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Fruit · Stone Fruit
Peach Benefits, Nutrition Facts, Blood Sugar & Side Effects
What's in a peach, how it affects your blood sugar, what human studies show for antioxidants, breast cancer risk and smokers, and how to buy and eat peaches for the most benefit.
Evidence-based45 sources citedUpdated October 3, 2026
The Dr. Axe Score™
Scientific Evidence
6.0/10
Strong research on fruit as a group, plus a few human studies of peaches.
Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory
6.2/10
Polyphenols concentrated in the peel; in a single-serving test in 10 men, blended peach lowered oxidative activity in the blood.
Clinical Effectiveness
7.0/10
A low-glycemic whole-fruit swap for added sugar, easy to use every day.
Nutrient Density
5.4/10
Good vitamin C, copper and fiber per calorie; mostly water, so modest amounts per fruit.
Why this score?
Why Peach Benefits, Nutrition Facts, Blood Sugar & Side Effects scores 6.2 / 10
Weighting: Evidence 30% · Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory 25% · Clinical Effectiveness 25% · Nutrient Density 20% (6.0×0.30 + 6.2×0.25 + 7.0×0.25 + 5.4×0.20 = 6.18, shown as 6.2).
A transparent, weighted index built for foods. See how it’s calculated →
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Peaches at a glance
Peaches are a sweet, juicy stone fruit that gives you vitamin C, copper, fiber and protective plant compounds for about 59 calories in a medium peach, with a glycemic index of about 42, in the low range.12 In a test in which 10 healthy men each drank nine blended fruits on separate days, blended peach lowered oxidative activity in the blood within 30 minutes, and in a study that followed 75,929 women, those who ate peaches or nectarines at least twice a week had a lower risk of one type of breast cancer.34
- Best use: a whole-fruit swap for added sugar and sweet desserts
- Typical amount: one medium peach is one serving of fruit, and The Biblio Diet suggests three to four servings of fruit a day if you're healthy and active5
- Best form: organic fresh or frozen, skin on; canned only with no added sugar5
- Main cautions: peach allergy and the kernel inside the pit, both covered in the side effects section
- Free guide: the Healthy Weight & Metabolic Reset protocol shows you how to cut liquid sugar and build your meals on whole foods
A ripe peach is one of summer's best foods: sweet enough to stand in for dessert, juicy enough to eat over the sink, and a good source of vitamin C, with protective plant compounds concentrated in its fuzzy skin.
Peaches and their smooth-skinned relative, the nectarine, are both on the fruit list in The Biblio Diet, the book I wrote with Jordan Rubin.5 As I explained on my show, sugar becomes a problem when it has lost the fiber and nutrients of its whole-food form,6 and a peach keeps both: a medium one has 12.6 grams of natural sugar packaged with 2.25 grams of fiber and about 133 grams of water.1
In China, where people first grew the peach, it became a Daoist symbol of immortality.7 Modern research has measured what it does in people, from its own glycemic index to its link with a lower risk of one type of breast cancer.24
So every time you are trying to sweeten up a recipe, or you are trying to satisfy your sweet tooth, do fruit.Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS
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Open the free protocol → →What is a peach?
Quick answer
A peach is the fruit of Prunus persica, a stone fruit with fuzzy skin, sweet, juicy flesh and one hard pit. A nectarine is a peach with smooth skin, the result of a single mutation in a gene that controls the fine hairs on the fruit's skin.8
Like apricots, plums and cherries, peaches carry a single hard pit at the center, which is why they're grouped as stone fruits. Their flesh can be yellow or white, a difference that comes down to pigments, as the white-versus-yellow section below explains.9
A short history of peaches
The peach began in China. The oldest peach stones archaeologists have found come from Kuahuqiao and Tianluoshan in the lower Yangzi River valley, sites dated to between 8,000 and 6,500 years ago, and the researchers who studied them concluded that people there had begun selecting and growing peaches at least 7,500 years ago.7 Stones that look like those of modern cultivated peaches appear by the Liangzhu culture, about 5,300 to 4,300 years ago. China's earliest agricultural almanac, the Xiaxiaozheng, mentions the peach, and the Shijing (the Book of Odes) gives its earliest botanical description.7
Peach nutrition facts
Quick answer
One medium peach (150 grams) has about 59 calories, 14.3 grams of carbohydrate, 12.6 grams of natural sugar and 2.25 grams of fiber, plus 11% of the daily value for vitamin C and 11% for copper. It's about 89% water.110
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central record 169928 (yellow peaches, raw) at USDA's medium size of 150 grams; % Daily Value uses FDA reference values.110
| Nutrient | 1 medium peach (150 g) | % DV | Per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 59 | n/a | 39 |
| Carbohydrate | 14.3 g | 5% | 9.54 g |
| Fiber | 2.25 g | 8% | 1.5 g |
| Total sugars | 12.6 g | n/a | 8.39 g |
| Protein | 1.4 g | 3% | 0.91 g |
| Fat | 0.4 g | <1% | 0.25 g |
| Vitamin C | 9.9 mg | 11% | 6.6 mg |
| Copper | 0.10 mg | 11% | 0.068 mg |
| Niacin | 1.2 mg | 8% | 0.806 mg |
| Vitamin E | 1.1 mg | 7% | 0.73 mg |
| Potassium | 285 mg | 6% | 190 mg |
| Manganese | 0.09 mg | 4% | 0.061 mg |
| Vitamin K | 3.9 mcg | 3% | 2.6 mcg |
| Vitamin A | 24 mcg RAE | 3% | 16 mcg RAE |
| Magnesium | 13.5 mg | 3% | 9 mg |
| Beta-carotene | 243 mcg | n/a | 162 mcg |
| Beta-cryptoxanthin | 100 mcg | n/a | 67 mcg |
| Lutein + zeaxanthin | 137 mcg | n/a | 91 mcg |
For its calories, a peach is a solid source of nutrients: per 100 calories, it supplies about 19% of the daily value for both vitamin C and copper, along with fiber, niacin, vitamin E and potassium.110
The yellow flesh also carries carotenoids: beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lutein with zeaxanthin.1 Your body can turn beta-cryptoxanthin into vitamin A, and it's absorbed from food better than beta-carotene.11 In Heal Your Cells, Dr. Will Cole and I describe how lutein and zeaxanthin concentrate in the retina and help shield your eyes from oxidative stress.12 Carotenoids vary a lot from one variety to the next: across 132 yellow-fleshed varieties, the deeper the flesh color, the more beta-carotene and total carotenoids the fruit carried.13
What are peaches good for?
Quick answer
Peaches are good for adding a sweet, low-glycemic whole fruit to your day, along with vitamin C, copper, fiber and polyphenols from the peel.2114 Large studies tie whole fruit to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death, and in a long-term study of women, peaches and nectarines had their own link to a lower risk of one type of breast cancer; the six benefits are ranked below.15164
Where the research stands
Peaches have their own human research: two small feeding studies, glycemic index tests, and large studies that tracked peaches together with nectarines or other stone fruits.1732415 The biggest outcome studies behind whole fruit, on heart health, longevity and weight, tracked fruit and vegetables as a group, and cell and animal studies of peach extracts point to how the fruit may work.
| Benefit | Evidence | What was studied | What the research shows | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Steadier blood sugar | Moderate | Raw and canned peaches; whole fruit vs. fruit juice | Glycemic index about 42, which is low; whole fruit linked to lower type 2 diabetes risk, juice to higher215 | Skip peaches canned in syrup |
Fiber for heart, gut and weight | Moderate | 185 cohort studies and 58 trials; 133,468 adults | 15% to 30% lower risk of early death and chronic disease with the most fiber; less weight gain with more fruit1819 | A medium peach has 2.25 g of fiber |
Heart health and a longer life | Moderate | 108,735 adults in 2 cohorts; 95 studies pooled | About 5 daily servings of fruit and vegetables linked to a 13% lower risk of death1620 | Whole fruit, not juice |
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support | Emerging | Blended fresh peach; peach and nectarine intake predicted from people's DNA | Lower oxidative activity in blood within 30 minutes; linked to lower CRP321 | The peel holds more polyphenols |
Lower risk of one type of breast cancer | Emerging | Peaches or nectarines, 2 or more servings a week | 41% lower risk of ER-negative breast cancer after menopause4 | ER-negative tumors don't grow in response to estrogen |
White peaches in smokers | Emerging | Three white peaches a day for 4 days | More nicotine breakdown products in the urine of 11 of 12 men17 | In the same paper, mice given a white peach extract showed less oxidative damage |
How do peaches work in your body?
A peach works through what it's made of: sugar that arrives with fiber and water, fiber that feeds your gut bacteria, and polyphenols concentrated in the peel, which the peach skin section below covers.
1Sugar arrives with fiber and water
A peach's natural sugar comes packaged with its own fiber and water.1
2Blood sugar rises gently
Raw peach tests at a glycemic index of about 42, in the low range of 55 or below, with a glycemic load of about 5 for a 120-gram serving.222
Peach benefits, ranked by evidence
Peaches have six benefits with human research behind them, listed in order of how strong the evidence is: steadier blood sugar, fiber, heart health and a longer life, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support, a lower risk of one type of breast cancer, and more tobacco breakdown products excreted by smokers. Each card names what was studied.
1
Steadier blood sugar
Moderate evidenceHuman studyGlycemic index tests · 3 cohorts, 187,382 adultsRaw peach measured about 42 on the glycemic index in two tests, which is low, and whole fruit was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in three large U.S. cohorts.215 The blood sugar section below has the numbers, including how canned peaches compare.
Study takeaway: a raw peach has a low glycemic index of about 42.
2
Fiber for your heart, gut and weight
Moderate evidenceHuman studyReviews of 185 cohort studies and 58 trials · 3 cohorts, 133,468 adultsA medium peach gives you 2.25 grams of fiber, 8% of the daily value.1 In a series of reviews covering 185 cohort studies and 58 clinical trials, people who ate the most fiber had a 15% to 30% lower risk of early death, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer than people who ate the least, with the most benefit at 25 to 29 grams a day.18 Fruit helps with weight, too: in three cohorts of 133,468 U.S. adults tracked in 4-year stretches, each extra daily serving of fruit was linked to 0.53 pounds less weight gain over 4 years.19 A peach is an easy way to add both fiber and fruit to a high-fiber diet.
Study takeaway: people who ate the most fiber had a 15% to 30% lower risk of early death and several chronic diseases.
3
Heart health and a longer life
Moderate evidenceHuman study2 cohorts, 108,735 adults · meta-analyses of 26 and 95 cohort studiesIn the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which followed 108,735 U.S. women and men for up to 30 years, people who ate about five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, two of them fruit, had a 13% lower risk of death and a 12% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than people who ate two servings. Pooling those two cohorts with 24 others, nearly 1.9 million people in all, gave the same 13% lower risk.16 In a separate analysis of 95 studies, every 200 grams of fruit and vegetables a day, about one and a third medium peaches, was linked to an 8% lower risk of coronary heart disease and a 16% lower risk of stroke.20 Fruit juice didn't share the benefit in the U.S. cohorts, so whole fruit is the form to eat for heart health and longevity.16
Study takeaway: about five daily servings of fruit and vegetables were linked to a 13% lower risk of death.
4
Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory support
Emerging evidenceHuman studyTest in 10 healthy men · genetic study · rat studyIn a test in which 10 healthy men each drank 150 milliliters of nine fresh fruits blended in a kitchen mixer, on separate days, blended peach cut reactive oxygen species, the unstable molecules behind oxidative stress, in the blood within 30 minutes.3 In a genetic study, people whose DNA predicts a higher intake of peaches and nectarines had lower C-reactive protein, a blood marker of inflammation.21 And obese rats that drank peach juice were protected against high blood sugar, insulin resistance and LDL oxidation, with lower levels of inflammatory signals such as NF-κB, compared with rats given a placebo drink.24 Peaches fit right into a diet built on anti-inflammatory foods.
Study takeaway: blended fresh peach lowered oxidative activity in the blood of healthy men within 30 minutes.
5
Lower risk of one type of breast cancer
Emerging evidenceHuman studyCohort · 75,929 women · up to 24 yearsIn the Nurses' Health Study, which followed 75,929 women for up to 24 years, those who ate at least two servings of peaches or nectarines a week had a 41% lower risk of estrogen receptor-negative (ER-negative) breast cancer after menopause than women who ate none, and each 2 servings a week was linked to an 18% lower risk.4 ER-negative tumors don't grow in response to estrogen, and the authors called this finding exploratory. In lab work, peach polyphenols, including chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acids, slowed the growth of MDA-MB-435 cancer cells, a line first catalogued as breast cancer that genetic testing has traced to melanoma,25 at lower doses than it took to affect normal breast cells,26 and in mice they slowed tumors grown from those cells and their spread to the lungs.27 Those researchers estimated that a person would need the polyphenols of two to three peaches a day to match the mouse dose, a figure meant for planning human trials.27
Study takeaway: women who ate two or more servings of peaches or nectarines a week had a 41% lower risk of ER-negative breast cancer after menopause.
6
White peaches in smokers
Emerging evidenceHuman studyBefore-and-after study · 12 male smokers · no comparison groupIn Korea, 12 healthy men who smoked ate three white-fleshed peaches a day for four days, in a study with no comparison group. Afterward, 11 of the 12 excreted more nicotine breakdown products in their urine, and 10 of 12 excreted more 1-hydroxypyrene, a marker of exposure to cancer-causing compounds in tobacco smoke; average cotinine levels in their saliva and blood didn't change much.17 The researchers suggest the peaches helped the men clear tobacco toxins faster. In the same paper, mice given nicotine along with a white peach extract showed less oxidative damage and inflammation in the liver, kidneys and lungs.17 If you smoke, quitting comes first, and white peaches are an easy fruit to add while you work on it.
Study takeaway: after four days of three white peaches a day, 11 of 12 smokers excreted more nicotine breakdown products.
Do peaches raise blood sugar?
Quick answer
Only modestly. Raw peach measured about 42 on the glycemic index, the average of two tests, in the low range of 55 or below, and a 120-gram serving has a glycemic load of about 5, which is also low.222 Peaches canned in their own juice stay low, while syrup pushes the number up.
The glycemic index compares how much a food raises blood sugar with pure glucose, which scores 100, and fruits are usually low-glycemic foods.22 The glycemic load adjusts that number for a realistic portion. Both raw-peach tests were done in people with type 2 diabetes.2
The packing liquid makes the difference. Peaches canned in their own juice averaged 38 and light syrup 52, both still low, while heavy syrup scored 58, just into the medium range; each canned test used 7 to 11 adults.2 That fits the rule in The Biblio Diet: canned fruit with no added sugar is fine, and canned fruit in syrup goes on the avoid list.5
Over the long run, whole fruit and fruit juice point in different directions. Three large U.S. cohorts of 187,382 nurses and health professionals, with 12,198 new cases of type 2 diabetes, found that each 3 servings of whole fruit a week was linked to a 2% lower risk, while each 3 servings of fruit juice a week was linked to an 8% higher risk.15 For peaches, plums and apricots, which the food questionnaire counted together, the estimate pointed the same way, 3% lower, though the difference was too small to rule out chance.15 Lab tests hint at one more way peaches may help: extracts of 20 Polish peach varieties slowed enzymes that digest starch and fat, some varieties far more strongly than others.28
Eat your peach with protein or fat. My Insulin Resistance & Prediabetes protocol lists eating carbs on their own among the habits to avoid,29 so pair a peach with plain Greek yogurt, kefir, a handful of walnuts or a little goat cheese.
Three markers that show how your body handles sugar
A glycemic index describes how a food behaves on average. These markers show how your own body is handling sugar over time. Targets are Dr. Axe's functional ranges.
- HbA1c: Your average blood sugar over about three months. Dr. Axe's target is under 5.4%.
- Fasting insulin: How hard your body works to keep glucose steady. Dr. Axe's target is about 2 to 6 µIU/mL.
- Triglyceride-to-HDL ratio: A window on your metabolic health. Dr. Axe's target is under about 1.5.
See the cellular bloodwork panel
Have results? Analyze them free → →Should you eat peach skin?
Yes, unless you're allergic to peaches: the skin is where a peach keeps much of its antioxidant power. On my show I've made this point with an apple: "You know where all the antioxidants are on an apple? On the skin, right?"30 Peaches follow the same pattern.
Across 17 Chinese peach varieties, chlorogenic acid and catechin were the main polyphenols in both peel and flesh, and peel extracts showed higher antioxidant activity, in step with their higher phenolic content.14 In three Pakistani varieties, the peel held 1,209 to 1,355 milligrams of phenolic compounds per 100 grams of dry weight, measured as gallic acid equivalents, compared with 712 to 881 milligrams in the flesh, and it carried more minerals as well.31 Peeling a peach throws much of that away, so wash it well and eat it whole. Because you eat the skin, peaches are also a fruit to buy organic, as the buying section explains.
Are white peaches healthier than yellow peaches?
Both are healthy, and they differ mainly in their pigments. Yellow flesh builds up carotenoids, orange pigments that include the ones your body can turn into vitamin A, while white-fleshed peaches break more of those pigments down into aroma compounds, which give white peaches their more intense scent.911 USDA has no separate record for white peaches, so the nutrition numbers on this page describe yellow peaches.1 White peaches are the variety tested in the smokers study in the benefits section above.17 Pick by taste, and if you want the most carotenoids, choose a deep golden yellow peach.13
How many peaches can you eat a day?
Quick answer
A medium peach counts as one serving of fruit, and The Biblio Diet suggests three to four servings of fruit a day if you're healthy and active.5 With weight, blood sugar, heart or inflammatory conditions, the book narrows fruit to two servings a day from its low-sugar list.
In The Biblio Diet, Jordan Rubin and I point out that it's always better to eat some fruit than none at all.5 For weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, inflammatory conditions or Candida overgrowth, the book sets fruit at two servings a day of low-sugar fruits: avocado, lemons, limes, strawberries, blueberries, apples (especially green apples with the skin), blackberries, olives and grapefruit.5 If you're healthy and active, we recommend three to four servings a day, and peaches are on the shopping list for the book's seven-day jump-start plan, three to four fresh or a bag of frozen.5
How to eat, buy and store peaches
Eat one whole for an afternoon snack, skin and all, with a few almonds.
Slice into plain yogurt or kefir and top with walnuts and a pinch of cinnamon.
Grill halves brushed with olive oil for a few minutes per side, then top with goat cheese.
Toss into a salad like these balsamic peaches with goat cheese over arugula.
Blend frozen slices into a kefir smoothie; if you want it sweeter, add a little raw honey.
Buy ripe, local and in season. In Heal Your Cells, Dr. Will Cole and I explain that most fruits and vegetables in the U.S. are picked before they're fully ripe, which cuts them off from the tree right when they're building their richest supply of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; local, seasonal produce picked at peak ripeness is the better choice.12 In the summer, my family goes to our local farmers market pretty much every week for our fruit and vegetables.32 A ripe peach smells sweet and gives slightly when you press near the stem.
Buy organic when you can. In USDA's 2022 testing, 97.9% of 419 fresh peach samples had at least one detectable pesticide residue, while 59.3% of 258 frozen peach samples had none detected.33 My advice is to know the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 and to wash your fruits and vegetables.34 Peel matters, too: if you take the peel off a fruit, like a grapefruit, buying it organic is less important,35 and a peach is one you eat skin and all, so it's worth buying organic.
Wash non-organic peaches well. In a lab study on apples, a baking-soda solution (about 2 teaspoons per quart of water) beat tap water and a bleach wash, clearing the surface residue of two pesticides in 12 to 15 minutes; it couldn't reach residue that had soaked into the peel, one more reason to buy organic peaches when you can.36
Store firm peaches on the counter until they ripen, then refrigerate them and eat them within a few days. Wash them just before eating.
Are fresh, frozen or canned peaches better?
Organic fresh or frozen peaches are best, and canned peaches are fine when they have no added sugar.5 Per 100 grams, canned peaches carry less vitamin C and potassium than fresh ones but more beta-carotene; the USDA values below include the packing liquid.13738
| Per 100 g | Fresh yellow peach | Canned in water | Canned in juice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 39 | 24 | 44 |
| Total sugars | 8.39 g | 4.81 g | 10.3 g |
| Fiber | 1.5 g | 1.3 g | 1.3 g |
| Vitamin C | 6.6 mg | 2.9 mg | 3.6 mg |
| Potassium | 190 mg | 99 mg | 128 mg |
| Beta-carotene | 162 mcg | 264 mcg | 189 mcg |
Not sure how peaches fit your plan?
Ask Dr. Axe AI. Answers are grounded in this library, with sources shown.
Peach side effects & who should be careful
Quick answer
Peaches are a safe everyday food for most people. The cautions are peach allergy, which ranges from an itchy mouth to severe reactions; bloating in people sensitive to FODMAPs; and the kernel inside the pit.
Interaction check: Low. No medication interactions are documented for peaches at food amounts.
Can you be allergic to peaches?
Yes. Peach allergy is one of the more common fresh-fruit allergies in Europe, especially around the Mediterranean, and the share of Europeans sensitized to peach rose from 5.4% in 2010 to 7.9% in 2014.39 It shows up in two main patterns:
- An itchy mouth from raw peaches: In northern and central Europe, where birch pollen is common, peach allergy usually appears as oral allergy syndrome, itching of the lips, tongue and mouth from raw fruit after the immune system has been sensitized to a similar pollen protein.4039 That protein breaks down with heat, so cooked peaches are usually tolerated.39
- Reactions that can be severe: Around the Mediterranean, the main culprit is a lipid transfer protein called Pru p 3. It holds up to heat and digestion, so cooking doesn't break it down, and reactions range from mouth symptoms to anaphylaxis.39 It's concentrated in the skin: yellow peach peel carried about seven times more of it than the flesh.4139
Can peaches cause bloating?
They can in people sensitive to FODMAPs, the fermentable sugars that bother many people with irritable bowel syndrome. In an Australian lab analysis of 41 fruits, clingstone peaches were among those with more fructose than glucose,42 and fructose and sorbitol that aren't fully absorbed can trigger bloating, gas and other IBS-type symptoms in sensitive people.43
Is a peach pit poisonous?
The kernel inside it is. The almond-like seed inside a peach pit contains amygdalin, which can release hydrogen cyanide when the seed is crushed and broken down, and large amounts cause cyanide poisoning.44 Eat the fruit and throw the pit away whole.
Who should be careful with peaches:
If peaches have ever made your mouth itch or caused hives or swelling, avoid them and get tested by an allergist, who can tell the two allergy patterns apart; don't test them at home, raw or cooked
Throat swelling, trouble breathing or dizziness after eating any food is an emergency: call 911
With IBS or a FODMAP-sensitive gut, start with a smaller portion eaten with a meal, and work with a practitioner if you follow a low-FODMAP plan
The bottom line
Should you eat peaches?
Yes. A ripe peach is one of the easiest whole foods to add to your day: sweet enough to replace a dessert, low on the glycemic index, and a source of vitamin C, copper, fiber and polyphenols concentrated in its skin. People have grown peaches for thousands of years, and human studies now link them to lower oxidative activity in the blood after a single serving and, in a large study of women, a lower risk of ER-negative breast cancer. Whenever you want something sweet, I recommend fruit over added sugar, and a peach is a delicious place to start.6
Buy peaches ripe, local and organic when you can, eat them whole with the skin, and pair them with yogurt, nuts or goat cheese. Then enjoy them all summer, when they're at their ripest.
Get the free Healthy Weight & Metabolic Reset protocol
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Open the free protocol → →Peaches: frequently asked questions
Are peaches good for you?
What vitamins are in peaches?
Peaches are richest in vitamin C, with 11% of the daily value in a medium peach, plus smaller amounts of niacin (8%), vitamin E (7%), vitamin K and vitamin A, and the carotenoids beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin.1
How many calories are in a peach?
A medium 150-gram peach has about 59 calories, or 39 calories per 100 grams.1
How much sugar is in a peach?
A medium peach has 12.6 grams of natural sugar, along with 2.25 grams of fiber and about 133 grams of water.1
Do peaches raise blood sugar?
Only modestly. Raw peach measured about 42 on the glycemic index, which is low, and a 120-gram serving has a glycemic load of about 5; peaches canned in heavy syrup scored 58.2
What are the benefits of white peaches?
White peaches have a human study of their own: in a study with no comparison group, 11 of 12 male smokers excreted more nicotine breakdown products after eating three white peaches a day for four days.17 In a lab comparison of 20 varieties, light-fleshed peaches were high in phenolic acids and flavonols and strongly slowed a starch-digesting enzyme.28
Are white or yellow peaches healthier?
Should you eat peach skin?
Are canned peaches healthy?
Are frozen peaches as good as fresh?
Is a peach pit poisonous?
The kernel inside the pit is. It contains amygdalin, which can release cyanide when the seed is crushed and broken down, so never crack or eat a peach kernel.44
Can peaches cause bloating?
What's the difference between a peach and a nectarine?
How many peaches can you eat a day?
If you're healthy and active, The Biblio Diet suggests three to four servings of fruit a day, and a medium peach counts as one.5 With weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, inflammatory conditions or Candida overgrowth, the book narrows fruit to two servings a day from its low-sugar list.5
Should you buy organic peaches?
Yes, when you can. You eat the skin, and in USDA's 2022 testing, 97.9% of fresh peach samples had at least one detectable pesticide residue.33
Freshness & update log
October 3, 2026 — Rewritten and re-sourced. Re-pulled the nutrition facts from USDA FoodData Central, with the daily value for a medium peach; added peaches' measured glycemic index and the values for canned peaches; added the human research on peaches (breast cancer risk in the Nurses' Health Study, whole fruit versus fruit juice and type 2 diabetes, blended peach and blood antioxidants, white peaches in smokers, and a genetic study of inflammation); labeled cell and animal research as such, noted that the cell line in the peach lab and mouse cancer studies has been traced to melanoma, and corrected the earlier statement that researchers recommend two to three peaches a day for breast cancer patients, which was the researchers' dose estimate from a mouse study; removed benefits based on peach flower, leaf, seed and gum extracts, which are different products; replaced the suggestion to try peach seeds with a clear warning never to eat the kernel; removed the advice to eat peaches earlier in the day; added guidance on peach allergy, FODMAPs and pesticide residues; and scored peaches with the Dr. Axe Score.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. Peaches, yellow, raw. FoodData Central, SR Legacy, FDC ID 169928 (NDB 09236). Published April 1, 2019.
- Foster-Powell K, Holt SH, Brand-Miller JC. International table of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2002. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;76(1):5-56. doi:10.1093/ajcn/76.1.5
- Ko SH, Choi SW, Ye SK, et al. Comparison of the antioxidant activities of nine different fruits in human plasma. J Med Food. 2005;8(1):41-6. doi:10.1089/jmf.2005.8.41
- Fung TT, Chiuve SE, Willett WC, et al. Intake of specific fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer among postmenopausal women. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2013;138(3):925-30. doi:10.1007/s10549-013-2484-3
- Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439 (food lists: Fruits; fruit servings guidance; seven-day jump-start shopping list).
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