Pears are underrated. When it comes to the country’s most popular fruits, they don’t even make the top 10. But now that it’s peak pear season and the fruit is front and center at farmers’ markets and grocery stores, you may be giving it some long, overdue attention.
Pears have a more subtly sweet taste than many other fruits, and their mellow flavor profile means they can be used in a wide range of dishes. While pears certainly taste good as-is (especially baked, with a little honey, vanilla and cinnamon), they also taste delicious on top of pancakes or oatmeal, in autumn salads with squash and even on a prosciutto and cheese pizza. (A perhaps more crowd-pleasing alternative to pineapple.)
“Besides enjoying pears whole, I love slicing and dicing pears and putting them in salads, adding to smoothies and oatmeal, and baking into cobblers,” says Michelle Dudash, RDN, a registered dietitian and the author of The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook. She recommends making a fall or winter fruit salad with different varieties of pears, plus other fall-winter fruits, like citrus, pomegranates and grapes. “Sprinkle in walnuts and a touch of fresh thyme to zhuzh things up.”
If you start making a habit of eating pears regularly, your body can benefit in a myriad of ways. Here, registered dietitians share five changes you can expect to experience if you start integrating them into your diet.
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What Happens to Your Body if You Eat Pears Every Day: 5 Ways They Impact Health, Registered Dietitians Say
1. They support healthy weight loss
If one of your goals is to lose weight, integrating pears into your diet can help. Dudash says that this is due to the fruit’s high fiber content. “A high-fiber diet is associated with healthier weight management, since fiber helps keep you feeling fuller longer. Also, fiber calories aren’t absorbed by the body, so they add bulk to your diet without the calories,” she says.
To her point, scientific research shows that a high-fiber diet (which can include pears) is linked to weight loss and a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes. Just avoid topping your pears off with too much sugar or brown sugar, which will negate these benefits.
Related: Want to Lose Weight in a Healthy Way? Stock Up On These 19 Fat-Burning Foods
2. Eating pears regularly helps with constipation
Dealing with constipation? Integrating pears into your diet can lead to better poops. “Pears are rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, which are great for digestion and gut health. Since many of us are not getting enough fiber, adding pears into our diet is a great way to get more fiber and support the digestive system,” says Maggie Michalczyk, RDN, a registered dietitian and the creator of Once Upon a Pumpkin.
Dudash echoes this too, explaining that soluble fiber helps absorb water and soften stool while insoluble fiber helps bulk the stool. “In turn, these fibers will help increase transit time and therefore prevent constipation, keeping you more ‘regular,’” she says.
When eating pears, Dudash advocates for keeping the skin on because, like the fruit’s flesh, it’s a good source of fiber. “Adding one medium pear, including the skin, per day adds 6 grams fiber, making it an excellent source of fiber, or 21% of the recommended daily value for fiber,” she says.
Related: It’s Not Just Coffee! Here Are 20 Foods That Will Help You Poop
3. Eating pears improves cholesterol and blood pressure
Pears are good for your heart. Michalczyk explains that this is due to the fruit’s fiber and potassium content.
“Fiber helps to lower LDL cholesterol, often referred to as ‘bad’ cholesterol and potassium is important for heart health because potassium helps lower blood pressure by allowing the body to remove excess sodium through urine,” she says. “This process reduces fluid buildup and lowers pressure on the blood vessels. Together, they help reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.”
Dudash adds to this, saying that the soluble fiber in pears helps reduce cholesterol by binding to dietary cholesterol that you eat, helping to remove cholesterol from the digestive tract, acting as a broom.
Related: 25 Foods That Are Good for Your Heart, From Fruits and Veggies to Heart-Healthy Seeds and Nuts
4. Pears support immune health
Want to avoid getting sick this winter? Pears are one food that can help support your immune system and keep you healthy. While many people think of citrus fruits for vitamin C, both dietitians say that pears contain vitamin C too. “Vitamin C is a type of antioxidant that helps fight invaders in the body, clean up oxidative damage and help the immune system function optimally. Vitamin C also helps with cell growth and repair,” Dudash says.
Vitamin C isn’t the only immune-supporting nutrient in pears. Besides vitamin C, Dudash says that pears contain phytonutrients (plant nutrients) and antioxidants. “These nutrients help support a healthy immune system. For the widest range of benefits, enjoy different varieties of pears coming in different color skins, since color is an indicator of different types of phytonutrients and antioxidants,” she says.
Related: Why October Is the Most Important Month To Work on Strengthening Your Immune System—and How To Do It
5. Eating pears could decrease your risk of chronic diseases
While some of the benefits of eating pears are more immediate (like reduced constipation), other benefits are more long-term, occurring if you continue to keep pears a part of your diet. One major benefit, according to both dietitians, is a decreased risk of chronic diseases. Remember how the dietitians explained how pears’ fiber supports gut health? Michalszyk points out that a healthy gut is crucial for a lower risk of chronic diseases.
On top of that, Michalczyk says that the antioxidants in pears support brain health by reducing oxidative stress. This decreases the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
With all this in mind, now you have five good reasons to stop overlooking pears. Have fun experimenting with new ways to integrate them into your meals all autumn and winter long!
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Sources:
- Michelle Dudash, RDN, registered dietitian and the author of The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook
- Maggie Michalczyk, RDN, registered dietitian and the creator of Once Upon a Pumpkin
