Is it possible to eat too much fruit? I keep an eye on the foods I eat, watching fat and caloric intake. I try to get the recommended daily amount for foods in the food groups but find myself easily getting more than three servings of fruit a day. Sometimes I skimp in other areas like veggies or grains. What are the disadvantages to this, if any?

Fruits are certainly preferable to both refined carbohydrates and even fruit juice, which is more concentrated than eating the whole piece.

My only problem with fruit is those people who have trouble handling simple carbohydrates (and I think there are many of those). Fruit is wonderful stuff, with phytonutrients (beneficial plant chemicals) galore. It's just the sugar that can bother some people by causing big swings in blood sugar and insulin. Vegetables, another carbohydrate, tend to have much less of an effect that way, even when juiced (carrots may or may not be an exception).

If you are eating fruit to the exclusion of other classes of food (whether you adhere to the new 'pyramid' blurb or not), you might wish to test yourself by giving up fruit for seven days. The harder it is to quit, the better your chance of feeling better without it, or at a reduced intake, after that week is up. You might also consider making all your grains (pastas, etc.) unrefined for the same reason. Just a thought.

Good Health,
ANSpreen, M.D.