You already know that it’s important for your health to exercise regularly and eat your fair share of vegetables and fruit.
But if you really want to get the most out of your fruit, experts say there’s actually an ideal time in its lifespan when it’s best to eat it.
“Fruits are at their peak nutrition when they come off the tree or vine,” says nutrition expert Karen Ansel, R.D. But when fruit is picked, the nutrition starts to deteriorate. If it travels in a truck and sits on a store shelf for days, it’s slowly going downhill form there.
Luckily, a lot of the vitamins and minerals that you get from fruit don’t change significantly over time, says Gina Keatley, a certified dietitian-nutritionist practicing in New York City. She lists elements like potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper among those, as well as the antioxidant capacity of the fruit.
The biggest potential issue for fruit over time, however, is the sugar content. While Ansel stresses that you should probably worry more about the sugar you’re getting from other sources as opposed to your fruit, the ripening process does impact fruits’ sugar content and even some other nutrients.