Is the Peach Diet a Fad? Or a Healthy Weight Loss Solution?

If you’re seeking a diet to shed weight for summer without sacrificing flavor or giving up your favorite beverages, consider a peach-based diet plan. Not only are peaches the perfect sweet treats for weight loss, but they’re also packed with valuable vitamins, minerals, and more healthy bits that have anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties.

It’s safe to say that peaches are healthy. However, whether the peach diet qualifies as a restrictive fad diet, is sustainable, and what it entails requires a deeper dive.

What is the Peach Diet?

The peach-based meal plan is exactly as it sounds – you eat 3-4 meals a day, each containing at least one peach-based item. This diet is pretty flexible, and you can follow it for as long as you’d like since the diet isn’t overly restrictive and peaches can be used in all sorts of tasty recipes.

This diet primarily focuses on peaches with the goal of reducing calorie intake and keeping individuals feeling satisfied. Because you’ll be eating primarily healthy, homemade recipes, you’ll detox your body and reduce the calories you eat at the same time.

Can You Lose Weight By Eating Peaches?

Peaches can be incorporated into any weight loss regimen as long as you burn more calories than you eat.

The table below shows peaches are fairly low in calories, with a medium raw peach clocking in at just about 50-60 calories. So replacing calorie-dense junk food with peaches is bound to make you lose weight.

Peaches are also high in soluble fiber, which means they keep you full for longer. A cup of peach pieces contains 7.5-10% of your daily recommended fiber intake.¹

They have no added sugar, so you probably won’t crave dessert, and they’re also high in water content which makes them more filling. In addition, peaches regulate blood sugar levels, reduce hunger pangs, and contain numerous beneficial vitamins and minerals.

Nutritional Value of Peaches

When looking at the macronutrients of peaches, it’s clear they’re a great source of fiber, low in calories, and contain a fair amount of sugary carbs, but at least it’s naturally occurring unrefined sugar.

• Calories: 51
• Carbohydrates: 12 g
• Protein: 1.2 g
• Fat: 0.3 g
• Fiber: 2 g

However, this doesn’t begin to paint the full picture since vitamins and minerals aren’t taken into account. Some of the vitamins in nutrients found in peaches include:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Potassium
• Niacin
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K
• Copper
• Manganese
• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Iron
• B vitamins

But wait, there’s more. Peaches are also…

Full of Antioxidants

Peaches contain chlorogenic acid and many other antioxidants which are anti-inflammatory compounds that fight free radicals (unstable cells associated with diseases) in your body and prevents oxidative, or cell damaging stress that leads to inflammation. Antioxidants also slow down aging and combat disease.²

On top of this, peaches are also rich in phytonutrients and phytochemicals like phenolic compounds and carotenoids. Both phenolics and carotenoids have antioxidant properties and contribute even more to the anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties of peaches.

Besides these phytonutrients, if you eat a cup of diced peaches, you also get 11.1 milligrams of Vitamin C, which comes out to 12.33% of the daily required amount for males and 14.80% for females, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.³ Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant too, besides being good for your skin.⁴

Some studies even show that fresh peach juice begins to demonstrate antioxidative effects within 30 minutes of drinking in healthy men.⁵ Making it an exceptionally effective way to incorporate vitamins, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and even fiber into your diet.

Improve Digestion

Since a full-size raw peach provides about 2 grams of fiber – about 7.5% of the daily recommended amount – peaches can help maintain good digestion.³

If you have constant stomach problems or are always hungry, this fruit might make your life easier – half the fiber in peaches is insoluble, while the other half is soluble. The insoluble part adds bulk to the waste your body produces, so it moves faster through the digestive tract and lessens the chances of constipation.⁶

The soluble part keeps you full while providing good bacteria for your intestines. These bacteria create short-chain fatty acids like acetate, propionate, and butyrate and these acids are not only anti-inflammatory, but may also alleviate symptoms of digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease, IBS, and others.^{7, 8}

On the other hand, peach flowers, used to make herbal peach tea, may also improve digestion by improving gut contractions and helping your body maintain a rhythm to keep food moving along smoothly.⁹

Replacing a few sweet treats with a couple of peaches a day can significantly improve your fiber intake, keep you feeling full and ease up bowel movements!

Good for Your Skin

Peaches can improve your skin’s ability to retain moisture, keeping it feeling silky smooth throughout the day and preventing it from picking and flaking.¹⁰ If you apply peach extract directly to your skin, you may even prevent UV damage, like sunscreen, and keep your face looking fresh and plump.¹¹

Besides, peaches are abundant in vitamin C, so it can enhance how your skin looks and increase collagen production as well. And as you may know, collagen is the main compound that improves skin strength and elasticity, preventing premature wrinkles.¹²

Enhance Heart Health

Studies show that the flavonoids in peaches lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol, promoting heart health.¹³ Peaches may also bind to bile acids which the liver synthesizes from cholesterol. In turn, your body expels these bile acids along with the cholesterol they collect, which can further decrease cholesterol levels.

Not only that, but peaches also reduce triglyceride levels or fats found in your blood that can increase your risk of heart disease if they’re too high.

If you really want to boost your heart health, some sort of vigorous exercise should be done in addition to eating a healthy diet.

Better Eye Health

While eating more fruit, in general, reduces the risk of age-related macular degeneration or diminishing eyesight in old age, the phytonutrients in peaches specifically help preserve good eye health.

Peaches also contain compounds like lutein and zeaxanthin, which protect your eyes from light damage and may help prevent vision loss.¹⁴ Peaches are a source of beta-carotene as well, a red-orange pigment in fruits which your body turns into vitamin A – and of course, vitamin A is essential for healthy eyesight.

Naturally Detox

Peaches act as a diuretic, encouraging your body to detox your kidneys and your bladder. The antioxidants present in peaches may also detox your liver, and a study where smokers consuming peach extracts experienced an increased rate of nicotine removal from their bodies.¹⁵

This fuzzy fruit can also help expel excess water from your body, reducing water retention and belly bloating and making you appear slimmer even if you don’t lose any weight.

Reduce Chances of Cancer

As mentioned, peaches are full of antioxidants that combat free radicals and may help reduce the likelihood of certain cancers. Specifically, vitamin C, carotenoids, and caffeic acid, all present in peaches, have anti-cancer properties.^{4, 16, 17}

Studies have shown that postmenopausal women who eat at least two peaches a day have a 41% lower risk of developing breast cancer.¹⁸ This effect may be due to polyphenols, the antioxidants that reduce the growth and spread of cancer cells. They may even kill cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.¹⁹

Though eating peaches isn’t a sufficient substitute for chemotherapy, it can help reduce the risk and enhance treatment. Researchers suggest that polyphenols effectively stop the growth of a particular type of breast cancer in animals, implying that it may help with other cancers, too, and the amount of polyphenols used in the study are equivalent to eating 2-3 peaches a day.²⁰

Alleviate Allergy Symptoms

If you’re tired of the allergies spring brings, rejoice! When your body meets an allergen – something it’s allergic to – it releases certain chemicals known as histamines. These histamines trigger allergy symptoms like sneezing, itching, or coughing.

Peaches may alleviate allergy symptoms by preventing the release of histamines into the bloodstream and reducing the inflammation caused by allergens.²¹ Research shows that peach pit extracts may also help dial down your body’s allergic response.

Though more research is needed, these facts imply that peaches may benefit your immune system. Of course, peaches aren’t a miracle cure for severe allergy, but you can try upping your peach intake to reduce minor allergy symptoms.

Supplement Potassium and Iron

Ten million folks in the US are iron deficient, and most find it hard to get enough potassium in their diets.²² Peaches are a moderate source of both of these hard-to-get nutrients, with a cup of diced peaches providing 219 mg of potassium and 0.42 mg of iron.

According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, potassium aids in proper cell function, reducing the risk of diseases like hypertension or high blood pressure, stroke, and kidney stones.²³ On the other hand, iron is essential to forming hemoglobin and transporting oxygen through the body. Lack of hemoglobin might also cause fatigue, pale skin, and shortness of breath.

Though peaches alone don’t provide enough potassium and iron to keep deficiencies at bay, they’re a beneficial fruit to add to your diet in combination with other fruits like apples, bananas, pomegranates, etc.

Is the Peach Diet Plan a Fad?

The peach diet plan might be a fad because it comes and goes, but it’s not an extremely restrictive fad diet like many are. Some diets suggest you eat one type of food for days on end, but luckily this particular diet recommends other foods in addition to incorporating peaches. So it isn’t a fad if you combine it with other sources of protein, carbs, and healthy fats, so you don’t deprive your body of the essential nutrients it needs to function correctly.

It acts more like a cleanse, providing an effective method to initiate weight loss without sacrificing the enjoyment of sweet treats or severely restricting your food intake.

Essentially, this diet lowers the number of calories you consume while adding more beneficial nutrients like vitamin C, fiber, protein, and healthy fats to your diet. These help detox your system and get your digestion in order, while the decrease in calories makes you lose weight without trying!

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Sample Peach Diet Meal Plans

You can follow these peach-heavy meal plans to the tee, or you can use them as a guide to creating a balanced peach diet of your own. These recipes combine the goodness of peaches with other healthy food options that you’re more than welcome to replace…

Day 1

Breakfast – Diced peaches, yogurt, and hemp seeds (blending optional) along with peach tea.

Lunch – Salad with spinach, romaine lettuce, peaches, parmesan cheese, and avocado.

Dinner – Grilled chicken smothered and marinated in peach juice and a side of sautéed mushrooms mixed with the remaining chopped peaches.

Smoothie – Peaches, bananas, cinnamon, spinach, blended with a dash of honey and vanilla.

Day 2

Breakfast – A peach crisp made with sliced peaches spread on the bottom of a baking pan, covered with oats, hemp, flaxseed, and cinnamon along with a sprinkle of honey and baked until brown.

Lunch – Fresh peach salad with diced peaches, smoked Gouda cheese, baby arugula, pecans, and black peppers, dressed with red wine vinegar and honey.

Dinner – Grilled shrimp combined with peaches, green onions, and a medley of spices, finished with a squeeze of lemon.

Smoothie – Peaches blended with apricot nectar and fat-free yogurt with a dash of vanilla and ice.

Day 3

Breakfast – Overnight peach oatmeal made with rolled oats, almond milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and, of course, ripe peaches!

Lunch – Peach, corn, and avocado salad with grilled salmon or tuna and a Greek yogurt and lime dressing.

Dinner – Grilled chicken cooked in a mixture of sliced peaches, onions, salsa, jalapeno, and lime juice and served with brown rice.

Smoothie – Ripe peach blended with orange juice, cinnamon, low-fat yogurt, and honey.

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Frequently Asked Questions

This peach-based diet is healthy and balanced, so you shouldn’t have any trouble eating enough on it. We suggest pairing the diet with a little daily exercise walks around the neighborhood to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way.