The nutritious peach is chock-full of antioxidants and may protect from heart disease, cancer, and moisture loss in your skin, among several other benefits.
They’re thought to have originated in China more than 8,000 years ago (1Trusted Source).
Peaches are related to plums, apricots, cherries, and almonds.
They’re considered drupes or stone fruit because their flesh surrounds a shell that houses an edible seed.
They can be eaten on their own or added to a variety of dishes.
What’s more, peaches are nutritious and may offer an array of health benefits, including improved digestion, smoother skin, and allergy relief.
Here are 10 surprising health benefits and uses of peaches.
1. Packed With Nutrients and Antioxidants
Peaches are rich in many vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds.
One medium-sized peach (5.4 ounces or 150 grams) provides approximately (2Trusted Source):
Calories: 58
Protein: 1 gram
Fat: less than 1
gram
Carbs: 14 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Vitamin
C:
17% of the Daily Value (DV)
Vitamin
A:
10% of the DV
Potassium: 8% of the DV
Niacin: 6% of the DV
Vitamin
E:
5% of the DV
Vitamin
K:
5% of the DV
Copper: 5% of the DV
Manganese: 5% of the DV
Peaches also offer smaller amounts of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and some B vitamins.
In addition, they’re packed with antioxidants — beneficial plant compounds that combat oxidative damage and help protect your body against aging and disease.
The fresher and riper the fruit, the more antioxidants it contains (3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).
In one study, juice from fresh peaches demonstrated antioxidant actions in healthy men within 30 minutes of consumption (7Trusted Source).
Fresh and canned peaches seem to have similar amounts of vitamins and minerals — as long as canned varieties are unpeeled (8Trusted Source, 9).
However, fresh peaches have higher levels of antioxidants and appear to be more effective at protecting against oxidative damage than canned ones (9, 10Trusted Source).
Peaches may contribute to healthy
Peaches may contribute to healthy digestion.
One medium-sized fruit provides about 2 grams of fiber — half of which is soluble fiber, while the other half is insoluble (2Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
Insoluble fiber adds bulk to your stool and helps move food through your gut, reducing the likelihood of constipation (12Trusted Source).
On the other hand, soluble fiber provides food for beneficial bacteria in your intestines.
In turn, these bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids — such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate — which feed the cells of your gut.
Short-chain fatty acids in your gut may also help reduce inflammation and improve symptoms of digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and ulcerative colitis (13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).
Peach flowers are another part of the fruit that may benefit digestion.
They’re commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat digestive disorders.
Animal research shows that compounds found in the flowers may effectively increase the strength and frequency of gut contractions, which helps maintain the proper rhythm to push food along smoothly (16Trusted Source).
While studies often use peach flower extract, an herbal tea made from the flowers is commonly consumed in Korea (17Trusted Source).
4. May Protect Your Skin
Peaches may have protective effects that help keep your skin healthy.
Test-tube studies indicate that compounds found in peaches may improve your skin’s ability to retain moisture — thus improving skin texture (24Trusted Source).
What’s more, both test-tube and animal studies show that extracts made from peach flowers or flesh applied directly to the skin may help prevent UV damage (25, 26Trusted Source, 27).
Peach flower extracts were also found to delay the development of skin tumors in mice (28Trusted Source).
However, more research in humans is needed before conclusions can be drawn
5. May Prevent Certain Types of Cancer
Like most fruits, peaches provide beneficial plant compounds that may offer some protection against various cancers.
Specifically, peach skin and flesh are rich in carotenoids and caffeic acid — two types of antioxidants found to have anticancer properties (29Trusted Source, 30Trusted Source, 31, 32Trusted Source).
Test-tube and animal research has also shown that compounds in peach seeds may limit the growth of non-cancerous skin tumors and prevent them from turning into cancerous ones (33Trusted Source).
Not to mention, peaches are full of polyphenols — a category of antioxidants shown to reduce the growth and limit the spreading of cancer cells in test-tube studies (34Trusted Source).
Peach polyphenols may have the ability to kill cancerous cells as well, without causing any damage to healthy ones (35Trusted Source).
In one animal study, these polyphenols were particularly effective at preventing a specific type of breast cancer from growing and spreading.
Researchers reported that a person would need to eat about two to three peaches a day to consume an amount of polyphenols equivalent to that used in the study (34Trusted Source).
In another study, postmenopausal women who consumed at least 2 peaches or nectarines each day had a 41% lower risk of breast cancer over 24 years (36Trusted Source).
However, few studies have been done in humans, so more research is needed.
6. May Reduce Allergy Symptoms
Peaches may reduce allergy symptoms.
When your body is exposed to an allergen, it releases histamines, or chemicals made by your immune system to help rid your body of the allergen.
Histamines are part of your body’s defense system and trigger allergy symptoms like sneezing, itching, or coughing.
Research shows that peaches may help reduce allergy symptoms by preventing the release of histamines in the blood (37Trusted Source).
Moreover, test-tube studies report that peach extracts may be effective as well and limit the inflammation commonly seen in allergic reactions (38Trusted Source, 39Trusted Source).
However, more research is needed to determine the strength of these effects in people with allergies.
reducing allergy symptoms. However, more studies — particularly in humans — are
needed.
7–9. Other Potential Benefits
Peaches may offer several other health benefits. The most well-researched include:
May boost immunity: Peaches
are rich in immune-boosting nutrients and antioxidants. Test-tube studies
report that they may also fight certain types of bacteria (40Trusted Source).
May protect against certain toxins:
In one
study, peach extracts given to smokers increased the removal of nicotine
through the urine (41Trusted Source).
May reduce blood sugar levels:
Studies show that compounds found in peaches may help prevent high blood sugar levels and
insulin resistance in obese rats (22Trusted Source).
That said, these studies were small, and most of these benefits have not been observed in humans.
10. Widely Available and Easy to Add to Your Diet
Peaches are easy to find and can be added to your diet in many ways.
They can be eaten raw, baked, grilled, broiled, or sautéed and are easily incorporated into warm or cold dishes alike.
For instance, fresh peaches make a great nutrient-rich snack and can be eaten either on their own or topped with yogurt and a handful of nuts.
Peaches can be added to salads or stirred into a hearty chickpea curry.
They add an unexpected touch to salsa and are also a popular ingredient in many desserts.
Lastly, peaches can be blended into a smoothie or gently mashed to add flavor to your water.
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