Fruit and Diabetes

[Dario]

I want to give this a try. Yesterday I wend fruit shopping at Lotus. I got bananas, kiwi, oranges, pomelo, pineapple, dragon fruit and Nam Dogmai mangoes. I already had some grapes at home.

This morning I had a dragon fruit, an extra long banana, a kiwi and grapes, altogether half a kilo. I ha now a supply for several days, maybe a week.

[Sheryl]

16 hours ago, Maybole said:

i weighed my breakfast this morning, it was just under 400gm and consisted of pineapple, banana, papaya and dragon fruit in nearly equal quantities,cut to bite sized chunks, followed by a boiled egg and coffee.

Rather high in carbs for a diabetic meal, on the low side for protein (though possibly you make up for that in subsequent meals?) and very low in fats which contrary to what some people assume, is not a good thing. Fatty acids are an essential nutrient, and fats slow digestion which helps stabilize blood sugar.

 

Up to you, but I would still recommend reducing the fruit portion size (reducing, not eliminating) and adding the fruit to something with fat and protein, like unsweetened greek yogurt.

[Dario]

On 2/6/2025 at 2:20 PM, Sheryl said:

An A1c of 6.0 - 6.2 is  very good for a diabetic. Usual aim in management of diabetes is to stay below 7.0.

 

OP with fruit it very much depends on what type of fruit and the quantity (half a kilo a day does sound rather a lot).  Berries, apples, oranges are comparatively low on the glycemic index. You can google "glycemic index fruit " to compare.

 

The form of the fruit matters, you talk about "mixed chopped fruit", I'm not sure what you mean by that, but fruit that has been processed will have less fiber (important to blood sugar regulation)  and the more minced/chopped a piece of fruit is beforehand,  the more rapidly its sugar will be released.  Eating whole fruits would be better. 

 

Also matters what else you eat at the same time as this can affect the speed with which sugars are absorbed.  If you are eating fruit by itself as your breakfast, not a great idea. Taken with greek yogurt or other foods that contain both protein and fat would be wiser. 

 

AS other poster suggested you can  assess how specific foods sre affecting you by doing home blood test after meals.

 

Thete is certainly no need to completely avoid all fruits but a half kilo  of minced/chopped fruit every day at one sitting does seem excessive....and not consistent with the good original advice given by your doctor. 

 

 

 

I googled "glycemic index fruit". Reading the whole list is very, very interesting. I made for me a little list of the fruit with the lowest GI and GL. I see that all berries are the once with the lowest. Thank you, Sheryl! Grapefruit is also very low on the list. One of my favorites, but don't find any nowadays, probably can get in Bangkok city, but I live out in the sticks.

[mstevens]

10 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Rather high in carbs for a diabetic meal, on the low side for protein (though possibly you make up for that in subsequent meals?) and very low in fats which contrary to what some people assume, is not a good thing. Fatty acids are an essential nutrient, and fats slow digestion which helps stabilize blood sugar.

 

Up to you, but I would still recommend reducing the fruit portion size (reducing, not eliminating) and adding the fruit to something with fat and protein, like unsweetened greek yogurt.

 

Very, very strongly agree with this excellent advice.

 

I should note that I am not diabetic but that aside, my breakfast usually includes a couple of the following: Greek yoghurt, eggs, macadamia nuts and avocado. The idea of prioritising protein and fat for breakfast sets you up well for the day.

 

As far as fruit at breakfast time goes, limit it to one piece. And if at all possible, keep the quantity small and choose something low-sugar like berries or Kiwi fruit.