How to trick yourself into liking fruit: a survival guide for fruit haters
Aversion to vegetables is quite common, so nobody is surprised by it. If you dislike fruit though, you are probably familiar with people saying “But it’s so sweet!” or “ desserts with fruit taste amazing”. Especially if you are a chocolate lover, comparing fruit with “real” desserts can be very annoying. You are not alone. Many people (including me!) feel like that and it’s alright. In contrast, you might find fruit too sweet!
Other reasons to avoid fruit include their price, the time it takes to wash/peel/chop it and that very often you cannot store it for a long time.
Potential benefits and protective effects of regular fruit consumption have been repeatedly reported though, while eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day is recommended for the general public (Check the links at the end of the post). When you exclude fruit from your diet, having five portions of vegetables per day can be challenging!
If you are struggling with reducing added sugar intake the following tips can be worth it, because fruit’s fibre content can help you feel full for longer. In contrast, most of us are not satisfied after only one piece of chocolate!
So, according to the reason you avoid fruit, let’s check a few tips for you!
- Most fruits are not sweet enough and they have a bitter aftertaste! I just want to have more milk chocolate after eating fruit (that’s my category as well, join the club).
- Add cinammon powder. It’s sweet and studies have shown it could improve blood sugar control.
- Add vanilla extract. Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract can make a fruit salad smell like a dessert, reduce the bitter aftertaste and your energy intake will not be increased.
- Add a teaspoon of sugar free chocolate syrup. For extra 10-15 kcal this trick will make you change your opinion on several fruits (especially blueberries and bananas).
- If the tips above do not work, mix a teaspoon of cocoa powder with water and a teaspoon of granulated sweetener until smooth. Add this mixture on top of your fruit and you will not regret it! Keep in mind that energy intake will be increased by 20-30 kcal.
- Add chopped fruit to your cereal or porridge.
- Experiment with homemade choclatey desserts that contain fruit. Click here https://geekynutritionist.com/category/emergency-sweet-cravings/ to try a few recipes!
- If citrus fruit are your main issue, you might be a “super taster”,which means you are genetically more sensitive to bitter taste (check the links below for more information!). You can keep experimenting with trying sweeter fruits, it’s worth it!
2. They are too sweet! I am usually craving for savoury snacks.
- Try fruit which are not very sweet, like blueberries, rasberries and kiwis.
- Add fresh fruit to your salad. Pomegranate seeds, bluberries, cranberries and oranges can be amazing salad igredients and this is a great way to add fruit to your main meals.
- Lemon is classified as fruit, so add plenty of lemon juice to your meals.
- Mix fruit with a tablespoon of low fat cream cheese or fat free quark to reduce the sweetness.
- If you already have a couple of crackers daily, add a couple of berries on top.
3. They are expensive and hard to store for more than a few days.
- Try frozen fruit chunks. You can have them in the freezer for a long time. You can defrost the amount you want and eat it within a day, or you can eat them frozen with your ice cream!
- Prefer loose fruit. They’re cheaper than pre-packaged fruit and it’s a better choice for the environment as well. Remember to always wash fruit very well, it doesn’t matter it is pre-packaged or not!
- Sometimes when fruit is close to its “best before date” it is much cheaper, so keep an eye on these offers.
- Check the NHS website for more relevant tips https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/5-a-day-on-a-budget/
4. No time or energy for peeling and chopping fruit (relatable!).
- You can wash the fruit very well and eat the skin (if it’s edible!).
- Try fruits that do not need chopping (like berries) and fruit easy to peel, like bananas and clementines.
- You can try frozen fruit chunks.
- If you prefer trying ready-to-eat packaged fruit chunks, please wash them even if they are supposed to be already washed!
5. Weird texture
- Try changing the fruit’s temperature; some people prefer softer ripened fruit and others enjoy solid chilled or frozen fruit.
- Mixing fruit with other ingredients can change its texture.
- Try dried fruit. You should pay more attention to your portion size though! Since water is removed, the volume of dried fruit is smaller comparing to the volume of regular fruit. Thus, you might need a bigger portion to feel full and you could end up increasing your energy and sugar intake!
I really hope the article was helpful! In any case, every person is different and different tricks might work for each one of us.
For more information check the links below!!
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/why-5-a-day/
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/natural-therapies/cinnamon.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6949464/
https://doi.org/10.1038/ajh.2011.186
https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.115.06497
