Skip to main content

The 12 healthiest fruits you can eat right now

Add these fruits to you diet and feel the goodness in your body

inacio pires / Shutterstock

Gorging on hotdogs and ice cream is fun. But we should not forget to spruce up our diet with healthier options, like fresh fruits. No one fruit will provide all the nutrition that a person needs in a day. In fact, vegetables are typically more nutrient-rich options and lower in sugar than fruit. However, some nutrients, like vitamin C, are found in higher levels in the latter than the former.

Recommended Videos

Using the USDA’s FoodData Central as our main source, we researched the nutrient makeup of many popular fruits across the globe to bring you our roundup of the healthiest fruits for this season and beyond. Once you purchase these fruits, you can use them as ingredients for concocting creamy milkshakes or your morning smoothies.

Guava

Guava fruit
ThaiThu / Shutterstock

Guava is a superfood. It contains massive amounts of lycopene, and is also rich in potassium, phosphorus, vitamin C, folate, beta-carotene, and even has trace amounts of B vitamins, which is rare for a fruit. Guava is high in fiber and moderately low in sugar, making this a good fruit to include in your daily diet! Lycopene has been studied more closely over the last 20 years and is now recognized as one of the most powerful carotenoids for its anti-oxidative benefits.

Tomato

Tomatoes on a cutting board
Getty Images

To answer the age-old question, tomato is a fruit! And a quite nutritious one at that. Tomatoes are also known for being rich in lycopene. This is where it gets its red color. Tomatoes also contain choline, vitamin E, vitamin K, niacin, vitamin A, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, making the tomato a highly nutritious fruit to include in your diet. Choline is typically found in animal proteins and is important for the nervous system and muscular control.

Choline may be harder for vegans to get in their diets, making tomatoes a great fruit to include in a vegan or vegetarian diet. The latter nutrients (vitamin A, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin) are mostly carotenoids that are essential for eye health and the immune system and also important for their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-carcinogenic properties.

Papaya

Sliced papaya fruit
Getty Images

Papaya is another superfood containing large amounts of lycopene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and small amounts of niacin and vitamin B6. As you can see, Papaya is a nutrient-rich food to include in your diet. It is hard to get B vitamins like niacin and vitamin B6 from sources outside of animal proteins, which makes papaya another good nutrient-dense fruit for vegans and vegetarians.

Grapefruit

Fresh grapefruit on chopping board
Giorgio Fochesato / Westend61 on Offset / Shutterstock

Grapefruit is another underrated fruit for eye health (beta-carotene, vitamin A) and nutrients found in animal products (choline, vitamin B6, calcium, phosphorus), and not just vitamin C like most citrus fruits are known for. Beyond its health benefits, it makes for a great citrus-based cocktail.

Mangoes

Properly sliced mango
OhLanlaa / Shutterstock

Mangoes are high in sugar (100 grams of mango contains 14 grams of sugar), but are very rich in nutrients. Half a cup of mango will give you a healthy serving of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, selenium, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, choline, vitamin A, beta-carotene, and even vitamin E. Many of these nutrients are commonly found in animal proteins or nuts, making mango a great part of a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Watermelon

Freshly cut watermelon slices
Getty Images

Watermelon is an underrated fruit. While it doesn’t have a wide range of different nutrients, it is an excellent source of lycopene. A two-thirds of a cup serving of watermelon provides 4,500 micrograms of lycopene, which is more than most other lycopene-rich fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes. Watermelon is also a healthy source of vitamin B6, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and potassium. It is also pretty low in sugar, making it a healthy fruit to consume!

Peaches

Ripe peaches with leaves on the old wooden table
mixphotos / Shutterstock

Peaches are another underrated fruit, but these are one of the most nutrient-rich foods that grow across the continental United States. Peaches are a good source of selenium, copper, phosphorus, niacin, vitamin A, beta-carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin E. If you grab peaches and want to preserve them, make sure to freeze your peaches.

Oranges

Above view of oranges In a basket on a table
ThaiThu / Shutterstock

Fresh orange juice is great to start your morning. Oranges are known for their vitamin C, but they are actually rich in a lot of other nutrients besides vitamin C. Eat oranges for calcium, potassium, copper, selenium, vitamin B6, folate, choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Nectarines

Nectarines on a table
Joko SL / Shutterstock

Nectarines are nutritionally similar to their cousins, the peaches. Nectarines are also grown across the continental United States. They also contain lots of phosphorus, potassium, copper, zinc, niacin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and vitamin E.

Kiwi

Kiwi fruit in a bowl
Fotonium / Shutterstock

Kiwi is not as much of a “superfood” as some of the other fruits listed here. However, kiwi contains plenty of nutrients. It is rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, choline, lutein, zeaxanthin, vitamin E, and vitamin K. Vitamin K is popularly found in green leafy vegetables, but can also be taken in from this healthy fruit!

Durian

High angle view of durian fruit
Getty Images

Durian tastes a little bit like jackfruit, and like jackfruit, it has been popularly eaten as a meat substitute at vegan restaurants across the United States for the past several years. Interestingly, even though it is a fruit, durian is rich in protein, fat, and carbohydrates, making it nutritionally dissimilar from other fruits. It is rich in nutrients like magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, beta-carotene, and alpha-carotene. The B vitamins mentioned (thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and folate) and the minerals magnesium, phosphorus, and copper are hard to get in a vegetarian diet, so this is a good fruit to consume if your diet is low in meat and animal products!

Blueberries

Blueberries in a purple pitcher
Jill Wellington / Pexels

Blueberries are bursting with antioxidants, particularly anthocyanins, which are flavonoid pigments that give blueberries their characteristic blue color. On top of their antioxidant punch, blueberries are a good source of essential vitamins and minerals for your body. They’re particularly rich in vitamins C and K, along with manganese and dietary fiber, all in a low-calorie package. Including blueberries in your diet can contribute to overall health in a number of ways, such as improved heart health, reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, boosted cognitive function, and enhanced immune system function.

Sheena Pradhan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Sheena Pradhan is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketer. She started her career as a Registered Dietitian and…
How much protein is in steak? Here’s a breakdown of how much you’re getting
Steak and protein: How much you’re actually getting
Steak on a cutting board

Steak has long been deemed an excellent protein-packed food, loved by fitness enthusiasts, unabashed carnivores, and anyone who enjoys a hearty, satisfying meal. But how much protein does steak actually contain? And how does it compare to other protein sources? In reality, how much protein in steak or any other food source for protein depends on various factors, such as the portion size.

If you're looking to get the most out of your steak—whether to build muscle, begin a high-protein diet, or simply to make informed nutritional choices—this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about steak and its protein content.
How much protein is in a serving of steak?

Read more
Just in time for March Madness, BuzzBallz and Lonzo Ball are launching a basketball you can drink from
BuzzBallz and Lonzo Ball are launching a basketball you can drink from
BuzzBallz

For basketball fans, March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year. Every year, the tournament features epic juggernauts and Cinderella teams. There's no doubt that there will be countless jaw-dropping buzzer-beaters. The only question is what you are going to drink while you watch the exciting upsets and last-second wins. The folks at BuzzBallz think you should enjoy the action while drinking from its new, epic, uniquely shaped bottle.
BuzzBallz Big Blue BBallz

The new drink from the pre-mixed cocktail brand is called BuzzBallz Big Blue BBallz, and that's not even the most exciting part. It actually comes in the first-ever drinkable basketball-shaped bottle. This basketball-sized, basketball-textured, and refillable ball is large enough to fit seventeen regular-sized (200ml) Berry Cherry Limeade BuzzBallz. The BuzzBallz Big Blue BBallz fits 116 ounces of liquid.

Read more
Elevated eats in Sacramento: The dining destinations you can’t miss
The best dining options in Sac-to
Sacramento at night

Sacramento is ideally situated from a food perspective. There's a reason why they call the place America's farm-to-fork capital. With so many great things nearby — the coast, fertile farmland, Napa Valley wine, and more — the table is set for an incredible culinary scene that's very much worth exploring.

Throw in a great climate and thriving craft beer scene, and you've got a serious gastronomical stopping point in Sacramento. It's also a big enough metropolis to offer a multitude of options, not to mention a diverse one at that. Sure, visit heavy hitters like San Francisco and Los Angeles while in the Golden State. But don't sleep on Sacramento and its elevated eats.

Read more