Skip to Content

Can Eating a Lot of Fruit Cause Diarrhea?

Can Eating a Lot of Fruit Cause Diarrhea

I’ve been learning more about healthier eating, diet options, and have been eating a lot more fruit as a result.

But, I noticed I started getting mild diarrhea and was wondering whether it was because I was eating a lot more fruit than usual.

I did some research into what medical professionals and scientific studies have to say and here’s what I found.

As a general rule, about 30% of people will get diarrhea if they eat excess amounts of fruit according to Harvard Medical School.

However, sometimes it can be temporary and occur if a person changes their diet significantly.

It’s also highly recommended to wash fruit to remove any contaminants that can also cause diarrhea.

In this article I will explain everything you need to know about whether fruit gives you diarrhea.

I’ll also explain if fruit can give you wind, whether fruit ferments in your stomach, why fruit can sometimes taste fizzy, and whether eating rotten fruit will make you sick.

Can Fruit Give You Wind?

Can Fruit Give You Wind

Although certain people can get diarrhea by eating a lot of fruit, you may be wondering whether fruit gives you wind.

Similar to other well known culprits such as beans. Based on my research here’s the answer….

A small percentage of people will get wind from eating fruit, and is largely caused by factors outside of a person’s control.

Such as, their unique body chemistry.

Prunes, apricots, cherries, peaches, apples, and plums are known to cause much more gas relative to other fruit.

Therefore, if you do get gas when you eat fruit you may want to consume less of these fruits and consume more of others such as bananas, oranges, and berries.

It’s generally believed that the wind that some people get from fruit is caused by a reaction to the fructose in fruit.

An average serving of fruit such as 1 apple, or a half cup of cherries have a range of about 5g to 10g of fructose.

There isn’t any information about how much fruit you can eat without getting gas, however, it’s been found that anything over 40g to 80g of fructose causes one third of people to get diarrhea.

Can Fruit Ferment in Your Stomach?

Can Fruit Ferment in Your Stomach

I’ve heard it said that fruit begins to ferment in your stomach.

Certain religions also prohibit the consumption of alcohol.

Therefore, technically fruit could ferment and produce alcohol in your stomach.

But, does it actually happen. I looked at some studies and here’s what I found.

As a general rule, fruit will not ferment in your stomach because it takes some time for the fermentation process to occur.

Professional brewers say that it takes a few days to a few weeks for fruit to ferment.

However, fruit only stays in the stomach for a few hours.

Also, fruit does stay in your digestive system for quite a while after it has left your stomach.

It’s believed that food takes 6 to 8 hours to leave your stomach and small intestine, and then takes an additional 1 to 2 to go through your large intestine, and into your colon.

After that, you’ll poop it out.

Fruit does digest faster than other foods though, and therefore, eating them together with other foods has been said to not be as easy for your body to digest.

Auto brewery syndrome

There is a very rare condition called auto-brewery syndrome where fruit will turn to alcohol in their digestive system.

It, however, occurs in people who are suffering from poor gut health.

Some sources state that a full course of antibiotics can kill a large percentage of the beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract.

However, it will recover given enough time.

During bouts of poor gut health, certain people can get auto-brewery syndrome, however, it is very rare (source).

Can Fruit Juice Cause Bloating?

Can Fruit Juice Cause Bloating

Bloating is an uncomfortable feeling in your abdomen that is caused by excess gas in your digestive system.

After some time it will go away on its own as the food passes, however, does fruit and fruit juice cause bloating?

As a general rule, fruit juice does not cause bloating.

However, it can cause bloating and other digestive issues such as diarrhea in about 30% of people when they consume over 4 to 8 pieces of fruit worth of juice according to scientific studies.

An average juicy fruit like an apple or an orange produces about ⅓ of a cup of juice.

Therefore, 30% of people that drink 1 to 2 glasses of fruit juice will experience bloating, gas, or diarrhea.

Certain fruits though are known to give you gas, these are prunes, apricots, cherries, peaches, apples, cherries, and plums.

Therefore, if you feel bloated after drinking fruit juice then try to eliminate these fruits from the juice you drink and see if the issue goes away.

Otherwise, you may be in the 30% of people who have a bad reaction to eating/drinking lots of fruit.

I would consider myself lucky that I rarely notice whether I get gas or bloating from eating fruit.

But, if you do then you might want to consider spacing out when you eat fruit.

You could still, in theory, eat the same amount of fruit but just space it out throughout the day.

For example, you could eat one piece of fruit with breakfast, then eat another piece of fruit for morning tea and then another one for an afternoon snack.

But, don’t consume an entire meal of fruit, for example, a fruit smoothie for breakfast.

Also, you could limit drinking fruit juice and fruit smoothies to less than a cup or so at a time, so that you don’t get bloated.

It might also be temporary if you recently changed your diet to include more fruit.

Once your intestinal system adjusts to your new diet you might find that the bloating you experience from drinking fruit juice goes away completely.

Fruit Tastes Fizzy

Fruit Tastes Fizzy

Some fruit that has been picked some time ago and has been sitting around for a while can begin to taste fizzy.

But, what causes fruit to taste fizzy.

Fruit that tastes fizzy is a result of alcohol that forms when the sugar in the fruit is turned to alcohol.

It forms as a result of a chemical reaction between yeast and the sugar in fruit.

Yeast spores are present in the air and will settle on fruit.

Given the right conditions, the fruit will begin to ferment.

Fermented foods are consumed regularly in many cultures such as kimchi in Korean culture, and sauerkraut in Germany.

Therefore, it’s up to you if you decide to eat it and there aren’t any known harmful effects from eating it.

Certain beneficial bacteria are present in fermented fruit that is thought to aid in digestion and be good for your overall health.

Will Rotten Fruit Make You Sick?

Will Rotten Fruit Make You SickWhen fruit goes rotten it doesn’t look that great, however, sometimes it doesn’t taste that bad.

However, if you eat rotten fruit will it make you sick?

As a general rule, eating heavily rotten fruit can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea.

However, when fruit gets that rotten it has a bad odor and taste that will discourage people from eating it. 

As a result, most people will avoid eating fruit that is too rotten to be consumed without getting sick.

Only partially rotten fruit can be eaten without making you sick, such as the bruised part of an apple or a banana.

But, once a banana goes completely black, and has juices oozing out of it, it’s generally past the point where it won’t give you an upset stomach.

As the fruit begins to rot, fungal spores can also settle on to the fruit and begin to grow.

And certain fungus is toxic.

Therefore, if you see mold growing on rotten fruit then it’s a good idea to throw it into the compost or the rubbish and avoid eating it.

What’s a healthy amount of fruit to eat in a day?

What’s a healthy amount of fruit to eat in a day

There are always new experiments and studies going on, and therefore I was wondering what the latest info is about how much fruit you should consume in a day.

Looking at the research here’s what I found:

Anywhere from 2 to 5 servings of fruit per day is recommended.

However, it varies for each individual as there are many different factors such as your overall body chemistry, and how your body responds to the fruit that affects the right amount of fruit for each person.

Certain studies have looked at going purely fruitarian or eating mostly fruits all day, and they found that over time frames of weeks to 2 months no adverse effects were caused by eating predominantly fruit.

Therefore, if you really like to eat fruit you should be fine.

However, to be absolutely sure it’s best to get a blood panel done.

That will tell you with 100% certainty what your different nutrient levels are.

And how they compare to optimum levels.

Then you can see if you’re getting enough of the different vitamins and minerals, as well as, protein to maintain long term health.