That is, what fruit has the most nutritive content (vitamins, fiber, etc.) per ounce?
I ask because it’s just me in the apartment and I’m trying to lose weight. I know that fruit has lots of sugar, which implies lots of calories (I think?). I’d like to not waste my time on fruits that have lots of sugar, but not much nutrition.
Thanks in advance.
Sugar is nutrition. You body runs on sugar; without it, you would die.
Berries, generally. Berries don’t have as much sugar (or calories) as you think, and they have a lot of nutrition.
One cup of strawberries (sliced, so more fits in) has 53 calories of which 1g protein, 3g fiber, 8g sugar, small amounts of many nutrients and tons of Vit C & Manganese…
One cup of raw blueberries has 84 calories, of which 1g protein, 4g fiber, 15g sugar, small amounts of many nutrients and tons of Vit C & Vit K.
An important factor is that many people enjoy strawberries and blueberries. It’s no use trying to form the “perfect” diet if it disgusts you.
Even if we find a few differing opinions regarding how to define “nutritionally dense,” I suspect that this will get better play and better answers in General Questions than in Great Debates.
So moved.
[ /Modding ]
Yes, I know. I misspoke. It’s just that it is so very easy to get sugar nowadays in the developed world that more often the problem is too much sugar.
Whoops! I intended this for GQ in the first place. I guess I just saw the “G” in the forum title and assumed it was in the right place. Apologies.
The nice thing for me is that I have yet to run across any fruit that I don’t like. Veggies, on the other hand, are problematic for me. I love veggies as fresh toppings on pizzas, cooked in dishes, and sometimes as side dishes. But in a salad with dressing? Yuck! Thousand island, ranch, Roquefort–you name it, I’ve tried it as a dressing. It’s the combination of the very sharp taste and the texture of the raw vegetables that makes my skin crawl and my gag reflex start.
http://www.docshop.com/2008/09/16/health-benefits-of-the-10-most-nutritious-fruits/
http://perfectshape.blogspot.com/2007/01/top-5-most-nutritious-fruits-in-world_17.html
Their lists are a bit different.
Claims that Avacados (which don’t make the other two lists) are the most nutritious.
So your guess is apparently just as good as the experts.
I don’t believe in salad dressing. It’s a conspiracy foisted upon us by people who want to eat vegetables but don’t want to taste them. Have you ever tried raw, unadulterated carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and the like? Glorious.
Plus, if you’re trying to lose weight, drenching your salad in fatty dressings is probably a bit counterproductive.
Durian Fruit: the stinky King of Fruits
Naturally, Durian doesn’t make any of these ‘best fruit lists’:
http://www.docshop.com/2008/09/16/health-benefits-of-the-10-most-nutritious-fruits/
http://perfectshape.blogspot.com/2007/01/top-5-most-nutritious-fruits-in-world_17.html
http://healthmad.com/nutrition/10-most-nutritious-fruits/
Nor do any of the lists match up well with each other, so it’s best to take what they say with a pinch or two of salt firmly planted between the tongue and the cheek.
On the other hand, this analysis of the biochemical composition of various fruits might actually prove useful.
I’d say avocados or olives, as both are rich in fats, which supply much more energy per ounce than either carbohydrates or proteins. That would make them more nutritionally dense.
I believe canteloupes are very high on the list as far as naturally occurring vitamins in one fruit.
Ah but clearly, despite the initial phrasing of “per ounce”, he is defining energy dense as nutrients per KCal. And on that front Squink’s list gets us putting guava, mango, and kumquats up near the top, depending an which nutrients you care the most about. And those beat by a tomato if you count that as a fruit. Not listed there are the antioxidant levels of various different phytochemicals in each fruit though. Berries lead the list there in general.
Hmm…looks like lots to consider. Thanks for the links, everyone 
Squink beat me to it.
Durian, baby, the king of fruits.
According to the ANDI index:
Strawberry: 212
Pomegranate juice: 193
Blueberries: 130
Orange: 109
Apple: 76
Peach: 73
Cherries: 68
Pineapple: 64
Mango: 51
Grapes: 31
Banana: 30
To get a sense of the scale, kale and collards are 1000, apple juice is 16, and cola is 0.6
Of course the scale comes with the obvious proviso that while although you can come up with some linear scale of nutritional density, no one thing has a perfect ideal diversity of nutrients.
You may need sugar, but you can make your own sugar starting with protein. You can live without any dietary sugar at all. You’ll die without fat.
In one of the links above, it was mentioned that Westerners often don’t like the smell or taste of durian. Is that true in your experience?
What do durians taste like? Sweet, sour, bitter, slightly salty as in the case with cantaloupe? Are the expensive?
Very cool. Thanks!
Is that how the Adkin’s Diet is supposed to work? Remove carbs and the body makes up for it by burning fat and metabolizing protein? If so, why do people say Adkins is bad for you?
I would have to say it’s true, most Westerners, don’t like durian, the fruit or the smell. Some do though. My husband likes it. I can eat durian ice cream or cookies but the fruit I find too rich and smelly. My friend’s in Singapore are mad for them.
It tastes, well, crap, I can’t possibly describe it. You just have to try it. Add a unique texture too.
Fancy Hotels in Asia sometimes have lovely polished brass signs in the lobby that say, “Please, no durian in the hotel.” (It upsets the white people!)
I went with my friends to a outdoor durian market. It was like any other outdoor market, teaming with vendors - only they were all selling only durian! And all at different prices.
I was exposed to the smell several times, stinky. Then one day I could smell it and, from the first whiff, I could smell that rich sweetness, that accompanies fruit, in the odour. It was an odd experience, now the smell doesn’t bother me at all.
I heard it once described as “A little bit like a cantaloupe, and a little bit like a pineapple, but mostly like itself”.