Fruits & vegetables — everything you need to know [AMA 36 Sneak Peek] | Peter Attia, M.D.

In this “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) episode, Peter discusses the nutritional profiles of various fruits and vegetables as a means of assessing their relative value. He explains the difference between eating them vs. drinking them, how processing fruits and vegetables can change their properties, and how one’s current state of health affects nutrition strategy when it comes to fruits and vegetable consumption. Additionally, Peter explains the potential benefits and negative effects of certain phytochemicals found in produce and concludes with a discussion of supplementing with green powders, multivitamins, and more.

In this sneak peek, we discuss:
00:00 - intro
02:37 - The limitations of nutritional data and challenges of making broad recommendations
12:12 - How one’s current state of health impacts their “optimal” diet
15:18 - Defining “metabolic health”

In the full episode, we also discuss:
-The wide-ranging nutrition profiles of various fruits and vegetables;
-The benefits of fiber;
-Eating whole fruits vs. drinking fruit juice or smoothies;
-Drinking alcohol: metabolic effects, calories in alcohol, and more;
-Can excess fruit consumption lead to insulin resistance?;
-Glycemic impact of different fruits, using CGM data to assist decision making, and how fruit is fundamentally different from what we evolved to eat;
-Dietary approaches for people with a carbohydrate tolerance disorder (TD2, NAFLD, etc.), and when it makes sense to restrict fruit consumption;
-Nutrition profile of select vegetables: sugar content, micronutrients, and more;
-Phytochemicals in produce: potential positive health impacts on inflammation, cardiovascular (CV) risk, and cancer;
-Phytochemicals with potential negative health impacts;
-Nightshades and inflammation;
-How important is it to eat organic foods?];
-How necessary is it to wash fruits and vegetables?;
-How does food preparation change the nutritional composition?;
-Considerations when eating canned and frozen food, and paying attention to processed food additives;
-Supplementing vitamins and nutrients as an alternative to eating whole fruits and vegetables;
-Green powder supplements;
-Important takeaways; and
-More.

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About:

The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 40 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more.

Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life).

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice. No doctor-patient relationship is formed. The use of this information and the materials linked to this podcast is at the user's own risk. The content on this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they have, and they should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions. I take conflicts of interest very seriously. For all of my disclosures and the companies I invest in or advise, please visit my website where I keep an up-to-date and active list of such companies.

[johnnyringo]

I'm pretty much a vegitarian but I sometimes question whether the reason people who eat vegetables are healthier, is simply because they are more likely to eat cleanly and consume less heavily processed food. And possibly more likely to exercise etc. Is it be purely correlative?

[zack_]

10:52 - when it comes to n-6 unsaturated fatty acid, linoleic acid (18:2 ω-6), people often ignore or unaware of its essentiality status, i.e. it's an essential fatty acid that human body can't make and thus must rely on food to get it. There are very few truly comprehensive, holistic researches evaluating everything duely and reliably that can be taken home to be implemented.

[GoodVibeTribe]

Whew. It took forever to get to the issue.

[beccal]

Not sure if you go into this in the longer episode, but saying something like “kiwis good. Bananas bad” leads people like my 65 yr old dad to run to the grocery store and only consume kiwis for the next 3 months. Scientific literature points to the benefit of diet diversity (associated with reduced all cause mortality, increased microbiome diversity, decreased food sensitivities+allergies, etc). Makes a lot of common sense, too. Some fruits have certain nutrients, others have different ones. Some have more pesticide residues than others. Eating a variety averages out the extremes. Also mimics an ancestral diet that had a ton more species diversity and off seasons where our immune system would not “see” certain foods.

[missboone]

You really be speaking to me, I love your podcast. I honestly had to ignore what Amercan standards of health says & do my own research… low carb lifestyle keeps me healthier & so I had to “unbrainwashed” what was taught to me my whole life

[Capt.sierra]

Lot’s of talking general definitions and concepts thank you 😊

[richardfeuille]

In a recent article using rodents, all receiving equal calories, comparing standard rat chow, fat chow with coconut oil, soy oil, fructose and soy oil with fructose, ractose and soy oil independently increased weight gain and insulin resistance and soy oil+fructose was worse than either alone. This suggests that soy oil (and perhaps other PUFAs) increase weight gain and insulin resistance. Obviously, this should be repeated in humans and could probably be done over a short period.

[barbarab]

I have been a forager for wild greens for 9 years. My opinion is... The best diet for robust health is to the foods that we ate during our evolution, in the wild, pre-agriculture. Meats/fish and greens! (Seasonal foraged fruits are smaller than a ping pong ball). I eat small amounts of as many species as I can find daily. I am a 64-year-old, fit female. ( no meds, no health conditions, no pain.)

[FINDINGFITNESS]

Would be great to get all these "experts' in one room and debate, as they all contradict each over over fructose, glucose, saturated fats, fibre, animal protein, diary, grains ad infinitum. Very frustrating. They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right!

[perrysebastian]

Great stuff, Peter. Some good nuggets in your analysis. I am frustrated with the USDA data tables because it tends to be a regurgitation of industry best guesses. It is not properly sampled, i.e., where is the levels of variance and standard deviations. With fruits and veggies, it is the net nutrient value that matters, so the composition is both the source nutrients and the effects of the anti-nutrients. Spinach, dates, oranges, and even advocados have low net nutrition after the gut manages the oxalates

[Nick-zusn]

I've been using Dr. Fuhrman's approach as outlined in his book Eat to Live. Not the 'easiest' lifestyle choice, but seems to make sense and the improvements in my health have been fairly surprising. Just wanted to share.

[betsywestbrook]

It's the one area where a person feels like they can exert a great level of control towards their future health

[DavidD-cdem]

Tucker Goodridge has a great personal story also related to seed oils. And he is very open to new arguments

[stevencole]

I was the foremost expert of my dogs diabeties . There was no one who was better because of the time I could focus on her . Now what worked for her may not work for another dog

[christophercyrus]

Dr. Attia: Please do a video on TMAO.

[makellyjt]

Because the food supply keeps changing, youth of the day's metabolic health has had the exposure of HFCS, processed foods etc. How nutrients fits into health in 1900 vs 2000 is very different. Fresh is best 👌

[AislingDonohoe]

Alan Flanagan is a true expert in nutrition science.

[lisatowe]

I eat them. I let my body show me which ones.
So I seem to have issue with lectins so I gave up peanut butter and hummus for a while.
Nightshades also.
I do fine with raw broccoli and cabbage, etc.
If you listen the body tells you what kind of health it’s in.
Fruits, same. I’ll start an apple and eat half and that’s all my body wants. Blueberries it does well on

[markleblanc]

Personally don’t consume fruits or vegetables and haven’t done so for years. Vegetables, I’ve consumed pretty close to zero my whole life. But, I did find this interesting

[IvicaOS]

@Peter Attia MD Hello Peter you said that you would recommend bluntly 1 gram of magnesium daily, but what kind? Isn't it that bio-availability of magnesium largely differ on type/form of the supplement, so magnesium citrate is not the same as magnesium orotate for example? What form of magnesium would you say that people can take 1 gram easily? Mind you that some forms have laxative effect...