The Surprising Health Benefits of Eating Fresh Fruit Daily

When people find out that I work for a fruit company, their next question is often, “So what are the health benefits of fruit, really?” It’s easy to talk about the physical benefits: Fruit boosts our digestion with fiber, strengthens our immune system with vitamins, and protects our cells from oxidation with antioxidants. But I’ve started to go in a different direction with my answer. My favorite response right now is, “Did you know that fruit can help your mental health?”

The Health Benefits of Eating Fresh Fruit Daily

This past fall, The FruitGuys spoke with a neuroscience dietitian at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, California, to better understand how our brains respond to fruit. I didn’t know that job existed, but food is the original medicine. So it makes sense that doctors need to think about the most healing diet when they’re helping patients recover from (or, better yet, avoid) strokes and other neurological incidents.

Fruit impacts our mental wellbeing in several ways. But these two health benefits of eating fresh fruit stand out to me the most:

1. Better Memory and Productivity

Eating fruits—especially berries like blueberries, strawberries, and grapes—can boost our levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Higher BDNF levels support neuroplasticity, leading to improved learning, memory, and productivity. I’m still fascinated by a 2020 study that showed people who regularly ate fruit and vegetables (and exercised) could recall information better.

2. Lower Risk of Anxiety and Depression

Eating fruit promotes a healthier gut microbiome, which is linked to a lower risk of anxiety and depression. A balanced microbiome can positively influence your mental health thanks to constant communication along the gut-brain axis. The gut-brain connection has had a lot of attention in the past few years—a recent study even found that eating an orange every day could lower your depression risk by 20 percent—and I think its link to mental wellbeing is really powerful.

You can read our full neuroscience dietitian interview here and learn even more about the health benefits of eating fresh fruit daily here.

How to Snack on More Fresh Fruit

If you want to snack on more fresh fruit, the best thing you can do is make it easy. Have fruit readily available on your counter at home, schedule fruit deliveries to your office break room, and stock it anywhere else you snack. And next time you eat a piece of fruit, remember you’re not just benefitting your body, you’re benefitting your mind, too!