Which Fruits Have the Most Fiber? What to Eat for a Healthier Gut

Fiber is one of fruit’s superpowers. It’s a tiny carbohydrate invisible to the naked eye, but it works magic in your gut when you eat it! 

Here’s a quick look at what fiber is and the health benefits it can bring you, according to a dietitian. Plus, check out our list of the top five fruits with the most fiber. They’re all great choices for snacking at the office.

What Does Fiber Do for the Body?

Fiber keeps your digestion running smoothly and lowers your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. High-fiber foods also fill you up, so you aren’t as tempted to snack.

“Fiber has long been understood to be beneficial to colon health—because fiber can help promote easier and more regular bowel movements, it is protective against colon cancer,” Jennifer Bruning, MS, RDN, LDN, told The FruitGuys. Bruning is a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Fiber also helps to keep cholesterol at healthy levels,” she said. “Emerging research now ties a higher fiber diet to improved mental and cognitive health as well, connected to the production of short-chain fatty acids in the gut.”

Soluble vs. Insoluble Fiber

Fruit is high in both soluble and insoluble fiber—two important types with different health benefits. 

• Soluble fiber dissolves in water and slows down digestion, which is great for your cholesterol and blood sugar. 
• Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve, so it helps things move smoothly through your digestive tract. For the most insoluble fiber, eat your fruit with the peel. 

Which Fruits Have the Most Fiber?

If you want to add more fiber to your diet, eating more fruit is one of the best things you can do. Here are five high-fiber fruits that Bruning recommends, with nutrition information from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

5 High-Fiber Fruits to Try

Passion Fruits (24.5 grams per cup)

Of all of the fruits around, passion fruits may have the most fiber by volume. One small passion fruit offers 1.9 grams of fiber, but fill a cup with its sweet-tart pulp and edible seeds and you’ll get 24.5 grams in total! Passion fruits are delicious scooped straight from the fruit or spooned on top of a smoothie or yogurt bowl. To make sure your passion fruit is ripe, let it wrinkle and go a bit soft before slicing it in half to enjoy. 

Guavas (8.9 grams per cup)

Guavas are tropical wonders with a sweet, musky flavor and edible seeds. One guava delivers 3 grams of fiber. On top of their hefty fiber content, they’re also one of the best fruits for protein, with 4.2 grams per cup! You can eat a guava like an apple—take a bite, or slice it and pair it with nuts and cheese. 

Berries (3.6–8 grams per cup)

Bruning recommends all kinds of berries for fiber, including raspberries (8 grams per cup), blackberries (7.6 grams per cup), and blueberries (3.6 grams per cup). These bite-sized treats also have other health benefits, like boosting brainpower. 

Pears (5 grams per cup)

Sweet and buttery pears taste like dessert and pack a healthy fiber punch. From elegant Boscs to juicy Bartletts and tiny Seckels, there’s one for every palette! Browse our favorite fall pears, then choose the one that speaks to you: one large pear offers 7.1 grams of fiber.

Apples (2.6 grams per cup)

Apples are easy to find and a cinch to eat, so they’re one of our go-tos for fiber. Plus, they come in all kinds of varieties, like sweet and delicate Golden Delicious and tart, crisp Granny Smith. Enjoy one on the go between meetings—a large apple packs 5.3 grams of fiber—or slice it over your morning oatmeal or lunchtime salad. 

When It Comes to Fiber, All Fruit Is Good Fruit

“Less commonly found fruits like sapote, nance, and soursop are excellent sources of fiber as well,” Bruning told The FruitGuys, adding, “Most fruits have some fiber to offer, and most Americans don’t eat enough fiber OR fruit. Start to include whatever fruits you know you like and have access to if you have a goal to eat more fiber: canned, dried, and frozen count, too.”

What Is a Good Amount of Fiber Per Day?

The US government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 report recommends:

• 28–34 grams of fiber per day for adult men
• 22–28 grams of fiber per day for adult women

You can also try this shortcut from Bruning to find your fiber sweet spot. 

“A handy number to think of is 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories you eat,” she said. 

So if you eat about 2,000 calories per day—a common amount for most people—you should aim for 28 grams of fiber daily.

Tips for Adding More Fiber to Your Diet (Dietitian-Approved!)

According to the Dietary Guidelines, “More than 90 percent of women and 97 percent of men do not meet recommended intakes for dietary fiber.” To make sure you buck that trend and get all of the health benefits, try these tips. 

• Taste-Test New Fruits: Fruit is a great source of fiber, so aim to eat a lot of it! You can add more fruit to your diet by trying new types, like guava or passion fruit (two of the fruits with the most fiber), and getting creative with preparation. Have you ever put passion fruit on your afternoon yogurt? If not, give it a spin. 
• Put Fiber in the Spotlight: “Rearrange your kitchen so that high-fiber fruits are easy to reach for: Have them out in a bowl within easy reach, if they don’t need to be refrigerated,” Bruning recommended. You can do this at work by grabbing a few pieces of fresh fruit from the break room and placing them on your desk to snack on throughout the day.

• Set Yourself Up for Success: If you want to get technical, plan out your meals and snacks for the week and crunch the numbers to make sure you’ll get enough fiber. You can batch prep your lunches, slice up fruit in advance and have it ready to go in the office fridge, or set an alarm on your phone to remind you to make fruit-topped oatmeal in the break room at a specific time each day. 

To make sure you always have the fruits with the most fiber on hand—like apples and pears—consider recurring deliveries of fresh, seasonal fruit from The FruitGuys. We’ll keep your home or office stocked and your gut running smoothly!

FAQs

1. Is one apple a day enough fiber? 

Apples are a great source of fiber, but one apple isn’t enough to meet your recommended daily fiber intake. A large apple has about 5.3 grams of fiber, and experts recommend eating about 28 grams per day. 

2. What are the three types of fibers?

There are two main types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. You may also see resistant starch called a fiber, but it’s actually a different kind of carbohydrate that behaves like fiber in the gut. 

3. Can too much fiber cause constipation?

In general, fiber helps with constipation. But each person is unique, and for some people, eating a lot of fiber can actually make it worse. This article does a great job of breaking down the nuances.

4. Apart from fruit, what foods are very high in fiber?

Foods that are very high in fiber include vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, and of course, fruit!