5 Unwanted Side Effects of Eating Too Many Apples

The health benefits of apples are numerous and well-known. Full of fiber, these vitamin-packed fruits are suggested as part of each meal, helping you to stave off hunger and fill up on low-calorie produce. However, just like any other food, too much can lead to negative effects such as weight gain or a rise in blood sugar. It's good to know the negative effects of too much apple consumption.

Apples contain carbohydrates, though not the simple kind that raise blood sugar quickly. A healthy carbohydrate filled with fiber and nutrients, apples are a great snack and are recommended as part of each meal. However, the body turns to carbohydrates first for fuel, so consuming too many apples will keep the body from burning fat, just as consuming too much of any carbohydrate will inhibit weight loss.

A medium apple contains 25 carbohydrates, 5 of which are grams of fiber. Therefore, the net carbohydrate count for a medium apple is 20. For a low carb dieter hoping to lose weight through ketosis, eating a lot a day would tip the carbohydrate count over the limit for weight loss.

While apples are healthy fruits and a great snack, they do contain calories and sugars and should be counted as part of your daily allotment. In other words, they are not "freebies." An average medium apple has between 90 and 95 calories, so if a dieter consumed 10 medium apples in a day, this would amount to more than 900 calories. If you eat other foods besides apples, this caloric allotment for fruit alone is too much, and is likely to tip the scale or inhibit weight loss.

The benefits of apples are plentiful. The average small apple contains 5 grams of healthy fiber. Fiber is not digestible and therefore helps to move other food through the digestive system and bulk up stool. "You might think that if it's not digestible, then it's of no value. But there's no question that higher intake of fiber from all food sources is beneficial," remarks Dr. Joanne Slavin, nutrition scientist from the University of Minnesota.

Additionally, according to Dr. Somdat Mahabir, a nutrition and disease expert with NIH's National Cancer Institute, the consumption of plenty of fiber "lowers 'bad' cholesterol concentrations in the blood and reduces the risk for developing coronary artery disease, stroke and high blood pressure."

On average, men should consume roughly 38 grams of fiber per day, while women should ingest around 25 grams. However, most Americans eat only 14 grams or less per day.

Because apples are high in fiber, eating a lot of apples can lead to unpleasant side effects, particularly if you are not used to eating them in high quantities. According to U.C. Davis Department of Nutrition, increasing fiber too quickly can cause bloating, gas or diarrhea. Eating too much fiber can also affect the body's ability to absorb minerals and vitamins properly.