What you need to know about raspberries – and yes, they're good for you

Easily one of the tastiest and most popular fruits,–  raspberries generate more than $432 million in sales annually across the U.S. – and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't count them among their favorite fruits to eat. 

"Raspberries are beautiful to look at, delicious, highly sought after and eating them feels like an indulgence," says Leslie Bonci, a sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs and founder of Active Eating Advice.

They also have an intense taste that is both tart and sweet at the same time, "which gives them a more complex flavor profile, so they are more versatile in recipes than other fruits," adds Katherine Tallmadge, a nutrition author and registered dietitian at Personalized Nutrition.

Indeed, you'll find the fruit used in a host of baked goods recipes including pies, cakes and tarts. Raspberries or raspberry flavoring are also popular in jams and jellies, pudding, fruit salad and vinaigrettes, and as a topping on granola, waffles, cereal, pancakes and oatmeal – though many people prefer to eat them fresh and by the handful. 

Are raspberries good for you?

No matter how you enjoy them, raspberries offer a host of health benefits. They contain nutrients like protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, niacin, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin K, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Bonci says their amount of dietary fiber – a whopping 8 grams in a single cup – makes the fruit especially beneficial as fiber is critical for digestive health and healthy cholesterol levels. "Eating just one cup of raspberries basically amounts to 1/3 of a women's fiber requirement daily and 1/4 of what a man needs," she says. 

Tallmadge says that raspberries are also unique because they modulate or affect some 119 genes in positive ways, "turning on healthy genes and turning down unhealthy genes in ways that have profound health effects." 

She especially praises the anthocyanins or phytonutrients in raspberries for lowering one's risk of cancer and for protecting against cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and dementia "through their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties."

Raspberries are also important for blood sugar management. "They have such a low glycemic index that even people with diabetes can eat them," says Tallmadge. 

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How many calories are in raspberries?

Another reason raspberries are considered good for you in because they are low in calories. "1 cup has less than 60 calories," says Bonci, "and there are only 2.7 grams of sugar per 3/4 cup." 

In fact, between their high amounts of dietary fiber – which also helps with feelings of fullness – and the fact that they are so low in calories, gives raspberries the highest fiber-to-calorie ratio of any other fruit and makes them one of the best foods for healthy weight management, says LeeAnn Weintraub, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant based in Los Angeles. "However, I should point out that nutrition and health is about a person's overall pattern of eating, not individual foods alone," she adds. 

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Do raspberries have any downsides?

Despite all their benefits, raspberries have some downsides to consider. These include being relatively fragile – "most of us discovered a carton of smashed raspberries upon returning from the grocery store," says Tallmadge – and being more expensive than many other fruits.

"Raspberries also have a pretty short window of freshness and should be eaten soon after picking or purchasing," says Weintraub. 

And they have a shorter picking season than many other fruits. "Because of this," offers Bonci, "my advice is to buy them when they are in season, then freeze them to enjoy all year long."