Best Fruits to Help You Meet Your Weight Loss Goals

Fresh fruit is delicious, and if you're trying to lose weight, it can be a fabulous part of your diet to help you reach your goals. Fruits make terrific snacks; most are low in calories and loaded with nutrients. These qualities make fruit an excellent part of your weight-loss regimen. However, some fruits are even better for weight loss than others. Let's take a look at some of the best fruits for losing weight.

Berries are often considered to be nature's candy, with good reason. If you're in the mood for a sweet snack, don't reach for the M&Ms. Instead, munch on some fresh berries. Besides satisfying your sweet tooth, berries have tremendous nutritional value. They are packed with vitamins and other nutrients, and their fiber content will help fill you up and therefore curb your appetite. One cup of blackberries contains 74 calories, a cup of raspberries has 60 calories, and strawberries have just 45 calories per cup. Blueberries have about 82 calories per cup.

Cherries are also a great low-calorie fruit. A cup of raw sweet cherries with pits yields about 74 calories. If they're pitted, more cherries will fit in a cup, which will increase the calories to about 92.

Grapes are another low-calorie fruit that make a terrific snack. A cup of grapes contains about 62 calories; the number of calories will vary depending on the type of grape, but you can use this number as a good rule of thumb. For a special treat, consider freezing the grapes; aficionados rave about the texture of these frozen delights.

If you're craving something crunchy, try grabbing an apple instead of a bag of potato chips. With so many apple varieties available, you're sure to find a few different kinds to your liking. Apples come in different sizes, which means that the number of calories will vary from one variety to another. However, as a good rule of thumb, one medium apple has approximately 81 calories.

If you like watermelon but you've heard that it isn't as nutritious as other fruits, don't despair. A full 92 percent of its content is water! A cup of diced watermelon has only 42 calories. Because of its high water content, watermelon will also help you meet your water intake goal.

With so many choices, you should be able to find at least a few fruits you'll be happy to include in your diet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly issue new dietary guidelines every five years. If you have questions about serving sizes and how much fruit you should include in your diet, check the USDA's Food Pyramid for more information.

Sources:

http://mypyramid.gov/

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov

http://dietandfitnesstoday.com