Type 2 Diabetes - Which Fruits Are Best For Diabetics and Their Blood Sugar Levels?

Making sound food choices is an integral part of living with diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. But while many choices are obvious to most, some may raise questions as to the affect they have on blood sugar levels. Fruits are one of those categories.

While it isn't necessary to avoid fruit altogether, it is a food group that has to be looked at closely. Like many other foods, fruit can be used in a healthy manner to promote health and well-being. At the same time, over-consumption can lead to more complications which would outnumber the benefits being derived from it. A good balance is what will allow you to enjoy your favorite fruits without causing undue problems.

Diabetics, like others, enjoy fruit because it helps to satisfy their sweet tooth. The nutritional benefits are just an added bonus. But which fruits are okay? The best way to make that determination is to look past the sweet effect and consider what else is in it.

There are plenty of choices of fruit that also contain a diabetic's ally - fiber. Foods with high levels of fiber also rate low on the glycemic index (GI), which means they do not spike blood sugar levels. Now you have a food that covers these important aspects without creating any additional problems: high fiber, low-glycemic index and slow release of sugar into your bloodstream.

A few fruits that fit this criterion are:


•apples,
•kiwi fruit,
•blueberries,
•pears,
•apricots, and
•pomegranates.


Eating these choices means satisfying the sweet craving, adding important fiber to your diet while remaining low on the glycemic measure. The higher the fiber content, the less effect they will have on your blood sugar level.

However this is not an open invitation to consume large quantities of these foods. Just like all other foods, there are safe limits depending on your weight, your other eating patterns and your sugar levels. Your doctor, or dietitian, can help to decipher what would be an adequate amount for you to eat without overdoing it.

Another category of fruits to consider are those high in fructose. Since fructose does not require the presence of insulin in order to be metabolized in the body, it can be burned efficiently without creating controversy with blood sugar. Besides choices you have already made, this new category opens up mangoes and guavas for consumption. Although research is at an early stage, mango has been recently identified as a particularly useful food when it comes to the fight against Type 2 diabetes. Although more research is needed, eating a mango a day could protect people against high levels of cholesterol as well as diabetes. Guavas, as well as being high in vitamins A and C, contain high amounts of dietary fiber. Research has shown though it is best to peel guava before eating, as the skin has been found to raise blood sugar levels.

The culprits in the fruit family are those high in sugar. You need not tell a diabetic how dangerous and counter-productive that can be. Watermelon, grapes, oranges, and surprisingly bananas, all qualify. These particular fruits mean high in sugar... bad for your blood sugar.