You’ve been told since you were a kid how important it is to eat fruit. But is there such thing as too much? As a nutritionist, I’ve worked with clients on both ends of the fruit-eating spectrum: Some shunned fruit altogether due to its carb and sugar content, while others loaded up on fruit because it’s rich in nutrients. The reality is, the ideal sum lies somewhere in between these two extremes, and it varies from person to person. To help you figure out your own sweet spot when it is necessary to fruit, here are four important things to keep in mind.

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Stick with two to four servings

As a general rule, “youre supposed to” require somewhere between two to four serves of fruit a day. What’s a proper serving? Either one cup, or a piece of fruit about the size of a baseball. But if your ” activities varies from day to day, your fruit needs might change as well. For example, many of my female clients eat one serving of fruit with breakfast, and the other as part of a daytime snack( a good go-to strategy !). But on days they have a tough workout, they may add a third serving, such as a small, pre-exercise banana. However, for active humen, teens, and tall, younger women with active chores, four serves a day tends to be about right. Some of my pro athlete clients need more than four serves a day, but that’s not the norm for most of us.

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Your fruit needs are based on your ga needs

Here’s why you shouldn’t eat an unlimited quantity of fruit, or even overdo it: While it may be packed with nutrients, fruit is also a major source of carbs. One medium apple, a cup of blueberries, and a small banana each contain about 20 grams. It’s important to get a healthy sum of carbs in your daily diet, to fuel the activity of your cells. But when you eat more carbs than you can burn after a meal or snack, the surplus can either feed existing fat, or even increase your body fat stores. For the foregoing reasons, your total carb intakeincluding nutrient-rich foods like fruitshould correspond to your ga needs, which are based on your height, ideal weight, sex, age, and physical activity level.

The taller you are and the highest your ideal weight, the more of you there is to fuel, and therefore the more carbs you need. Men generally require more than girls, younger people more than older adults, and active folks more than inactive individuals.( Men are on average taller than females, and even at the same height they have more muscle masstwo reasons they require extra gasoline .) For instance, if youre a petite female who mostly sits at work and workouts for 45 minutes five days a week, you dont need as many serves of fruit per day as a tall, muscular man with a physically demanding job.

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Timing matters

Since the carbs in fruit ga the activity of your cells, when you feed berries, apples, and the like makes a big difference. Downing a huge fruit plate late at night while youre watching Tv or surfing the web( i.e ., when your gasoline demand is low) may be healthier than eating cookies or candy. But if you dont burn off all those carbs, thenyep you guessed itsurplus city! So try to eat fruit before you’re going to be more active, so you’ll use the carbs for fuel. If you really enjoy feeing fruit in the evening, at least try to limit your portion to, say, one cup of grapes( as opposed to three big handfuls ).

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The nutrients in fruit are worth the carbs( if you dont overdo it)

While carbs are a consideration, it’s also important to remember that fruit is chock-full of other key nutrients. Natural substances in fruitincluding vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and prebioticsdo wonders for your health. And the nutrients found in one fruit family, like berries, differ from those in apples and pears, stone fruits, melon, or citrus. So rather than restriction yourself to apples and berries only, aims to achieve variety, and work in seasonal options.

Another thing: Don’t freak out about the sugar. Even the strictest nutrition guidelines zero in on added sugar , not naturally-occurring sugar from whole, fresh fruit. That’s because sugar found in fruit is unrefined, far less concentrated, and bundled with a number of other key nutrients. For example, one whole orange provides about 17 grams of carbs, around 12 of which are natural sugar. But that orange also supplies fluid, 12 percent of your daily fiber, nearly 100 percentage of your vitamin C requires, B vitamins, potassium, and compounds like herperidinwhich has been shown to assistance lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and act as an anti-inflammatory. In comparison, one level tablespoon of table sugar contains 16 grams of carbs, all from refined sugar, and is devoid of nutrients. In other terms, fruit and refined sugar dont belong in the same category.

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So please, enjoy fruit as part of a balanced diet. If youre strategic about the timing and sum, you wont have to worry about these healthy plants causing weight gain or avoiding weight loss, and at the same time you’ll better protect your health.

Cynthia Sass is a nutritionist and registered dietitian with masters degrees in both nutrition science and public health. Often ensure on national TV, shes Health s contributing nutrition editor, and privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. Cynthia is currently the athletics nutrition consultant to the New York Yankees, previously consulted during three other professional sports squads, and is board certified as functional specialists in sports dietetics. Sass is a three-time New York Times best-selling writer, and her newest volume is Slim down Now: Shed Pounds and Inches with Real Food, Real Fast . Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest . This article originally appeared on Health.com .

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