Let’s dive into an often-discussed and rarely-agreed-upon topic…fruit.

On one hand, the public health recommendations on fruit are noncontroversial. Everyone from the World Health Organization to the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to the British Nutrition Foundation has unanimously urged people to eat more whole fruit. The same goes for annual recommendations from public health organizations in the healthiest countries in the world, including Iceland, Japan and Australia.

Yet fruit continues to hold a definite stigma, mostly as a holdover from the low-carb craze. The predominant fear is that fruit has too much sugar, and that eating gobs of fruit will make you fat.

But is there any evidence that eating more fruit leads to larger waists?

In 2019, a summary of all the randomized controlled trials on this subject found that eating more fruit correlated with no weight gain. In fact, a group of people who ate about three times the amount of fruit as a control group actually lost weight. “Overall, these [studies] suggest that increasing intake of whole, fresh fruit promotes weight maintenance or modest weight loss over periods of three to 24 weeks,” the researchers concluded.

Okay, so that settles it for whole fruit. Another popular question is whether dried fruit like dates, figs and raisins contain too much sugar and lead to weight gain.

Again, the clear answer is “no.” If anything, the limited evidence points in the opposite direction.

People who eat more dried fruit tend simply tend to weigh less. “Dried fruit consumption was associated with improved nutrient intakes, a higher overall diet quality score, and lower body weight/adiposity measures,” according to a 2011 study that reviewed nutritional data from tens of thousands of people over the course of five years.

As further data in the same direction, a 2020 Pennsylvania State University study showed better dietary patterns in people who consumed more dried fruit.

However, the lead researcher did warn against something airfare faithful know well: “Dried fruit can be a great choice for a nutritious snack,” she said, “but consumers might want to be sure they're choosing unsweetened versions without added sugar."

Amen to that. Nothing in the airfare assortment includes any added sugar or sweetener of any kind. The only ingredient that sweetens our snacks is the all-natural, fit-bodied goodness of whole fruit.

So, fear not, and go bananas on our dozens of fruit-forward options. For a tasty, healthy pick-me-up, there’s nothing better than a fly-by fruiting.