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Apple diet: the essence, benefits, results
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 03.07.2025

The name apple diet is quite consistent with the essence. This is a weight loss method in which the diet necessarily includes apples, in some versions - additional ingredients, and from drinks - regular or mineral water. The apple diet is popular due to its effectiveness and a huge number of versions, from which everyone can choose the one that is convenient for themselves.
Which apples are best to eat on a diet?
The type of fruit does not matter in the apple diet. That is, any varieties and their combinations are effective, so those losing weight do not have to worry about which apples are best to eat on a diet. However, in some articles, green varieties with a sweet and sour taste are called the best for the diet.
Like other mono-diets, the apple diet has its own characteristics and time limits. Another option is a fasting diet on apples every two weeks. And if the body accepts this method, then it is easy for the person losing weight to switch to longer options. But do this without overdoing it, since prolonged mono-diets present many risks and dangers.
If the question of which apples are best to eat on a diet is related to the way they are processed, then the answer is the same: different. Fruits are not only eaten fresh, by the way, with the skin, under which there are many useful substances, but also baked, prepared into salads, purees and smoothies. The restriction concerns only the quantity, this condition is described by days in each version of the diet.
Pectin, as the most important component of apples, acts like a sponge: it absorbs excess fats and carbohydrates, quickly and safely rids the body of ballast. At the same time, surprisingly, substances useful for life remain in the body.
How many apples can you eat on a diet?
Apples are unique fruits and in moderate quantities bring invaluable health benefits. The body accepts them so easily that the very first food offered to a baby after mother's milk is juice and puree of these fruits. It is not surprising that the apple diet is a natural way to improve health, cleanse, and renew the body.
- Does this mean that the more fruits you eat, the faster all this will happen?
Nutritionists have calculated how many apples you can eat on a diet. The starting point is the amount of sugar, which in a medium-sized fruit is 10g. The daily norm of glucose is 50g. A simple math problem for one operation has the answer "5 apples". This is the maximum. And with the version of the apple diet, which includes porridge and flour dishes, it is recommended to limit yourself to three fruits.
If we are talking about the “pure” seven-day method, then the layouts are as follows:
- on the first and second days they eat 1.5 kg;
- the next two days – 2 kg;
- fifth day – again 1.5 kg;
- Finally, the portion is reduced to 1 kg.
That is, first the portion increases, then decreases.
All varieties are suitable for dietary nutrition, but some experts prefer green ones. Because they contain less sugar and dyes, which can cause allergic reactions.
An apple at night when on a diet
During the apple diet, in just 5-10 days, you can really noticeably improve your figure. The best time for this is the second half of summer and autumn, when various varieties ripen, and the fruits concentrate the maximum amount of useful components. With this method, the daily portion is divided into several meals, including for the evening. A one-day unloading apple diet also does not prohibit eating fruit in the evening. This is, among other things, an attempt to suppress the appetite provoked by a lack of food during the day. Such a day is held once a week or ten days.
There are different opinions about apples at night when dieting for weight loss in other ways, for example, through fractional nutrition. Some experts believe that a late apple snack is undesirable. Since the fruit contains sweet components, then consumed at night, they will turn into fat deposits. To avoid this, you can combine an apple with a protein product, for example, kefir. It satisfies hunger and supplies proteins.
- Other nutritionists do not forbid savoring apples before going to bed. They believe that it is better than suffering from insomnia caused by hunger and a rumbling stomach.
As a rule, apples do not harm healthy people in any quantity. But, like other mono-diets, the apple diet is not suitable for everyone, and sometimes can have sad consequences. If you have health problems, it is not recommended to change your diet without consulting a gastroenterologist - neither for therapeutic nor for aesthetic purposes.
Apples on the Dukan Diet
Everyone knows that fruits, including apples, should be on the table every day. Even children know that they contain a lot of iron. Apples are also rich in substances that are essential for the body, have an excellent taste and are useful not only fresh, but also dried, baked, chopped, processed. If you ask what to eat to lose weight, you will get an immediate answer: apples. They can feed you so that your weight does not increase, but decreases. It is no coincidence that nutritionists offer many apple diets to normalize weight.
- There is a place for fabulous fruits in other diets, including protein ones.
Apples are also present on the Dukan diet, but not from the first days. Because Mr. Dukan believes that not all fruits are equally useful in the dietary sense of the word. Those that contain a lot of carbohydrates do not contribute to weight loss. Even in special apple diets, preference is given to less sweet fruits.
Apples are gradually included in the Dukan diet at the consolidation stage, when the result is consolidated. In addition, citrus fruits are desirable in the diet, promoting active metabolism. Apples, watermelons, kiwi, pears, raspberries, strawberries are useful at the stabilization stage. They are eaten once a day, before noon.
Indications
A special apple diet is used in several cases, if there are indications for its use. They are as follows:
- obesity;
- atherosclerosis;
- hypertension;
- cardiosclerosis in obese people.
The apple diet is also effective as a nicotine addiction blunter for people who have decided to quit smoking.
General information apple diets
Apples contain a whole range of minerals, vitamins, pectins, fructose, glucose, folic acid. Scientists claim that just one fruit a day prolongs life and rejuvenates the skin. Is it any wonder that nutritionists have paid attention to the valuable properties of popular fruits and created a huge number of dietary options, where the main product is apples. The classic version is seven-day.
The essence of the diet is that the menu contains only these fruits and water.
The variety and color of the fruit do not matter. Other food is excluded from the strict apple diet. With a seven-day apple diet, the amount of fruit is as follows:
- the first two days – 1.5 kg;
- 3–4 days – 2 kg;
- Day 5 – 1.5 kg again;
- the remaining 2 days – 1 kg each.
Every day of this period you should drink two liters of water. On the 4th and 7th days you need to weigh yourself. Ideally, in a week the weight should decrease by 7 kg, the minimum weight loss is 5 kg. The difference between the indicators is caused by the individual characteristics of the person.
During the diet, it is recommended to reduce physical activity, go to bed on time and get enough rest. In short, conserve your strength.
Strict Apple Diet
The strict apple diet is a system of rapid weight loss: up to 10 kg per week. Those for whom a week is a long time choose the version minus 5 kg in 5 days.
Much has been said about the beneficial properties of these fruits, they are the key to the effectiveness of any apple diet. In addition to purely dietary problems, apples help saturate the body with vitamins, and this increases immunity, endurance, and performance.
- It is no coincidence that everyone eats apples almost every day, including people who never resort to special diets, whether on apples or other products.
The strict diet works because apple pectin helps actively digest food, cleanses the body of waste and toxic components, and normalizes intestinal microflora. It helps prevent the consequences of excessive carbohydrate intake, which causes weight gain.
- With a strict system, a person eats only apples. To follow such a regime, a healthy stomach and strong will are necessary.
You need to drink a lot, and the only pleasure you can afford is two rye crackers a day. You can drink, in addition to water, green and herbal teas.
- Finishing the diet week is also not easy. Breakfast should be apples, which some people can no longer look at, then move on to vegetables, porridge and kefir at night. Protein foods are allowed only the next day.
Before choosing the apple method for losing weight, you need to consult a doctor. After all, if you have gastroenterological diseases, even the type and taste of the apple - sour or sweet - are important. And it is the specialist who will tell you which ones you need.
How much can you lose?
The question: how much can you lose? – is ambiguous. The result depends not only on the specific method, but also on the body's perception of the apple diet in all its varieties. Diet-themed materials promise 10-kilogram weight loss during a strict seven-day, essentially, fast.
- Milder versions of the apple method lead to weight loss of 3–5 kg.
Minus 5 kg in 5 days is another motto that motivates people to choose a non-strict weight loss system involving an increased number of apples. Even one single fasting day once a week allows you to lose a kilogram or one and a half. And in order not to gain them back soon, it is enough to simply refuse harmful ingredients in the diet.
- If you stick to this plan constantly, the problem of excess weight will disappear without much effort.
Of course, if this problem is not caused by diseases or disorders that need to be treated not with diets, but with medications. An important point of such a plan should be a healthy lifestyle: it has a positive effect on the appearance of a person of any age.
An additional benefit of the apple diet is the effects that are no less important than the actual weight loss and body shaping. Here they are:
- cleansing the gastrointestinal tract and blood vessels;
- enrichment with vitamins, iron, and other components;
- normalization of blood pressure and cholesterol levels;
- elimination of problems with defecation;
- improving vascular elasticity.
Apple diet for weight loss 10 kg in a week
The high efficiency of the apple diet is explained simply. Nutritionists have found that pectin, which these fruits are rich in, has excellent dietary properties. It actively absorbs fats and carbohydrates, removing them from the body. Thus, with an apple diet, excess calories that enter the digestive system do not have the opportunity to create fat reserves and increase weight.
Pectin is also able to remove harmful components without affecting vitamins, minerals and other useful compounds. Therefore, during the apple diet for losing 10 kg per week, the body is cleansed, but does not suffer from a lack of vital components.
For convenience, each day is named according to the priority product.
- 1.Apple
For breakfast – 2-3 grated apples, with nuts and lemon juice. For lunch, mix the grated fruit with egg white, parsley and onion, season with yogurt or olive oil. Dinner consists of 3 whole fruits.
- 2. Rice
The menu includes rice and apples. A handful of cooked cereal can be mixed with fruit or eaten separately, it depends solely on taste. At lunch, the same portion of rice is served with applesauce mixed with grated lemon zest and juice. Dinner is the same rice without additives.
- 3. Curd
100g of cottage cheese with apples (separately or together) is breakfast. The same for lunch, plus crushed nuts and a spoon of honey. For dinner – a 100-gram portion of cottage cheese.
- 4.Carrot
For breakfast – a salad of 2 carrots and an apple with olive oil. The same for lunch, but instead of oil – honey and grated lemon zest. Dinner – 2 baked apples with honey.
- 5. Wet-beetroot
Boil one root vegetable, grate it, season it with oil – this is a vitamin-rich breakfast. For lunch, have the same salad plus cut up a boiled egg. The second course is oatmeal with apple. For dinner, serve a salad of fresh carrots with honey.
The last two days the menu of the first and second days is repeated. Each day of such nutrition leads to a decrease in weight by 1 kg or more.
During the diet period, it is necessary to drink a lot - water, healthy decoctions, berry compotes and natural juices. It is advisable not to drink coffee. If you feel hungry, nutritionists allow you to eat more apples, but nothing else.
Apple Diet During Pregnancy
It is hardly advisable for a pregnant woman to resort to too strict restrictions, typical for some diets. If the weight gain is too rapid, the doctor can prescribe an apple diet during pregnancy at any month. More or less strict - this is at the discretion of the doctor and taking into account the wishes of the patient. It goes without saying that a pregnant woman should not engage in self-activity in health matters.
If the weight norm is slightly exceeded, a fasting version of the apple diet will come in handy, when a woman is recommended to eat a kilogram of fruit per day. Two such days may be needed if the excess weight still alerts the specialist.
The apple diet-unloading consists of the following.
- A kilogram of fruit is divided into five portions.
- Fresh apples are eaten for breakfast.
- Second breakfast – grated fruit plus 5g of butter.
- For lunch – salad with added celery root and parsley leaves.
- Afternoon snack – fresh apples or smoothie.
- For dinner, dried apricots and prunes are added to the puree.
According to nutritionists, the diet of expectant mothers should include small amounts of soaked apples. Sour fruits are especially tasty in the first trimester, as they help suppress the manifestations of toxicosis, typical for this period. The specific taste helps block attacks of nausea and promotes appetite. In the last trimester, this product is undesirable, as it causes edema.
Benefits
Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin, and chlorogenic acid, which are all powerful antioxidants. The phytochemical composition of apples varies greatly among apple varieties, and there are also slight changes in phytochemicals as the fruit ripens and matures.[ 1 ]
The popular apple diet is considered an effective and inexpensive method for losing weight. Due to the variety of varieties available on the market, the apple diet is not as monotonous as it seems at first glance. The benefit of the apple diet is that it is easily tolerated, especially by those who prefer light food.
The advantages of the apple method are short-term and safety. Almost everyone can use this diet to lose weight and improve digestion. Thanks to its rich composition, the body is saturated with a number of vital components. But to say that it is easy and simple is an exaggeration.
- Many people find it hard to even imagine having to live for a whole week on fruits alone, albeit of different varieties, colors and tastes. The situation is complicated by the fact that apples tend to increase appetite.
So only healthy people with strong will and motivation are able to hold out for several days on apples alone. For the rest, there is a less strict option that allows combining apples with low-calorie products: kefir, cottage cheese, carrot juice, green tea, chicken fillet, veal, fish. Each day is a separate product, it is consumed once a day.
The apple diet helps you lose weight, cleanse your body of toxins and waste, and normalize not only your figure, but also your metabolism.
What can and what can not?
With an apple diet, the choice of products is poor. What you can eat, except apples, depends on the modification of the apple diet. These can be other fruits, various vegetables, kefir, eggs, black bread, nuts.
An important component of the diet is drinks. In our case, this is high-quality water, natural teas, and in some cases, apple juice or compote.
What can't you eat? - the question is unnecessary. Of course, you can list everything prohibited by the apple diet, but it will take up a lot of space. The apple diet is a typical mono-diet, so it is not very diverse.
However, meticulous nutritionists name what food should not be included in the diet of those losing weight on apples. These are all types of fats, sweet carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, smoked and canned products, ice cream, cakes, sweets, alcohol, and sometimes black coffee and tea.
Contraindications
Mono diets, including the apple diet, require a careful approach to implementation in life. They can cause great harm to people with poor health, and then losing weight will not be enjoyable at all.
The apple diet is not suitable for those periods of life when the body especially requires a complete and varied diet. These are pregnancy, lactation, sports activities, growth and puberty.
For people with chronic stomach diseases, fresh fruits are replaced with baked ones, if there are no contraindications to the diet as a whole.
Possible risks
Apples are inexpensive fruits, but there are still seasonal price fluctuations and lean years. To turn the price minus of the apple diet into a plus, start the procedure in the second half of summer or in the fall. Because local, "native" apples are cheaper and healthier than imported ones.
- If you love these fruits, you will find it much easier to follow any of the apple diet options.
Although by the end of it, apples may probably become boring. And this is a minus inherent in all mono-diets. Those who do not like them initially, due to physiological or other characteristics, are unlikely to start an apple diet: even one day seems unbearable for such people, and there is nothing to say about several days.
Different apples can harm people with gastrointestinal pathologies. So, if you have an ulcer, you can't eat sour apples, and if you have gastritis, you can't eat sweet apples. And if you have cardiovascular problems, you should add sugar to the fruit, in the amount of 100 g per 1 kg of apples.
To prevent acids from irritating the mucous membrane, apples can be baked. This makes a delicious dessert that gently affects peristalsis and eliminates constipation that is likely during a diet.
If there are contraindications, there are risks associated with the diet. This must be taken into account when planning one or another version of the apple diet. During the diet, the condition of the stomach and the level of acidity are especially important. Depending on these indicators, the apple diet method and the appropriate variety of apples (sweet or sour) are selected.
- To avoid damage to teeth caused by fruit acids, you should regularly rinse your mouth.
Mono-diet is often accompanied by flatulence and abdominal pain, weakness, dizziness. There is a possibility of fainting and exacerbation of existing chronic pathologies.
The apple-kefir version is accompanied by an upset stomach because both products have laxative and diuretic effects.
Complications
Like other mono-systems, the apple diet is not an example of a balanced diet. Such a diet does not have enough calories, fats, proteins. If you abuse the apple diet, complications are possible - metabolic disorders, exhaustion, development of digestive problems, decreased vitality, depression.
When the first symptoms of such disorders appear, the weight loss program must be stopped. And to prevent such a complication as returning to the initial weight, after the diet you should eat moderately, more rationally than before the diet.