The Best Fruit for Diabetes. I Finally Found it!

hello blood sugar Champions what is the best fruit for people with diabetes I wanted to find out for myself so I bought 20 most popular fruits and during the last 20 days ate every single one of them 1 hour after eating each fruit I tested my blood sugar to see how much it spiked but that's not all I also studied carb content fiber content and the glycemic index of each fruit to see if there is a link between these data points and how my blood sugar reacts to those fruits and I think we got the winner it's right here in this bowl keep in mind I'm not a doctor I'm not a nutritionist I'm just someone who's lived with diabetes 35 years and has a personal experience with this condition so here is what we're going to do we're going to divide the 20 most popular fruits in three buckets green buckets with fruits causing only a mild blood sugar Spike AKA blood sugar friendly fruits yellow bucket with fruits causing a moderate blood sugar Spike AKA okay fruits and red bucket with fruits that can cause a steep blood sugar Spike let's start with the most popular fruit there is bananas bananas are a good source of vitamin B6 or pottassium but let's see what they do to our blood sugar an average banana has 23 carbs per 100 G when we deduct 3 G of fiber we get to 20 net carbs that's quite a lot of carbs remember the basic rule the more carbs you eat the bigger blood sugar Spike you will get but the next important thing to look at is the glycemic index or GI the higher the GI is the faster your blood sugar Spike will be an average banana has a GI of 51 that's actually not that bad but in combination with the high carb content bananas Spike blood sugar quite a lot and that's exactly what I could see in my blood sugar test and therefore I put bananas in the red bucket now let me be clear I'm not saying that you're not allowed to eat bananas at all but what I am saying is consider smaller portions anytime you're eating any fruit from the red bucket eating half a banana is perfectly fine but you don't need to eat three of them right plus if you are an insulin dependent diabetic like me pay close attention how much insulin you need for that banana banana and when exactly you should take that insulin next up are apples apples are a great source of vitamin C and many important minerals plus they are much lower in carbs than bananas an average Apple has 14 carbs per 100 G and when we deduct 2 G of fiber we get to 12 net carbs not bad but not that great for me personally fruits that have less than 10 net carbs for 100 G are great fruits between 10 and 15 net carbs are okay and that's exactly where apples land but the next important thing to look at is the glycemic index the general recommendation of the American Diabetes Association is going for foods with GI of less than 55 for me less than 55 is okay but less than 40 is where I want to be that's my sweet spot and app have a GI of 39 which is actually very good but when I tested my blood sugar after eating apples I could still see a noticeable blood sugar Spike although the blood sugar didn't Spike as high and as fast when compared to bananas therefore we're going to put apples in the yellow bucket with fruits in the yellow bucket I know that I can eat a bigger portion or a medium-sized portion like one whole mediumsized apple is perfectly fine but I still do pay close attention to my insulin dose and timing of that insulin because if I get that right I know that my blood sugar after eating an apple will not Spike very high and I will stay in the optimal range moving on to another very popular fruit grapes grapes are an awesome source of antioxidants plus they can be incredibly tasty and refreshing on a summer day but they can also be very sweet so let's have a look what they do to our blood sugar grapes have around 18 carbs per 100 gram deducting 1 G of fiber gets up to 17 net carbs that's a lot of carbs the glycemic index of grapes is around 59 which is very high now one thing to keep in mind is that GI of any fruits can vary depending on the source of information depending on how ripe the fruit is where it comes from and many other factors therefore you can have overy very sweet grapes with GI close to 70 or you can have under ey sour grapes with GI even below 50 but the GI information I provide in this video come from my most trusted sources and are also backed up by my real life experience now when I tested my blood sugar after eating grapes I could see a steep blood sugar Spike within less than 40 minutes and therefore I put grapes in the red bucket next up and one of my personal favorites strawberries fresh strawberries are very sweet and tasty but they contain 90% of water so their carb content is actually very low every strawberries have around eight carbs per 100 G deducting 2 G of fiber gets us to six net carbs so we might be looking at an amazing blood sugar friendly fruit here but let's have a look at the glycemic index first before we make the conclusion and here we're looking at the GI of 39 which is right around the upper limit of my sweet spot when I tested my blood sugar after eating strawberries I was pleasantly surprised I did see a very mild blood sugar Spike no big deal at all therefore I put strawberries in the green bucket and with the fruits in the green bucket I'm not concerned with the portion size at all I simply eat as much as I want I will just make sure to count carbs and take the right dose of insulin for it depending on my carb to insulin ratio now I know many people who like to blend strawberries in a smooth tea I know this tastes great but here is a word of warning when you blend those strawberries or any other fruit you break most of the fiber and therefore you will increase the net carb content as well as GI of that fruit and you will get a bigger and faster blood sugar Spike from drinking a strawberry smoothie compared to eating just whole strawberries next popular fruits we're going to talk about are oranges now we all know they are loaded with vitamin C antioxidants and nutrients but are they blood sugar friendly an average Orange has about 12 carbs per 100 G deducting 2 G of fiber gets us to 10 G of net carbs that's not too bad but the next thing to look at is the glycemic index and oranges have a GI of 45 now that's within the Ada recommendation but it's slightly above my sweet spot of less than 40 when I tested my blood sugar after eating oranges I could still see a noticeable blood sugar Spike within the first hour after eating it not as bad as bananas or grapes but not as good as strawberries for example therefore we're going to put oranges in the yellow bucket right next to Apples these two fruits have very similar effect on my blood sugar now you don't have to avoid oranges alog together for my experience eating one whole orange is perfectly fine just don't overdo it and if you're an insulin dependent just make sure to count those carbs and get the right dose of insulin for it but be careful because there is an orange trap that many diabetics fall into and that's orange juice glass of orange juice contains all the carbs and all the sugar from two to three oranges but no fiber and the GI of orange juice is a lot higher than the GI of whole orange Ju so just stay away from juice moving on to another Super popular fruit especially during the summer month watermelon watermelon is a bit tricky many websites put it in the top 10 best fruits for diabetics but other sources put it on the list of the worst fruits for diabetics so who should we believe well let's test it for ourselves watermelon has only about eight carbs per 100 G that may look really good but what we need to consider is that watermelon is 92% water and it has very little fiber therefore those car from watermelon will get to your bloodstream very fast and that's exactly what the glycemic index of watermelon shows us we're looking at the GI of 76 which is by far the highest of all the fruits on the top 20 list when I ate a small bowl of watermelon my blood sugar spiked fast but not very high it went from 100 to 150 but when I ate a bigger bowl I could see Spike to 20000s in only 30 minutes although I took my insulin with it and it's a big no no for me therefore I put water watermelon in the red bucket I don't want to discourage you from eating watermelon altogether but please don't eat too much of it portion control is key with this fruit another thing you can consider is eating the watermelon as a dessert after a meal rich in fiber and healthy fats if you do that your body will not be able to process the sugar from the watermelon that fast now I know we didn't have many blood sugar friendly options in the most popular fruits but keep watching because it gets much more interesting as we go down the list most popular fruit number seven is avocado this buttery fruit is literally loaded with healthy fats fiber vitamins and nutrients an average avocado interestingly has 12 carbs per 100 G but it also has an insane amount of fiber 10 G and when we deduct those 10 GS of fiber we get an incredible two net carbs per 100 gr it couldn't get better than that plus looking at the glycemic index avocados have a GI of 15 that's also incredible I ate avocado multiple times during during my testing and it hardly impacted my blood sugar at all I could not see any noticeable blood sugar spikes not even after eating a couple avocados at once and therefore all things consider I put avocado in the green bucket without a doubt I simply eat as much avocado as I feel like eating and I don't need any insulin for it I just love these bad boys but one thing I would warn you about especially if you're on a diet is that avocado is very calorie dense calorie rich food a whole medium avocado has 240 calories mainly due to healthy fats which is quite a lot I personally don't care about calories that much because I'm not trying to lose weight right now but it's something you might want to consider if you are in a different situation now let's dive into another Super popular fruit blueberries the tiny powerhouses are packed with antioxidants blueberries have approximately 14 carbs per 100 G and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to 12 net carbs and that falls slightly on the higher side of my preference close to Apples the glycemic index of blue blueberries is 53 which is moderate compared to other popular fruits but it's definitely a lot more than I was expecting to see to be honest now it's a common belief that all berries are a good option for people with diabetes and that they don't Spike blood sugar that much but when I tested my blood sugar after indulging in a bowl of blueberries I could see my blood sugar spacking quickly and gradually to higher than what I would want to see and therefore I'm placing blueberries in the yellow bucket now I figured as a type 1 diabetic I can eat a full cup of blueberries without my blood sugar spiking too high but I need to be careful about two things I need to pre-bolus about 15 to 20 minutes before eating those blueberries and I need to get my insulin dose right depending on the carb count next we're going to explore raspberries because at the first side these might have similar characteristics to blueberries but they really don't when it comes to blood sugar control raspberries have 10 carbs per 100 G but after deducting impressive 5 G of fiber we get to only only five net carbs and this places them in the lower carb range and looks really promising but what about the glycemic index well the GI of raspberries is only 28 which is very low and comfortably within my sweet spot of less than 40 after eating an even large amount of raspberries I could see a minimum impact on my blood sugar and therefore raspberries are going to be in the green bucket you can enjoy these guilt-free so feel free to indulge in them they are a GameChanger but here's a word of warning many people like to make a sauce or a jam from raspberries as well as other berries or even apricots and peaches now I know these homemade jams and toppings taste great but here is the problem to get the gam or the sauce you need to cook those berries or any other fruit when you do that you will break some of the fiber and you will also get rid of the water which is naturally the main ingredient in almost any fruit once the water is extracted the carb content and especially the net carb content will go up and your GI will also go up so your blood sugar will be spiking much faster and much more more when you do that I'm not even talking about jams and sauces with added sugar because sugar changes this into a completely different food category and we cannot call this fruit anymore so stay away from that next up are peaches the juicy and sweet summer Delights full of vitamins and minerals peaches contain about 15 carbs per 100 gr and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to 13 net carbs and that places Peaches on the higher end of my preferred carb range but the glycemic index of peaches is 42 which is not that bad actually and while testing Peaches I saw a noticeable blood sugar Spike but not as steep as with fruits in the red bucket and therefore peaches are going into the yellow bucket I was actually pleasantly surprised because Peaches did even better than blueberries for me here is the thing I recently received a comment on YouTube from one of you highlighting a great Ru of thumb the commenter had an interesting observation and he said the darker the food is the lower the glycemic index and the brighter the food is more likely it will break down faster into glucose this is a great comment and it seems to be very accurate because in 95% of instances you will be better off choosing darker food over brighter food it will do better for your blood sugar but interestingly peaches and blueberries might be an exception kind of confirming that rule moving on to another popular refreshing fruit that screams summer cantalo I sometimes call it orang melon but that's probably just a Tom name for it cantaloop has about eight carbs per 100 G and we deduct 1 G of fiber we get to Seven net carbs that is very low carb content so looks promising but the glycemic index of cantaloop is 65 that's very high compared to other popular fruits and it's indicating a steep blood sugar Spike and I could see that in my blood sugar test when I ate a small bowl of the orange melon my blood sugar spiked quite fast but not very high it went from 100 to 150 but when I ate the bigger bowl I could see a quick Spike to 200s in only 35 minutes although I took my insulin with it and that's very similar to watermelon and far from ideal therefore I put cantaloop in the red bucket now I do eat orange melon as I like to call it from time to time but I don't need a lot of it I just e like half a cup because portion control is key with the fruits in the red bucket I also make sure to carb counts and take my insulin well ahead of time and with cantaloop it can be 20 or even 25 minutes before eating that fruit next let's talk about mandarines these are kind of similar to oranges in terms of vit content and also the color right but one reason why I used to prefer mandarins to oranges was very simple because they're easier to peel they also tend to be a bit sweeter than oranges so let's see which bucket they land in mandarines have about 14 carbs per 100 Gams and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to 12 net carbs that falls on the moderate carb range not great but not ideal now the glycemic index of Mandarin is an okay 47 not in my speed spot of less than 40 but also not above 55 which would be too high when I tested my blood sugar after eating mandarins I saw my blood sugar Rising gradually for about an hour maybe a bit less the blood sugar Spike was not as steep as with watermelon or cantaloop but it was definitely noticeable and therefore we're going to put mandarins in the yellow bucket they had a very similar effect on my blood sugar as oranges although they tasted a bit sweeter guys we still have eight more popular fruits to go through and five of them will fall in the green bucket meaning I can eat as much as I want without my blood sugar spiking too much but before I go to the next fruit I want to let you know how you can connect with me the easiest way to do that is my patreon where you can chat with me oneon-one and watch bonus content I do respond to every question from my patrons and that's why I spots in the patreon group are limited we still have several spots open so feel free to check the link below and join while you still can I also do one-on-one personalized coaching for people with diabetes there's a link below this video where you can book time with me right away now let's explore pineapple a Tropical Delight full of flavor and vitamins especially vitamin C pineapple has approximately 13 carbs per 100 G and when we deduct 1 G of fiber we get to 12 net carbs and that's a moderate carb range not bad but not perfect but the glycemic index at 59 is rather High exceeding my sweet spot and also exceeding the Ada recommendation of less than 55 when I was testing pineapple I could see that my blood sugar response was practically immediate I got a notice Spike and my blood sugar reached the maximum within less than 40 minutes after eating the pineapple and that's the main reason why pineapple is going to the red pocket you can enjoy it but I would not eat more than half a cup in one cting and if you're insulin dependent you know the routine count carbs get the right dose and preols next up are plums the juicy stone fruit full of vitamin C fiber and potassium plums have about 11 carbs per 100 G and after deducting 1 G of fiber this gets us to 10 net carbs which is very good the glycemic index of plums is 39 which is right under the limit of my sweet spot of less than 40 and that looks really promising so what about plums how did they do in my blood sugar test well I saw a mild and gradual blood sugar Spike and therefore plums are kind of on the line between in the green bucket and yellow bucket but after eating them a couple times I realized I want to put them in the green bucket because they did really well for me you won't go wrong with Plums moving on to cherries and here we have to be careful because there are sweet cherries and sour cherries sweet cherries have about 15 net carbs per 100 G falling on the higher carb range while sour cherries have only 10 net carbs per 100 G falling in the lower carb range remember I like to be below 15 but ideally below 10 net carbs but there is an even bigger difference between sweet cherries and sour cherries when it comes to glycemic index the GI of sweet cherries can be as high as 62 while the GI of sour cherries is only 22 and that's very low and that's probably why these two kinds of cherries gave me a completely different blood sugar response sweet cherries quickly spiked my blood sugars to 200s which is way too much for me sour cherries only cost a very mild Spike so they are perfect for me and therefore sour cherries are going in the green bucket sweet cherries are going to the red bucket you can eat a lot of sour cherries without any concern but you can also eat up to 10 sweet cherries and not be too worried about your blood sugar reaction next up are blackberries those dark and juicy berries with a nutritional punch blackberries have about 10 carbs per 100 G gr but an impressive 5 G of fiber puts them to five net carbs and this makes them one of the most low carb fruits on the list so far but what about the glycemic index well the glycemic index of blackberries is only 25 and that's perfectly within my sweet spot of less than 40 after testing blackberries I could see only a very minimal impact on my blood sugar and therefore blackberries are absolutely going into the green bucket you can definitely enjoy this nutrient rich food without worrying about your blood sugar spiking too much now let's talk about pears and they're a widely popular sweet and juicy fruit which is loaded with good stuff especially vitamin C copper and fiber now pears have about 15 carbs per 100 G and deducting 3 G of fiber gets us to 12 net carbs that's a moderate carb range not great but not perfect now the gly iic index of pairs is only 38 and that's a bit lower than I actually expected it to be perfectly within my sweet spot of less than 40 to be fair I could still see a noticeable blood sugar Spike after eating pears which was very similar to Apples and therefore we're going to put pears in the yellow bucket but eating one whole medium-sized pair is completely fine for me I wouldn't eat three of them but one is okay and just like with most other fruits I pay close attention to my insulin dose and to the timing of that insulin now we have three more fruits to go and after that I'm going to give you a bonus because I'm going to give you two more fruits that are not in the top 20 popular fruits but I think they are an excellent choice for people living with diabetes so next up on the list is another fruit packed with vitamin C kiwi now I know some of you live in New Zealand and have tons of kiwis around you someone actually asked me to talk about kiwis so here it is kiwi has approximately 14 carbs per 100 G deducting Three G of fiber gets us to 11 net carbs that's pretty good slightly above the 10 or below 10 where I would like to be for a low carb fruit but it's okay now the glycemic index of kiwi is 53 which is within the Ada recommendation of less than 55 but it is above my sweet spot of less than 40 therefore kiwi is probably not bad for you but it's just not the best blood sugar friendly option I could see a decent Spike after eating ripe kiwis and that's why I put kiwi in the yellow bucket as well as a type 1 diabetic I I can eat about two whole kiwis without my blood sugar spiking too much but I need to make sure to get insulin depending on the carb content and pre-bolus by about 15 to 20 minutes for those noninsulin dependent I would say Enjoy kiwis but only in moderation to make sure your blood sugar stays under control now let's talk about grapefruit which looking at the data seems to be a great option for low stable blood sugar grapefruit has only 11 carbs per gr and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to 9 n carbs which is perfectly within my sweet spot of less than 10 now the GI of grapefruit is 25 and that's also very good because your blood sugar will not Spike very fast after eating grapefruit and I was even able to confirm this assumption during my testing there was only a mild impact of grapefruit on my blood sugar therefore grapefruit for me is going clearly to the green bucket but I know that this verdict of mine is going to be very controversial because you guys like to talk about grapefruits in the comment section there's millions of comments ments about grapefruit and the reason why is that grapefruit should be avoided by people who use certain drugs because grapefruit blocks certain enzymes and Transporters that the body needs to metabolize those drugs now this is not the case for me so I can keep indulging in grapefruit but if you take other medication and are not sure pick this topic up with your doctor before consuming grapefruit now before I show you the two bonus fruits that are not on the top 20 list but are my secret weapon for fighting diabetes we need to talk about the elephant in the room mango mangoes are another Tropical Delight full of flavor and vitamins especially vitamin E and let me be clear I love eating mangoes but mangoes have about 15 carbs per 100 G and after deducting 2 G of fiber we get to 13 net carbs that's a moderate carb range not bad but not great the glycemic index of mango is 55 which is exceeding my sweet spot of less than 40 and it's right on the upper range of the ada8 recommendation of less than 55 now in my blood sugar test I could would see a rather steep blood sugar rice from mango my blood sugar reached the maximum within 45 to 50 minutes after eating it and therefore mangoes are simply going to the red bucket but again I have to admit I absolutely love mangoes and I eat them quite often in my breakfast bowl and to be able to do that I need to pre-bus well in advance ideally 20 or even 25 minutes now I noticed that dried mango is getting more and more popular and I want to talk about it because the drying process of any fruit changes the glucose response of that fruit when you dry mango slices you will get rid of most of the water content and when you do that number one the net carb content goes up because you took out all the water but you kept all the sugar so while the 100 G of fresh mango has 13 net carbs 100 G of dried mango can have up to 39 carbs which is five times more the other thing that will happen is that the glycemic index will go down because you took out the water it will take longer for the body to process those carbs and get them into the bloodstream and that's why your blood sugar after eating half a cup of dried mango will go up five times more than from eating half a cup of fresh mango but it will also go up a bit slower and the similar thing will happen when you dry any fruit so keep that in mind it's kind of fascinating isn't it I'm obsessed by studying all these little things that impact our blood sugar and that's why I started working on a brand new project the blood sugar Academy the blood sugar Academy is my exclusive coaching program which will help you live your life the way you want while achieving consistent blood sugar and lower hb1c if you want to learn more just click the link below and register your interest I will make sure to share more information with you once the program is launched but now two more fruits that I promised that I absolutely love they both have less than 10 net carbs for 100 G and a GI of less than 35 and they both fall in the green bucket number one is apricots apricots have around nine carbs per 100 G and 2 G of fiber which gets us to seven net carbs now that's amazing but combined with the GI of 34 it gets even better here is what my blood sugar does after eating apricot you can see a noticeable but very mild and rather slow Spike that is easy to control for both insulin dependent and non-insulin dependent people with diabetes and bonus fruit number two is guava South American guava is so tasty I love to eat it and it has 14 carbs per 100 G but out of that 14 G five 5 G is fiber so we get to nine net carbs only that's on its own is very good and combined with the GI of only 25 it gets even better here is what my blood sugar did after eating guava again a noticeable but rather mild and slow easy to control Spike now you probably clicked on this video because you want to know what I think is the best fruit for people with diabetes we have many fruits in the green bucket right now but which one is best here it gets a bit tricky because I think it's it's very important that the fruit we call the best is in the green bucket but it's also very important that you like and enjoy eating it that it has good taste and you just enjoy eating it and you craving that fruit otherwise you will just not eat it and I think any of the fruits in the green bucket can be the best fruit for you for me the absolute winner is avocado because for me there is nothing that beat a homemade guacamole spread on a fresh blood sugar friendly bread and if you wonder what I think the best bread for diabetes is click here and watch this video next I will see you there ciao

Channel: Type One Talks

Views: 3,809,308

Keywords: fruits for diabetes, type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes, fruits for diabetics, diabetes diet, diabetic fruits, reversing diabetes, blood sugar, diabetes control tips, mastering diabetes, diabetic diet, fruits that dont spike blood sugar, best fruits for diabetics, type one talks

Id: 065PnkrIzXQ

Length: 26min 38sec (1598 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 08 2023