Eating your daily dose of fruits and vegetables is highly recommended for good health, but it can be tough to get enough. (The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises having at least two servings of fruit a day.) So if you want to maximize what you put in your mouth, it only makes sense to reach for the healthiest fruit.
Luckily, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a breakdown of the top 41 “powerhouse” fruits and vegetables. But there is a fruit that’s in last place—and it’s one you’d never expect.
So, what is the least healthy fruit, according to the CDC? Here’s the deal.
Meet the experts: Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet. Jessica Cording, MS, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety.
What is the least healthy fruit?
The least healthy fruit of all of the powerhouse fruits is the white grapefruit, according to the CDC. It scored 10.47 on the agency’s ranking, compared to a perfect 100 for watercress.
Again, this doesn’t mean that white grapefruit is terrible—it just doesn’t pack as much nutritional punch as some of the others that made the list.
What makes white grapefruit unhealthy?
It’s actually not unhealthy. “There is absolutely no drawback to eating white grapefruit,” says Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet. “Even though it might have fallen at the bottom of the CDC’s nutrient density chart, it is still a good source of powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties.”
White grapefruit still has a lot of nutrients in it, says Jessica Cording, MS, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. In fact, it’s particularly rich in vitamin C, according to Nutrition Value.
“You’re still getting tons of health benefits by having white grapefruit, just not at the same level as some other fruits,” Cording says. “It does not make white grapefruit bad.”
Are any other fruits unhealthy?
Technically, fruit is considered healthy at baseline. But there are a few fruits that land just above white grapefruit on the CDC’s list. Those include:
- Blackberry
- Pink and red grapefruit
- Lime
- Orange
Again, these fruits aren’t unhealthy. They’re just less nutrient-dense than some others.
Can I still eat white grapefruit?
If white grapefruit is your go-to fruit, Gans says you can absolutely keep on having it. “Whatever fruit you enjoy and will actually eat on a regular basis is a fruit you should not limit,” she says.
If you’re looking for more ways to eat your white grapefruit, Gans suggests peeling it and eating it like an orange, or taking out the individual sections and tossing them into a salad. Cording also suggests enjoying your white grapefruit—and any fruit, for that matter—with a protein and fat to help support stable blood sugar.
Korin Miller is a freelance writer specializing in general wellness, sexual health and relationships, and lifestyle trends, with work appearing in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Self, Glamour, and more. She has a master’s degree from American University, lives by the beach, and hopes to own a teacup pig and taco truck one day.
