Best fruits to eat
This is a page dedicated to classifying fruits from best to worst according to their usefulness on a healthy vegan diet.
Usefulness and healthfulness of fruits is determined by 6 things in this classification:
- ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity)
- Fibers
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin E
- Potassium
- Sugar
ORAC expresses the amount of antioxidants and their protective effects, and it's an important factor to keep in mind with fruits, since fruits include some of the best antioxidant-rich foods, and it's the main way people get antioxidants. The daily recommended amount of ORAC is established to be around 3'000-5'000, and after that there seems to be diminishing returns.
Fibers are an important factor in fruits because it's one of the main sources of fiber in the diet.
Vitamin A and vitamin E are the two most important vitamins to take into consideration, because while all other vitamins range from very easy to pretty easy to achieve, vitamin A and E are significantly harder to get, and reaching their recommended daily value can prove hard. So while fruits represent an average amount of all other vitamins, it's more important to focus on vitamin A and E to make sure the daily goals are reached.
Potassium was chosen for the same reason: while other minerals are pretty easy to reach, potassium proves harder to get--and considering that fruits are one of the main sources, even more-so.
Sugar is important to consider as a negative nutrient in food, because of glycemic index, possible weight gain and dental health problems. Sugar also has no health benefits (besides being a possible alternative energy source), being empty calories.
Taking these considerations into account, below you can find the equation used to determine the usefulness value of fruits (Final Usefulness Value).
Equation:
Final Usefulness Value = ORAC value (3x weight - 90% weight for the first 5'000, 10% for the rest) + fiber value (1x weight, base of 10g) + vitamin A value (3x weight) + vitamin E value (3x weight) + potassium value (1.5x weight) - sugar value (1.5x weight, base of 20g)
Final Usefulness Value = {(((ORAC value - excess over 5'000 if any)/5'000)*0.9 + ((ORAC value - 5'000)/5'000)*0.1)*3} + {fiber value in grams/10g} + {(vitamin A value%/100%)*3} + {(vitamin E value%/100%)*1.5} + {potassium value%/100%} - {(sugar value in grams/10g)*1.5}
| Name | Final Usefulness Value
(the higher, the better) |
Amount (grams) per 100 kcal | ORAC value (100 kcal) | Fiber (grams) | Vitamin A | Vitamin E | Potassium | Sugar (grams) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acai berries | 9.98 | 165 | 30340 | 8.6 | 1% | 161% | 4% | 0.3 |
| Acai berries (dried) | 7.02 | 27 | 20540 | 16.9 | 1% | 54% | 3% | 0 |
| Amla (dried) | 9.30 | 33 | 86295 | 19.8 | 4% | 2% | 4% | 6.6 |
| Apples | 1.83 | 193 | 5948 | 4.6 | 0% | 2% | 4% | 20.1 |
| Apricots | 1.41 | 209 | 2319 | 4.2 | 22% | 12% | 11% | 19.3 |
| Avocados | 1.32 | 60 | 1153 | 4.1 | 0% | 7% | 6% | 0.2 |
| Bananas | -0.14 | 112 | 890 | 2.9 | 0% | 0% | 8% | 13.7 |
| Black olives | 0.60 | 86 | 301 | 1.4 | 1% | 9% | 0% | 0 |
| Blackberries | 4.44 | 233 | 13759 | 12.3 | 2% | 22% | 8% | 11.4 |
| Boysenberries | 3.10 | 233 | 8155 | 12.3 | 2% | 22% | 8% | 11.4 |
| Blueberries | 2.21 | 176 | 8217 | 4.2 | 0% | 6% | 2% | 17.5 |
| Blueberries, wild | 3.58 | 164 | 15778 | 4.3 | 1% | 18% | 2% | 10.6 |
| Cherries | 1.70 | 159 | 6595 | 3.3 | 0% | 0% | 7% | 20.4 |
| Cherry silverberry | 3.10 | 147 | 5321 | 2.9 | 5% | 21% | 4% | 10 |
| Chokeberries | 6.81 | 213 | 34212 | 11.2 | 4% | 23% | 6% | 8.9 |
| Cloudberries | 2.64 | 197 | 4984 | 2 | 2% | 21% | 9% | 14.4 |
| Cranberries | 4.29 | 218 | 19816 | 7.8 | 0% | 19% | 3% | 9.3 |
| Currants | 2.72 | 179 | 6063 | 7.7 | 0% | 1% | 10% | 13.2 |
| Currants, black | 3.95 | 159 | 12652 | 10.8 | 2% | 10% | 10% | 10.6 |
| Dates, Medjool | -1.01 | 36 | 859 | 2.4 | 0% | 0% | 5% | 23.9 |
| Dragon fruits, red | 0.65 | 200g | 1520 | 3.8 | 2% | 5% | 14% | 13 |
| Durian, Kadrum | 0.36 | 68 | 1900 | 2.6 | 0% | 0% | 6% | 13.6 |
| Elderberries (cooked) | 2.39 | 84 | 12345 | 4.3 | 2% | 4% | 3% | 18.8 |
| Figs | 1.33 | 135 | 4567 | 3.9 | 1% | 0% | 6% | 22 |
| Goji berries (dried) | 0.44 | 38 | 1250 | 3.8 | 0% | 10% | 4% | 13 |
| Gooseberries | 3.26 | 228 | 7597 | 9.8 | 2% | 5% | 9% | 12.3 |
| Grapefruits | 1.86 | 239 | 3920 | 3.8 | 15% | 2% | 6% | 16.5 |
| Grapes, black | -0.02 | 145 | 2532 | 1.3 | 0% | 3% | 5% | 22.4 |
| Green olives | 1.15 | 69 | 697 | 2.3 | 1% | 17% | 0% | 0 |
| Guava, white | 2.39 | 147 | 3748 | 7.9 | 5% | 7% | 13% | 13.1 |
| Haskap, borealis/indigo gem | 5.21 | 167 | 40080 | 5 | 13% | 14% | 7% | 13.4 |
| Honeydew melon | -0.91 | 279 | 706 | 2.2 | 0% | 0% | 13% | 22.7 |
| Huckleberries | 4.70 | 271 | 30081 | 10.6 | 1% | 6% | 2% | 10.7 |
| Inca berries (dried) | 1.10 | 35 | 1356 | 7.4 | 9% | 0% | 13% | 11.2 |
| Kiwi | 0.72 | 164 | 1414 | 4.9 | 0% | 14% | 10% | 14.7 |
| Kiwi, golden | 0.36 | 159 | 1924 | 2.2 | 0% | 14% | 10% | 19.6 |
| Lemons | 3.07 | 346 | 4657 | 9.7 | 0% | 3% | 10% | 8.7 |
| Limes | 0.89 | 334 | 274 | 9.4 | 0% | 4% | 7% | 5.6 |
| Lingonberries | 5.02 | 182 | 36946 | 4.7 | 0% | 16% | 3% | 7.9 |
| Longans | -0.66 | 167 | 551 | 1.8 | 0% | 0% | 9% | 17 |
| Lychees | -1.01 | 152 | 821 | 2 | 0% | 0% | 5% | 23.1 |
| Mangoes | 0.41 | 167 | 2171 | 2.7 | 10% | 10% | 5% | 22.8 |
| Mangosteens | 0.48 | 137 | 3439 | 1.2 | 0% | 5% | 3% | 22.5 |
| Cantaloupe melon | 0.96 | 295 | 941 | 2.7 | 55% | 1% | 16% | 23.2 |
| Mulberries | 2.76 | 233 | 14283 | 4 | 0% | 13% | 9% | 18.9 |
| Nectarines | 0.74 | 228 | 2095 | 3.9 | 4% | 10% | 9% | 17.8 |
| Oranges | 1.70 | 213 | 4479 | 5 | 2% | 3% | 8% | 19.9 |
| Papayas | 0.03 | 233 | 699 | 4 | 12% | 4% | 9% | 18.2 |
| Peaches | 2.07 | 257 | 4940 | 3.9 | 4% | 12% | 10% | 21.6 |
| Pears | 1.48 | 176 | 3874 | 5.6 | 0% | 2% | 4% | 17.2 |
| Persimmons | 0.34 | 143 | 1061 | 5.1 | 12% | 6% | 4% | 17.9 |
| Pomegranates | 2.18 | 121 | 5420 | 4.8 | 0% | 4% | 6% | 16.5 |
| Pineapples | -0.53 | 200 | 1124 | 2.8 | 0% | 0% | 4% | 19.7 |
| Pitanga | 12.02 | 33 | 171365 | 0 | 25% | 0% | 6% | 20 |
| Prickly pears | 8.10 | 244 | 6100 | 8.8 | 0% | 146% | 11% | 1.2 |
| Pumpkins | 6.98 | 500 | 2415 | 5.5 | 159% | 26% | 24% | 10.4 |
| Raspberries | 3.99 | 193 | 9975 | 12.5 | 0% | 10% | 6% | 8.5 |
| Raspberries, black | 5.63 | 193 | 37095 | 12.5 | 0% | 10% | 6% | 8.5 |
| Salmonberries | 3.60 | 213 | 8520 | 4 | 5% | 22% | 4% | 7.8 |
| Sea buckthorn berries | 5.22 | 135 | 6183 | 4.1 | 1% | 74% | 3% | 3.4 |
| Soursop | 0.27 | 152 | 2206 | 5 | 0% | 0% | 8% | 20.6 |
| Starfruits | TOXIC | |||||||
| Strawberries | 2.99 | 313 | 13465 | 6.3 | 0% | 5% | 10% | 15.3 |
| Tamarind | -0.14 | 42 | 1470 | 2.1 | 0% | 0% | 5% | 16.3 |
| Tangerines | 0.86 | 189 | 3075 | 3.4 | 7% | 2% | 6% | 20 |
| Watermelons | -0.73 | 334 | 474 | 1.3 | 10% | 1% | 7% | 20.7 |
