Dr. Michael Greger Warns Against Bananas and Seedless Fruit

The Western Slope loves its fruit. We’ve got the orchards to prove it. But if you’re buying the pretty, seedless stuff at the grocery store, you might be missing the point.

That’s the counterintuitive takeaway from Dr. Michael Greger’s latest nutritional advice. Locals are told to eat healthy. We’re told to buy organic. But Greger, author of How Not to Die, is arguing that our obsession with convenience is stripping the nutrition out of the very food we’re trying to eat.

The short version? You’re eating wrong.

This isn’t a new column. It’s the fifth in a series on Greger’s "Daily Dozen." Last week, we talked about berries. This week, it’s about "other fruit." Apples. Apricots. Avocados. The list is long. But the rules are strict.

First, stop drinking your juice. Even if you squeeze it yourself. Greger notes that when you drink juice, you lose the fiber. You lose the nutrition attached to the pulp. Blending is better. Eating the whole fruit is best.

And don’t just grab any banana. Greger explicitly downgrades bananas. Why? Because the flesh is white. White doesn’t have the nutritional value of intensely colored fruit. It’s a hard pill for banana lovers to swallow, but the data is there.

The recommendation is three servings of these "other fruits" daily. One medium fruit. One cup cut up. Or a quarter cup dried.

Consider apples. The old saying "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" has validity. But you have to eat the peel. The color holds the antioxidants. The micronutrients. If you peel it, you’re throwing away the good stuff. Greger cites studies showing that eating a dozen dried apple rings a day can lower LDL, or bad cholesterol, by 16% in three months. 24% in six months. Sprinkle on some cinnamon for good measure.

Then there are dates. Pitted and mashed into "date paste," they’re a natural sweetener. Frozen, they taste like caramel candy. But you have to buy the right ones. Avoid the dry, waxy stuff at the corner store. Greger recommends buying online from "The Date People" or "Black Sphinx." That’s specific. That’s actionable.

Mangoes? Find them in Hispanic markets and Indian grocery stores during spring and summer. If you buy dried, check the label. No added sugar. Trader Joe’s is one source.

Kiwifruit is the sleeper hit. Eat two an hour before bed. It helps with insomnia. Improves sleep onset. Improves duration. Improves quality. It also helps with irritable bowel syndrome and boosts immune function. That’s three benefits in one fruit.

Citrus is the heavy hitter for cancer prevention. Both the fruit and the peel help more than any other food to boost DNA repair. Citrus consumption reduces breast cancer risk. Citrus peel prevents skin cancer. You can buy orange peel at Natural Grocers. Or grate your own from washed organic oranges. Just watch out for grapefruit. It increases levels of certain prescription drugs. A caveat worth remembering if you’re popping pills.

And watermelon? It’s mostly water. Few micronutrients. So avoid seedless varieties. The seeds have the nutrition. And watermelon contains citrulline, which boosts an enzyme with Viagra-like properties. Yellow watermelon has more.

The obvious take is that we need to eat more fruit. The contrarian take is that we need to eat different fruit. We need to stop peeling apples. We need to stop buying seedless watermelon. We need to stop treating bananas like a health food.

It’s not about eating less. It’s about eating smarter. And it’s not about buying the most expensive organic option. It’s about knowing what’s inside the skin.

The local grocery stores are stocked. The orchards are full. But are you eating the peel? Or are you just throwing it away?