Apple vs pear: calories compared

On fiber the pear wins. The USDA records on this page give raw Bartlett pears 3.1 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) and raw apples with skin 2.4 g. A cup of pear slices (4.9 oz, 140 g) carries about 4.3 g, a cup of chopped apple (4.4 oz, 125 g) about 3.0 g. On blood sugar there is no clear winner. In 61 people with type 2 diabetes, the glycemic index came out at 60 for pears and 63 for apples. Cohorts count the two together, so their 14% lower diabetes risk at the highest intake cannot tell them apart.

Juice behaves like a different food. In 23 healthy adults, LDL cholesterol was 6.9% higher on clear apple juice than on whole apples. In children of about one to five, pear juice left carbohydrate incompletely absorbed in 84%, against 41% after apple juice. Apple juice also cut blood levels of the allergy drug fexofenadine by about half.

Both can set off the itchy mouth of birch pollen allergy. Among 15 allergy clinic patients who already reacted to pear, 14 reacted to Conference pears, and an apple bred to be hypoallergenic was tolerated worse than ordinary ones. CDC lists pieces of hard raw apple among choking hazards for young children.

Eat either one whole, and choose the pear for a little more fiber.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level B In 61 people with type 2 diabetes the glycemic index of pears measured 60, and it did not differ statistically from seven other common fruits tested the same way. Diabet Med, 1995
2. Level C Observational data link eating the most apples or pears with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes, pooled from 6 cohorts with 339,383 people. Current Developments in Nutrition, 2019, Effects of Intake of Apples, Pears, or Their Products on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
3. Level B Turning an apple into clear juice does not weaken its effect on cholesterol, it reverses it: whole apples lowered LDL by about 7 percent while clear juice raised it by about 7 percent. Ravn-Haren et al., European Journal of Nutrition, 2013
4. Level B One age sized serving of pear juice left carbohydrate incompletely absorbed in 84% of children aged about 1 to 5, against 41% after apple juice and about 20% after grape juice, with no difference between the juices in the 5 year olds. J Am Coll Nutr, 1997
5. Level B In a crossover trial of 14 adults, apple juice taken once with the allergy drug fexofenadine cut its blood levels by 49 and 59 percent for its two forms. Eur J Clin Pharmacol, 2014
6. Level B Among 15 birch pollen allergic adults with a history of pear allergy, 14 of 15 reacted to Conference pears and 12 of 15 to Cepuna pears in blinded oral challenges. Nutrients, 2021
7. Level B An apple bred to be hypoallergenic was tolerated worse than three ordinary varieties, which means the amount of the main allergen does not predict who reacts. Kschonsek et al. / Vlieg-Boerstra group, International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, 2013
8. Level E The CDC lists pieces of hard raw fruit, such as raw apples, among potential choking hazards for young children. CDC, Infant and Toddler Nutrition: Choking Hazards

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Apple and pear: one small trial and a lot of cohorts
• An apple a day, and the juice that undoes it
• Pears: a mild fruit with two specific cautions

Rankings and guides

• Calories: what it does and what the evidence shows
• Which foods give the most protein for the fewest calories?
• Dietary fat: what it does and how much you need
• Apple: full nutrition facts
• Pear: full nutrition facts

• Apple: USDA FoodData Central, Apples, raw, with skin (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program), FDC ID 171688 · full profile · all forms of apple
• Pear: USDA FoodData Central, Pears, raw, bartlett, FDC ID 746773 · full profile · all forms of pear

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.