Pear

Food · Fruit · Food, Typed Supps

One of the higher-fibre fruits, most of it in a form that slows digestion.

Stage by stage

Intake (Grainy texture chewed): Its grainy texture from stone cells requires thorough chewing.
Stomach (Fiber slows emptying): Fiber begins slowing gastric emptying.
Small intestine (Sugar absorption slowed): Fiber and natural sugar are absorbed together, with fibre slowing the release.
Bloodstream (Steadier glucose rise): A steadier blood sugar rise results compared to a lower-fibre fruit of the same sugar content.

Timing

Ripens best at room temperature after a stint in the fridge; check for softening near the stem.

Time to effect

Same meal: Its fibre content contributes to a slower blood sugar rise than an equivalent amount of pear juice.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free.

In season

September to December in the northern hemisphere, March to June in the southern.

Satiety

201 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — very high. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Environmental footprint

0.4 kg CO2e and 180 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Apples" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Cheap — roughly £2 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 55.9
Protein: 0.4g
Carbohydrate: 12.1g
of which sugars: 9.6g
Fat: 0g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 3.8g
Sodium: 0mg

Food vs. supplement

A medium pear has close to 6g of fibre — more than most fibre supplement doses in a single serving — packaged with water and natural sugar rather than an isolated fibre powder.

Kitchen tip

Leave the skin on — it holds a meaningful share of the fruit’s total fibre and antioxidant content.

Common myth

Pears need to be soft to be ripe enough to eat. In reality: Some varieties, like Bartlett, do soften noticeably when ripe, but others like Bosc stay fairly firm even at peak ripeness — checking near the stem is more reliable than overall firmness.