--- title: Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight description: Fruits and vegetables are good for your health, but there's not enough evidence to prove that on their own they can help with weight loss. canonical: https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-22T17:42:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:35.652Z article:section: Health og:title: Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight og:description: Fruits and vegetables are good for your health, but there's not enough evidence to prove that on their own they can help with weight loss. og:url: https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2092c41448731dcf/69869c9be8524bf6c2603fc0/168837404-1-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4832 og:image:height: 2718 og:image:alt: Fruits and vegetables og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight twitter:description: Fruits and vegetables are good for your health, but there's not enough evidence to prove that on their own they can help with weight loss. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2092c41448731dcf/69869c9be8524bf6c2603fc0/168837404-1-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight, Study Says > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: How Top Chefs Get You to Eat Your Vegetables [Watch (HLS stream): How Top Chefs Get You to Eat Your Vegetables](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lqoPP37m.m3u8) (4:09)  _Published 2010-08-12. How big-name chefs-- including LA's Quinn Hatfield -- are shrinking their customers' carnivore quota_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 22, 2014 5:42 PM UTC  Variety of sliced vegetables Variety of sliced vegetables Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 22, 2014 5:42 PM UTC The research, [published](http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/2/567.abstract) in _The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition_, reviewed studies that looked at fruit and vegetable consumption and weight gain, and concluded that simply eating more doesn’t doesn’t slim waistlines. Loading up on more fruits and vegetables, without taking out more high-calorie foods like junk food, or making other lifestyle changes such as exercising, won’t have a significant affect on weight. And that’s especially true if the veggies are fried or coated in butter or cheese. In the study, the researchers only correlated fruit and vegetable consumption with weight, and did not ask the participants about their other lifestyle habits, or about how they were cooking their food. In addition, the analysis included just nine studies, some of which involved a small group of participants and which lasted only 16 weeks at the most. It’s possible that weight changes resulting from a true change in diet including more fruits and vegetables might take longer. For those reasons, the researchers still say that consuming more fruits and vegetables may be beneficial for weight loss. “We cannot say with high confidence that there is not some form of a \[fruit/vegetable\] intervention that may have significant effects on weight loss or the prevention of weight gain,” they write. And there are other benefits of adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to your plates. Beyond weight, produce is a reliable and efficient source of nutrients and fiber, and plenty of studies have linked eating them with lower risks of [cancer](http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/07/certain-fruits-and-vegetables-linked-to-lower-breast-cancer-risk/), [heart disease](http://healthland.time.com/2012/12/04/healthy-diet-can-lower-risk-of-recurrent-heart-attack-and-stroke/) and [diabetes](http://healthland.time.com/2010/08/20/leafy-greens-cut-diabetes-risk/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/"},"headline":"Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight, Study Says","datePublished":"2014-07-22T17:42:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:35.652Z","description":"Fruits and vegetables are good for your health, but there's not enough evidence to prove that on their own they can help with weight loss.","url":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Nutrition","Vegetables","fruits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2092c41448731dcf/69869c9be8524bf6c2603fc0/168837404-1-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2092c41448731dcf/69869c9be8524bf6c2603fc0/168837404-1-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fruits and vegetables","caption":"Fruits and vegetables","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/","name":"Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Doesn't Help You Lose Weight, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Top Chefs Get You to Eat Your Vegetables","description":"How big-name chefs-- including LA's Quinn Hatfield -- are shrinking their customers' carnivore quota","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/lqoPP37m/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-08-12T20:25:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lqoPP37m.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/","duration":"PT4M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3018385/eating-more-fruits-and-vegetables-doesnt-help-you-lose-weight-study-says/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```