FOODPICKER.org Question of the Month (July 2011) Subject: Fruit and Pre-Diabetes?

I was diagnosed as having pre-diabetes earlier this year. Since then I have completely changed my eating habits and become a vegetarian. I’ve lost weight but want to lose more. Can you tell me which fruits have a high sugar content? I am wondering about apples, raisins, bananas, and strawberries. I already know I need to avoid orange juice. Thanks for your help!

Great question!!! Fruit is full of antioxidants, fiber and other health benefits. However, it can be hard to consume a multiple of them if you have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes and may be following a restrictive diet. The good news is that they should still be incorporated into your meal plan! Remember portion control. Looking at the total carbohydrate content per portion, not only sugar content is very important.

I may have touched upon some desert ideas using fruit in my last blog post pertaining to BBQ’ing (yeah it has been a while), but I will go and pull those up.

When it comes to desert try choosing low carbohydrate items and again sticking to portion sizes. Avoid ice-cream with added candies, syrups or sugars. If you have eaten a large meal probability may be that you have already consumed a high carbohydrate load. Try whole fruit sorbet, frozen fruit, sugar free gelatin desserts etc. Great recipes can be found at: http://www.kraftbrands.com/jello/

There are some tips you can use to help you enjoy fruit without having to eat a lot of them. For example: Freezing fruit. Frozen fruits may take longer to eat, sometimes leading you to be content with a smaller portion. Adding fruits to sugar-free gelatin is also a great snack. Cut fruit up into bit size pieces to get more out of the piece or whole fruit. Dried fruit is usually a much smaller portion. You want to read labels, and avoid consuming fruits that have been dried with sugar. This will most likely contain higher grams of carbohydrates per serving, and you should eat even less of those. When consuming canned fruits remember to choose the fruits packed in natural fruit juice. Remember to read labels and how many servings are in the can. A whole can is usually not 1 serving, but 2 or 3. Also remember to check the carbohydrate content per serving.

Recently I made a list of some common fruits and the carbohydrate content in them. I will share them with you, posted below. This will be a great way to have an idea about which fruits have lower carbohydrate content. You can determine which you can eat larger portions of, and others that you may need to restrict to smaller portions in order to fit the fruit into your meal plan.

Remember that for diabetes 15 grams of carbohydrates equals 1 serving of fruit.

Fruits moderately low in carbohydrate per serving with a higher fiber content are starred. Fruits with higher fiber often take longer to digest and also help to keep our bowels moving. I recommend eating the skin of fruits whenever possible.

Quantity	ITEM	KCALS	CARBS (g)	FIBER (g)
1 Medium – Large	Apple	95	25	4
1 Medium – Large	Banana	105	27	3	*
1/4 cup	Cherries	8	1.8	0.3
1/2 cup	Grapes	52	14	0.7
1 whole	Kiwi	42	10	2
1 whole	Lemon	17	5.41	1.6
1 whole	Lime	20	7.06	1.9
1/2 cup	Mango	50	13	1.3
1 cup	Watermelon	46	12	0.6
1 cup	Cantaloupe	60	15	1.6	*
1	Navel orange	69	18	3.1	*
1 cup	Papaya	62	16	2.5
1 cup	Peach	60	15	2.3	*
1 cup	Pear	81	22	4.3
1 cup	Pineapple	82	22	2.3
1 Small	Plum	30	7.54	0.9
1/2 cup	Pomegranate	72	16.27	3.5	*
1/2 cup	Strawberries	84	21.18	6.6	*
1 oz (60 small)	Raisins	85	22.45	1