If you’ve ever had this experience, you know what we’re talking about. You eat some delicious fruit, like berries or kiwi, and shortly after feel nauseous and a little queasy. In some cases, the feeling doesn’t seem to go away for hours. In others, it comes back in waves throughout the day. It can be a little annoying to have these feelings after eating fruit. However, there is a good reason why this happens. If you keep eating fruit after getting sick from it once or twice, try to choose fruits that are lower in fructose than others—this will help reduce the likelihood of getting sick again so soon after eating them. Read on to learn more about why you feel sick after eating fruit and how you can prevent this from happening again in the future.
What is Fruit Sickness?
When people eat fruit that has a high fructose content, they sometimes experience nausea, abdominal discomfort, and vomiting. This is known as fructose malabsorption, and it happens when your body isn’t equipped to break down the fructose in fruit. Fructose malabsorption isn’t something that can be easily diagnosed. It’s diagnosed based on your symptoms, so if you’re experiencing any of the signs listed above, it’s worthwhile to ask your doctor whether you might have it.
Why Do We Feel Sick After Eating Fruit?
Fruit is good for you, isn’t it? Well, it is—but only when it doesn’t make you feel sick. When you eat fruit and it makes you feel ill, it’s because the fruit contains too much fructose. That’s because the fructose in fruit is what causes most of the symptoms of fruit sickness, like nausea, vomiting, and abdominal discomfort. The reason you might feel sick after eating fruit is that you have fructose malabsorption. This is a rare condition that means your body isn’t equipped to break down the fructose in fruit. Fructose malabsorption isn’t something that can be easily diagnosed. It’s diagnosed based on your symptoms, so if you’re experiencing any of the signs listed above, it’s worthwhile to ask your doctor whether you might have it.
How Much Fructose Is Too Much?
- The amount of fructose in your fruit will depend on the type of fruit.
- Obviously, the fructose in grapes is going to be lower than it is in apples—and both will be lower than in mangoes.
- As a general rule, you might want to avoid eating fruit that has a fructose content of above 10 grams per 100 grams of fruit.
- That means you might want to avoid eating apples, bananas, blackberries, grapes, mangoes, and pears.
- Fruits that have a lower fructose content include avocados, kiwis, lemons, limes, oranges, papayas, pineapple, passion fruits, and tomatoes.
6 Foods That Are High in Fructose
- Apple – 19g per 100g
- Grapes – 20g per 100g
- Banana – 15g per 100g
- Blackberries – 23g per 100g
- Raisins – 38g per 100g
- Apples are usually the culprit in cases of fructose malabsorption.
And it’s easy to see why—with 19 grams of the stuff per 100 grams of fruit. But those who have fructose malabsorption should also steer clear of grapes, blackberries, and raisins.
How To Stop Feeling Sick After Eating Fruit?
When you’ve been eating a restrictive diet for long enough, any deviation from it is going to make you feel weird. That might be because your body objecting to being starved of vitamins or minerals, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be uncomfortable too. With the rise of fad diets such as raw fruit detoxes and the 5:2 there has been increased interest in how our bodies respond to specific foods and what kind of impact they have on our health. While some people will react negatively to them, others will find they improve their general wellbeing. The trick is working out which ones are which. If you’re new to eating more fruit after avoiding it for so long, these tips should help you stop feeling sick after eating fruit again.
Check your insulin levels
- If you’re experiencing a lot of stomach upsets and nausea after eating fruit, it’s a good idea to check your insulin levels.
- If you’re not eating enough protein on a regular basis, your body will have to pull protein from your muscles to use in place of glucose.
- That will leave you feeling sick, tired, and lacking in energy. If you’re eating more protein but this problem persists, the cause may be excessive insulin spikes.
- If you’ve been eating a lot of carbs, those will be broken down into sugars and become glucose in your body.
- Insulin will then be released to take that glucose and store it in your cells.
- Excessive amounts of insulin in your body can also cause feelings of nausea.
Eat slowly and chew your food well
If you’re eating your fruit too quickly or in big chunks, it’s not surprising that you’re feeling sick. When you don’t chew your food properly, it can take a long time for your body to digest it.
- You may have already eaten the next mouthful by the time the last one is gone.
- Slow down when you eat and make sure you are chewing properly.
- If you can, eat your fruit with a spoon. Eating it slowly will give your stomach time to adjust to the sudden influx of fibres, nutrients and sugars it has been missing out on for so long.
- It will also ensure you are getting the most out of the vitamins and minerals your body craves.
Try different types of fruit
- Different fruits contain different levels of fibre. Bananas, apples, blueberries, oranges, and avocados are among the highest in fibre.
- Mangoes and papayas are also relatively high in fibre, while strawberries and pineapples are lower.
- If you’re trying to stop feeling sick after eating fruit, try eating a diverse selection of different fruits.
- If you’re feeling nauseous after eating bananas, try eating apples instead. If mangos make you feel sick, try eating pineapple instead.
Be selective about what you eat
- A lot of people have a banana for breakfast, a strawberry for lunch and a bowl of watermelon for dinner.
- While this is a yummy way to eat more fruit, it may not be the best if you’re trying to stop feeling sick after eating it.
- Try eating a more balanced selection of different fruits throughout the day rather than eating the same ones at every meal.
- For example, you could have a banana for breakfast, a bowl of blueberries for lunch and a peach for dinner.
Watch out for specific symptoms that trigger your sickness
If you’re already aware of the symptoms that have caused you to feel sick when eating fruit in the past, it’s important to be extra careful about them.
- If you know bananas make you nauseous then don’t eat them.
- If you know watermelons give you headaches, avoid them too.
- If you don’t know what makes you feel sick, keep an eye out for general symptoms.
- If you’re feeling dizzy, disorientated, or have a headache, those could be signs your body is struggling with something you’ve just eaten.
Don’t expect miracles from one bowl of fruit
- Fruit is packed full of essential vitamins and minerals, but it doesn’t have everything your body needs.
- If you’ve been eating a restrictive diet and want to start eating more fruit, don’t expect a bowl of fruit to solve all your health problems.
- If you’ve been eating a non-existent diet for years, you may suddenly start to feel sick again as your body tries to process all of the vitamins and minerals it is suddenly being given.
- At first, the sudden increase in vitamins and minerals may cause your body to react negatively.
- Your body will have to work extra hard to process the sudden influx of nutrients, which may make you feel sick or dizzy.
Conclusion
Fruit is an excellent, nutritious food source. If you have fructose malabsorption, you will need to be a bit more careful about which types of fruit you eat, though. If you eat too much fruit that has a high fructose content, you could end up with fructose malabsorption, which may make you sick. Fruit is healthy for most people, but for those who are fructose-sensitive, it is best to eat a lower-fructose diet and avoid fruit completely.