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Can I have any kind of fruit to eat?
If you’re also wondering whether fresh fruit can be part of a healthy diet or what type of fruit is best to eat with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, you’re in the right place.
Unfortunately, when it comes to fruit there are some limitations, which can be a bit disappointing for some people who do love their fruit.
However, there are still plenty of options and when you stick to the right types of fruit in an appropriate portion size, you can still keep blood sugar levels within a healthy range.
Let’s talk about why certain fruit can be problematic, then go over your best fruit options. Plus we’ve got some frequently asked questions and a blood testing technique you can use to evaluate how different fruits affect you.
Fruit is Sugar
Of course you probably know that “added sugar” is your enemy.
Consuming added sugar, which is now found in thousands of food products, is linked to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and other health conditions.
But fruit, it’s often considered a “healthy” food, right? But the thing is, fruit also has a fairly high sugar content.
Although fruit is a natural food source, one thing to keep in mind is that fruit is high in natural sugar, predominantly fructose. This can be slightly problematic for a few different reasons.
All forms of sugar/ carbs can increase blood sugar levels – natural or not, sugar is sugar and your body is going to have to deal with that. The pancreas is forced to deal out more insulin, your cells have to welcome more glucose, and your liver has to process more fructose.
Fructose is managed solely by the liver and diabetes is partly a pancreas and a liver problem. Therefore, you don’t need to clog up the liver anymore by adding the extra load of too much additional fructose.
Fruit juice is an even worse offender than fruit itself. When you consume juice, it can be taken in larger quantities, and does not have the fiber to slow down the uptake of all that sugar and fructose.
Another thing people often mention is glycemic index. While glycemic index does count to a certain degree, at the end of the day, the amount of carbs in a food is most important because the net carbs (available carbs) will all end up in your bloodstream.
One thing you have to keep in mind at all times is your primary goal: keeping your blood glucose and A1c within the healthy range.
Still, that’s not to say all fruit should be excluded from your diet to maintain good blood sugar control.
In fact, if you choose the right fruit, it provides an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other beneficial health properties.
So let’s talk about what types of fruits to include as part of your meal plan, and how much people can generally handle.
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Best Fruit For Type 2 Diabetes
YES, most people can have these
Per 1/4 cup:
- Lemon juice 4.21 g carbs
- Lime juice 5 g carbs
YES, most people can have these
Per half cup:
- Strawberries (75 g) Total carbs 5.5 g Net carbs: 4.3 g (GI:25) (BEST)
- Raspberries (61.5 g) Total carbs 7.3 g Net carbs: 3.3 g (GI:25) (Highest in fiber) (BEST)
- Blackberries (72 g) Total carbs 6.9 g Net carbs 1.8 g (GI:25) (Highest in fiber) (BEST)
- Blueberries (76 g) Total carbs 10.7 g Net carbs: 8.9 g (GI:25)
- Cherries (77 g) Total carbs 12.3 g Net carbs: 10.4 g (GI:25)
- Grapefruit (115 g) Total carbs 12.5 g Net carbs 10.6 g (GI:25)
- Cranberries (raw) (55 g) Total carbs 6.7 g Net carbs: 4.2 g (GI:45) – do not eat the dried sweetened cranberries, these are around 50 g carbs per half cup.
YES, some people can have these (in small, moderated portions):
- 1 passionfruit (18 g) Total carbs 4 g Net carbs: 2 g (GI:30)
- Cantaloupe/rockmelon (78 g) Total carbs 6.5 g Net carbs 5.8 g (GI: 65) – per half cup
- 1 guava (55 g) Total carbs 7.8 g Net carbs: 4.8 g (GI:12)
- 1 small fresh fig (40 g) Total carbs 7.6 g Net carbs: 6.4 g (GI:35)
- 1 small plum (66 g) Total carbs 7.5 g Net carbs: 6.6 g (GI:35)
- 1 small clementine/ mandarin (74 g) Total carbs 9 g Net carbs 7.7 g (GI:25)
- 1 kiwifruit (69 g) Total carbs 10 g Net carbs 7.9 g (GI:50)
- 1 small peach (130 g) Total carbs 12 g Net carbs: 10 g (GI:35)
NOTE: cantaloupe/rockmelon and kiwifruit are higher GI than other fruits listed.
Some people can tolerate half a small apple or half a small pear. One whole apple is around 20.58 grams total carbs, 16.9 grams net carbs, which as a whole apple is just too many sugar/carbs at one sitting.
All dried fruit is super high in carbs, meaning it is a no go for diabetes.
BLOOD SUGAR TIP: Eat your fruit with a source of protein or fat.
This helps prevent blood sugar spikes, slowing down the uptake of sugars from the fruit.
For example:
- a half cup of strawberries with cottage cheese or yogurt
- a peach with cheddar cheese
- a half cup of blueberries with a small handful of nuts
Portion size matters – when it comes to fruit, get your sweet fix in small portions. If you do not portion control, you’ll likely find your blood sugar will sky rocket.
Servings of fruit per day – it is best to stick to just one serve a day, in appropriate portion sizes.
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FAQs
Can eating fruit help me lose weight?
No. Achieving a healthy weight certainly involves eating a healthy diet, including the right fruits. But with type 2 diabetes, the key to weight loss is shifting your whole metabolism.
This means focusing on whole food sources, healthy fats, protein and carbs mainly from non-starchy vegetables. When you can get blood sugar and A1c levels more regulated, metabolism improves and weight loss occurs naturally as a result.
What about in vegetarian diets? Can I eat more fruit?
No. Vegetarian diets are perfectly healthy, we even have a vegetarian version of our weekly diabetes meal plans. But one of the areas people struggle with on vegetarian diets is eating too many carbs.
Too many carbs equals a greater difficulty to control blood sugar, along with higher cholesterol, difficulty in losing weight etc. Therefore, eating more fruit is not going to help you achieve your goals.
What about prediabetes, does eating fruit increase diabetes risk?
If you eat too much fruit, probably.
If you have prediabetes, you also have metabolic dysregulation and your goal is to lower blood sugar and A1c.
Therefore, like people with type 2 diabetes, keeping a tight check on portion size and choosing appropriate fruit options will help you achieve your goals.
When is the best time to eat fruits and how much is a healthy proportion?
See the portion sizes outlined above.
As for best time to eat fruit, there is no specific time. Enjoy fruit when you feel like it, as long as you stick to appropriate portions and limit your intake to one serving per day.
My blood sugars rise substantially when I eat fruit, should I avoid it?
The answer is, probably yes.
If you find your body reacts too much to fruit, making it difficult to keep blood sugar and A1c levels within range, then you are probably better off without it.
Being that there are so many other foods to choose from, living without fruit is entirely doable and still enjoyable.
Test, Test, Test
When it comes to fruit (or any other food for that matter) no two people will be the same!
Some people can tolerate a bit of fruit, others can tolerate none at all, including berries. The key is to test.
Test before you eat particular fruits and test again two hours after your meal – this is called monitoring in pairs.
Here’s the steps to monitor in pairs:
Step 1: Take your blood sugar level before a meal. Write it down.
Step 2: Eat your meal, setting your timer for 2 hours from your first bite of food.
Step 3: Take your levels 2 hours after your meal.
Step 4: Evaluate your readings. Question – how do I respond to this food? Are my levels under 140 mg/dL or above. If the answer is above (or way above), then you need to evaluate your food intake and make some changes.
Step 5: Monitor in pairs to compare foods and how they influence your blood sugar levels, especially carb/sugar-rich meals. For instance, monitor your levels one day when you have fruit for breakfast, then another day when you have a veggie omelet. What is the difference?
Use your blood sugar monitor to help you determine how foods influence your body. That’s the only way you’ll truly know.
In general however, the best fruit for diabetes is berries, they are low carb, full of healthful properties, and are delicious as well. ;)
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That is good information
Checking in. Fasting bs today was 138 – low for me. So far I am learning to change my diet and seeing results. A process! Thanks for help!!
Always a process Allyn and everyone goes at their own pace. Glad it’s all making sense and you’re seeing results. Thanks for checking in.
My favorite fruit is grapes… I was hoping to see those on the list. Are they not good for Type 2 ?
Grapes are a bit higher in sugar compared to other fruits, plus have minimal fiber to help balance blood sugar. For those reasons I would recommend you limit your intake of grapes, choose fruits like berries more often, and save grapes as a special treat once in awhile.
Question so I need to cut off my greek yougurt with Bleuberry so I can have Ouellette or what else
Greek yogurt with blueberries is not something you need to cut out. Berries are some of the best type of fruits to eat as you can see by the info above. 🙂
Same here but checked with my Doc and he advised me to avoid grapes and large bananas as they are too high in natural sugars
Hi. My diabetes dietician said I can only have 3 grapes/day.
Trying to understand what these A1C numbers mean. I have had the following results
10/30/2018 5.5%
3/19/2019 5.7%
9/4/2019 5.5%
5/1/2020 5.9% (indicated as high)
9/30/2020 6.4% (indicated as high)
1/5/2021 5.2%
7/1/2021 5.2%
The results for 1/5/2021 and 7/1/2021 were after going on a low carb diet limiting my carbs to 50 to 100g per day with maybe one serving of fruit per day and having lost about 30 pounds from the low carb diet. Do these results indicate better blood sugar control? I am confused about the numbers used to indicate A1C.
Great question! Yes, your two most recent labs indicate that your diet and lifestyle changes are having an incredibly positive impact on your blood sugar! Our blog contains a wealth of information about low carb diets and A1c, but this is one of my favorite resources for understanding your A1c. Keep up the great work!
What about watermelon? It has Lutein and is mostly water. I have heard that it has alot of sugar
how much or none at all?
We don’t recommend watermelon. One wedge has 22 grams carbs and very little fiber so it is all sugar.
How much skim milk can I take per day
Milk is higher in carbohydrates than other forms of dairy (about 12g per cup), so in general we’d suggest limiting to 1/2 cup per serve. Learn more about milk here.
Hi Emily
I started eating a lot of fruit to help lose 6 stone in 2012/13 having contracted type 2 diabetes. Everything was under control without medication until September 2017 when I had a Whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer. I have lost a third of my pancreas as well as my gallbladder and duodenum and bile duct (where the tumour was). My pancreas now doesn’t produce enough insulin as well as the enzymes for digesting my food. I was put on creon in copious amounts for enzyme replacement and I was put on four metformin per day but my sugar levels are 12-20 instead of 4-8. I’ve been eating lots of fruit per day. A palm full of each of blackberries, strawberries and blueberries and 1-2 bananas on my breakfast alternating with grapes and raspberries for the blackberries and strawberries. In the evening an apple, Orange, peach or nectarine and another banana.
I realise that I’m eating far far too much fruit that I love. My doctor says it’s okay but I think she is wrong.
How much fruit should I be eating per day to stay healthy, regular as regards the toilet and to get my sugar levels down to safe levels?
Derek
Hi Derek,
For the most part, 1-2 servings of fruit per day are enough for someone with diabetes. One serving equates to about 1/2 banana, 1 piece of fruit, or 1 cup of berries. Some can get away with more but this is dependent on the person. We can get fiber from non-starchy veggies, nuts, and seeds without all the carbohydrates. Monitor your sugars as well to see how you tolerate fruit.
Hello
Have a good day.
How many friut serve ( 1/2cup )
Can i have per day?
Is it safe to have 2 separate serves?
Laura, 2 servings may be okay, but 1 serving daily is probably better. If you find your sugar levels are not well controlled, or that your snacking of fruit in place of vegetables, then these are definitely signs you want to cut back your fruit intake. Remember, fruit is very high in fructose so in general you want to limit your intake.
How can I print Fruit fructose charts without printing the whole article? Also there are some other charts I would like to print and keep on my refrigerator for reference.
You should be able to copy and paste the images into a separate document to print. Someone from our support team should be able to help you out if you’re still having difficulty- just head over to this link.
I’ve just been diagnosed with diabetes and put in metformin. Sometimes I tend to start sweating but I feel fine . Does it mean low blood pressure? Also if I’m hungry at night before I go to bed , what can I eat?
Oops I meant low blood sugar
If you haven’t already, I would recommend purchasing a blood sugar meter (glucometer.) Sweating can be a sign of low blood sugar (<70mg/dL), and if that’s the case then you’d want to eat a small amount of sugar to raise your blood sugar to a safe level. This should all be closely discussed with your doctor since you have a new diagnosis. Check here and here for some snack ideas!
You say only one serving of fruit a day per half cup. I normally eat a half cup mixed berries after each meal(three times a day). I have never had any spikes in my glucose test. So I guess I’m good?
Everybody will respond differently to all types of food, and if your blood sugar and A1c levels are consistently with range then it may be okay to continue with what you are doing. With that being said, fruit contains high levels of fructose and that’s possibly a cause for concern even with your in range sugar levels.
Considering rotating in some alternative snacks to break up the monotony of berries three times a day, and help decrease your fructose consumption.
Thanks for your reply. I think I will cut back on the fruit. Fructose is one of those things that’s easy to forget about. I have lowered my A1c nearly in half so far. 13.3 to 7.2. So maybe this will help take it the rest of the way.
What is the best recipe for oatmeal cookies that are diabetic friendly?
Unfortunately there aren’t many options for a low carb oatmeal cookie. Oatmeal in and of itself is a high carb food- so when you start adding sweetener and raisins you run into even more blood sugar issues.
Here is an article with some much better dessert choices. Let us know which ones you try!
My Dr.Said glucose is way to hi How Do I get it down????
Based on the research we’ve reviewed, we believe a low carb diet is best for controlling glucose levels. Read here for 5 steps to get started with a low carb diet.
Hi. This is probably unrelated, but i have an actual sugar addiction and ive been diabetic since November 2015. I struggle with ways to eat that my stomach and taste buds will accept. I was always a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I don’t know how to change my diet properly where my food is actually tasty to me and also good for me. I try really hard but i just always fall back into my eating habits and its hard to keep control of my sugar
Have you tried using lots of herbs, spices, and citrus to season your meat and vegetables? Here is a two-day sample meal plan, not only are the recipes tasty, but it will give you some guidance when looking to change your current diet. If the meal plans are helpful to you we also offer memberships for weekly meal plans which you can find more information about here.
i cant afford to join your site for meals , where else can i find meal plans please
Our blog also contains a wealth of free information, such a here and here! Take a peek around.
Thank you for your support, Jedha!
It is much appreciated!
Is cottage cheese a good thing to eat with diabetes?????????
Yes, cottage cheese is a great low carb food!
I live in Angola. The fruits you recommend have to be imported and are extremely expensive, when found. Fruits we can find here are: Bananas, Papaya, oranges, pineapples, kiwis (imported), Sape-sape (graviola),Annona squamosa (fruta pinha), avocado, Caju, mangoes, pomegranate, passion fruit, coconut, guava, watermelon, medlar.
I usually eat 1 or 2 fruits for breakfast.
Would you please let me know which ones of the above mentioned fruits are good for a Type 2 diabetic?
Most fruits are high in carbs so will influence blood sugar and A1c more than other foods. Out of the options you have listed avocados and coconut are best. You could also eat 1 passionfruit, 1 kiwifruit, 1 guava, and only one per serve. And always pair fruit with a protein or fat, for instance cheese or nuts. You will have to research the nutrition facts for the other fruits as I am not familiar with some of them.
I have a problem with meats for breakfast
You mean eating meats Brenda? The solution: don’t eat meat for breakfast!
I’m gaining weight even if I quit eating the very common carbs like bread, rice, and pasta. Is it because I eat too much almonds and pumpkin seeds?
Yes Arlene it could be. Almonds and pumpkin seeds a high in fat, therefore high in calories so when overeaten, they can easily push up your overall calorie intake. Try to strike more of a balance by eating more non-starchy veggies, which are low calorie and high fiber.
Hello can please help me with the fruit best suited for type 1 diabetes.
Hi Sanddeep, sorry, our site is directed toward type 2 diabetics – this info on fruits is all we have.
hey Jedha
I use honey in my tea & coffee instead of sugar is this a good idea.
faried / south africa
Honey is exactly like sugar Faried so generally we don’t recommend it for a low carb diet. You can find more info on sweeteners here and here. We also have an article coming up on honey soon.
What great informaion! So helpful and applicable. I found a protein drink with zero sugar and 3 grams of carbs that i really like, however, it really spikes my numbers. Any idea why that might be happening and should i avoid?
What’s in the ingredients? Just because something says its low carb doesn’t necessarily make it good. Lots of protein drinks contain junk ingredients. Artificial sweeteners may also cause this, along with any other ingredient that might not agree with you. That’s always the interesting thing, even something like stevia, which is the sweetener we recommend, spikes the odd person. But yes, if it’s spiking your numbers, stop using it and look for another brand with different ingredients.
Thank you Jedha for replying but I can’t possible eat enough olives and seeds and nuts to get 2000 calories a day ……I would drink milk shakes but you know I can’t because of the sugar. I need real food that is high in calories.
marie
I am going to write up some info about this Marie as we’ve had this question several times. Stay tuned next week and we’ll publish it on the blog, I’ll give you lots of tips to get more calories.
I am from the island of grenadand Our fruits are slightly different we do not get fresh berries they’re always frozen does that make a difference becausr the only way we can use them is in smoothie
Hi Earline, frozen berries are fine and can be eaten with cottage cheese, plain yogurt or put into a protein smoothie.
I was told by a dietitian not to pair fruit with yogurt do to the sugar contents of both.
Hi Cynthia- the short answer is how does your body respond after pairing the 2? If your sugar goes up sky high, then yes, this would be a pair to avoid together. If your body seems to respond without issue then there is no reason to exclude.
A lot of it depends on what type of fruit and/or what type of yogurt you have chosen, and the portion size of which you are consuming. If you chose a plain, unsweetened yogurt with a few berries tossed in, then you may be able to tolerate this as a meal or snack. On the other hand, a sugar-sweetened yogurt plus loads of fruit is probably best left avoided.
I love all your information and it is so helpfull ……but I need to gain weight
without carbs I am having a hard time.
Thanks, marie
One way to gain weight Marie is through eating more calories. Sources of fat have the highest amount of calories per volume and they won’t increase blood sugar. Healthy fat sources – avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds, olives, that sort of thing.
Hello. I was wondering what you recommeND for sugar or day?
Tracy
Hi Tracy, do you mean sugar substitutes? You can find some info on that over here and here.
I use to eat a lot of watermelon, is this a fruit I can still enjoy? maybe in small portions?
John
Per one cup diced it’s around 11 g carbs, but watermelon is a high GI food (72) so will absorb fast and may spike blood sugar. If you do try eating it, or any other such sugary foods, always combine them with fats and/or proteins to slow down absorption. And monitor to see how they affect you. The fruits listed above are the best ones to stick to.
Merci bcp pour l aide que vous donnez aux diabetiques je vous remercie
Hello Chawmi. I don’t have any idea what you said but welcome :)
What about mangoes and bananas?
If they are not on the list, they are too high in carbs and cause blood sugar problems in most people.
This is one area I am sad to lose. I like to make jam .. ?
You can still make jam if you know how Giselle. :)
We use mixed berries and stevia to make a delicious sugar free jam. Put those on top of almond cookies and you’ve got a winner. You can find those and many other delicious recipes in our VIP Members Club! https://diabetesmealplans.com/vip/
Thanks for the info
You’re welcome Jacqueline. Glad you found it helpful :)