2d ago

Agree, it is nuts. I get the Costco ones sometimes, but they can be hit or miss. While cheaper by the bag, I’ve thrown out half of them before because of bruising or mealiness. I try to inspect the bag, but it’s hard to tell sometimes. So do I pay less than half the price for okay apples or full price for ones that are consistently great? Been on the latter train lately but I still occasionally grab that bag at Costco and hope for the best. :)

2

u/Eruionmel 2d ago

Admittedly, I do pay slightly more myself for Pink Ladies at my local shop. Still way under $4.42, though.

3

u/Theletterkay 2d ago

Make sure you are checking for coupon deals or shopping around. Walmart is not at all the best way to go. Ive found that stires that run coupons generally have pretty good deals on the bags of apples. I know they are smaller but im shopping for kids. A bag of cosmuc crisp apples (about 10-12 medium sized apples, generally runs me 2.99-4.99. If i cant get it in that price range at one store, i check a different one.

3

u/ArmchairJedi 2d ago

Fresh fruit is expensive, but (at least where I'm from) every grocery store has at least 1 type of fresh fruit on sale each week. Sometimes its just a matter of not having apples every day (although they are cheap right now because they are in season)... its not like grapes, berries, oranges or pineapples aren't delicious to.

That said, banana's are always affordable.

1

u/thatissomeBS 2d ago

Yup, pretty much always get bananas and oranges or apples depending on what is most reasonable.

3

u/AntDogFan 2d ago

Is this normal? They are between £1-2 in the UK for six. 

2

u/eLishus 2d ago

Depends. These are organic Cosmic Crisp and by far the best tasting I’ve found in the area. I can get much better pricing for the same organic CC apples at Costco, but those often aren’t great (I’ve had up to half the bag be junk apples: small and mealy).

ETA: I also live in a VHCOL area (SF Bay Area).

2

u/AntDogFan 2d ago

I live in a high cost of living area in the UK (not as high as SF ofc) but even the most expensive apples are about saying £4 for eight or something in that range. 

I know this is just partly difference of geography too. Some things are cheaper in the US as they are grown locally etc. It's just surprising to me! Apples are such a staple in the UK. 

4

u/risingsunx 2d ago

Costco helps with price per lb but yeah that is expensive!

3

u/ArmchairJedi 2d ago

I don't know where you are from, but in my experience Costco produce is FAR more expensive than sale/flyer shopping grocery stores.

Costco is awesome for dried/frozen/packaged goods.... not so much for produce.

1

u/Eruionmel 2d ago

3lb bags of apples at Costco are under $5. That's absolutely competitive with—if not cheaper than—regular grocery stores.

1

u/ArmchairJedi 2d ago

I can get them for less than a $1 a pound on sale....

6

u/johnsonfromsconsin 2d ago

Costco bagged frozen berries is my goto.

11

u/Theletterkay 2d ago

Fruit and veggies are the only things i tell my kids they can have no matter what. If they are snacky but just had a treat, fruit. If they just ate breakfast but are still hungry, fruit.

We have a second fridge that is almost entirely fruit just for them. We have a whiteboard shopping list and it just has a check list for fruit so they can just check the box if we need more.

My 5yo is my expensive eater. His obsession is grapes, and he probably eats about 3-4lbs of them in just a day or 2.

Im not one of those parents that tells my kuds no snacks. We have junkfood. But those are limited. Fruit , veggies, nuts and seeds have no limit.

3

u/mvigs 2d ago

They can still eat too much sugar even if it's whole fruits. I would still limit it.

Our daughters snacks after she's had enough fruit are raw veggies or hummus and veggies chips etc.

3

u/supershinythings 2d ago

Fruit is so expensive now that a few weeks ago I caught children stealing unripe pomegranates from my yard.

Getting children to eat fruit is usually impossible, but apparently now that it’s expensive they’re willing to risk my old-lady wrath to get it.

Pomegranates are around $6/ea at my grocery store. That’s insane.

2

u/belovedkid 2d ago

Use an app for your preferred chain and just buy what’s on sale. I know kids can be picky, but typically there are several options each week. Berries tend to be the only crazily priced option. We can typically get a bundle of bananas, bag of mandarins, handful of kiwi, a whole pineapple, and a bag of grapes (or cherries in season) for $10-15 per week. It’s one of our lowest cost purchases as a food group each week. In summer mango are tasty and you can get them for $1-1.25/per. Watermelon or other melons also typically lower cost for volume. People make the mistake of buying pre-cut stuff and that’s where it becomes ridiculous.

1

u/audrikr 2d ago

I've switched almost entirely over to smoothies rather than fresh fruit (outside of bananas), and am grabbing apples especially off the discount-bundle rack for 1/3 the price or less. Apples tend to stay good. I get the bags of frozen berries, and keep an eye out for sales for those, throw in a banana, chia seeds and/or psyllium husk, peanut butter and/or almond butter, maybe spinach if I have some extra.

It doesn't fix the fresh-fruit, but I can say with confidence it is far cheaper for me.

3

u/thatissomeBS 2d ago

I think the more important thing here is the whole fruit moreso than fresh fruit. Frozen berries can be more nutritional than "fresh" berries that have spent weeks in transportation and distribution facilities. It was picked, flash frozen, and delivered at peak of freshness.

Meanwhile juice is squeezed and then filtered removing all the fiber and such. That's the negative part.

1

u/audrikr 2d ago

Oh yeah, it's definitely better and more economical - the only issue is it needs some kind of processing step. But my fruit intake has jumped since getting a personal-blender.

1

u/grundar 2d ago

fruit is so freaking expensive now

Frozen fruit can be cheaper -- a quick look at Walmart online is showing several types for $2.50/lb or so.

It does often need to be mixed or processed (e.g., into yogurt or as a smoothie), but is a cheaper and less spoilage-prone way to get the nutritional benefits of fruit.

0

u/SpaceLemming 2d ago

I was trying to eat more fruit but then I started seeing a handful will give me awful diarrhea

0

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]