Fruit Or No Fruit?

Do you count carbs?? If you increase your dosage to cover what you eat, like fruits, pasta, rice, hamburgers, whatever, your A1c shouldn’t go up… it would only go up if you are constantly higher than you’d like to be for an extended period of time. It looks like your insulin to carb ratio is about 1 unit for every 8 carbs? Do you think that is right? I’ll give you an example… my ratio is 1:15 or 1 unit of novolog for every 15 grams of carbs that I eat… so if I want to eat a banana which usually has about 30g carbs I’ll take an extra 2 units depending on my blood sugar. Make sense?

I have been counting carbs since I was diagnosed. But since I limit myself to less than 60g of carb per meal … adding in tropical fruit like mango, guava and pineapple becomes a major challenge. A typical serving of mango is about 20-30g of carb and most of it sugar.

Well yes, it’s fructose, a natural sugar found in fruits. So if you’re limiting yourself to 60g then you may have to sacrifice another food… like instead of having a sandwhich have a salad and a mango…

Hi Mandy.Why is it that you stay away from fruit?Is it because it makes your blood sugar too high?That is the reason why I stay away from it.I love fruit.When I start pumping fruit is something I will indulge on.

BOOOOO!!! OKay . I just have to jump in here. Think about giving up the processed crappy foods, the breads, pasta and rices, and high carb cereals, and replace them with REAL foods like fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. FRUIT is so wonderful and healthful and full of nutrients and vitamins. Don’t miss out on all of that! I have cleaned up my diet over the past week and I have been able to totally cut back on my Novolog. Actually I have only had to give myself 2 fast acting shots before meals in the past 7 days and that was when I was at special events and could not control my food choices as well as what I have at home. Try a processed white food’s detox for a few days. I feel great and you might too! I’ve even purged 90% of dairy from my diet, but that’s another issue.

Sugar is sugar is sugar and WILL raise blood glucose. It dues not matter if is fructose, sucrose, lactose, glucose, maltose, or whatever. I have an A1C of 5.5 ( that was 4 months ago ) and don’t want to blow it. Who said anything about eating processed white food? Right now I am having a small bowl of steel cut oats. And for lunch I’ll probably have something like hummus and bell peppers.

Yes ANY kind of sugar will raise bg levels but you were asking how you could incorporate more fruit into your diet so that was my suggestion… if you want fruit don’t eat so many grains [whole grains though if you do! ;)] You are obviously very incontrol of your diet and management oat, hummus, bell peppers those are extremely healthy foods but say if you really want a banana tomorrow use less oatmeal and add half a banana to the bowl… it’s all a balancing act… as we all know too well.

Fresh fruit is always best, canned fruit is packed with extra sugar!
Type I Diabetics should keep fruit juice with them at all times! And Juice can have added sugar also.
Look at the Nutrition Labels to find the ingredients and the Carb & sugar grams of any fruit in a container!
I keep Apple juice in the frig, and smaller jug with me at all times (for treating lows) Apple juice is also good for Diabetics that get up in the morning and don’t feel like eating due to upset stomach. Any juice will raise your sugar, just adjust based on your insulin needs.
If you haven’t taken Diabetic Nutrition Classes, this is a must for control !
Take Care!

I enjoy fruit in my diet daily. The trick for me is to choose lower glycemic index fruits. Fruits that grow in temperate climates rather than tropical climates (apples, plums, pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc) rather than pineapple, melons, papayas, etc. Also, I buy small apples, pears, etc. instead of the gargantuan sized ones that seem to be so common now.

We grew up enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables. Our Parents had a big
garden and we had apple, plum, choke cherry trees plus berries around.
Also my GrandFather had the orchard on his farm with five different types
of apple trees, cherries, plums, purple grapes, berries, mints, etc.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are important for our bodies particularly for the
fibre and antioxidants to help repair a lot of the damage of the free radicals.

Considering all I’ve been through, I’m quite healthy and I’d like to give fresh
fruit and veggies their due. They can easily fit in to our healthy lifestyle
especially with People using pumps.

I still enjoy apples, clementines, bananas, kiwi, seedless grapes, berries,
cherries, bosc pears… too many to mention. I am reasonable in the amounts
of course but a few extra units and/or exercise covers it for me.

I’ve heard too many T2s tell me they were to avoid fruit at all costs. I can’t understand how a CDE or RD could tell someone it’s ok to have a candy bar or a danish (lots of carbs, fats, and transfats) to treat a low, but not a piece of fruit, followed 15 minutes later by a handful of nuts or a piece of low-fat string cheese – especially since, without the fats to moderate the rise, the fruit will act a lot faster.

I remember when I was first diagnosed, I’d read a study where the response to fruit was tracked. For one fruit exchange (e.g., a tangerine, small orange, small apple, 1/2 banana, or one of those really tiny boxes of raisins), the average BG rose about 45-60 points over the next half-hour, and dropped back down to half of that over the following 45 minutes. Two fruit exchanges apparently spiked about 110 points and ran a slightly longer tail curve. In short, fruit by itself should cause a very short-term spike but tail off very rapidly.

The other thing is, if you have fruit with something else, that something-else will moderate the effect of the fruit in one way or another… You may need to experiment to find out what your safest combinations are, and whether or not you need to moderate to half-servings fruit taken more frequently over the course of the day. Frequent monitoring and a detailed log are your best friends as you figure out what is right for you.

Why can’t you just replace one of your carb choices for a fruit? 50 grams of carbs seems like a lot to me for a meal. I usually find I can easily eat 30-45 grams and still have a substantial portion and I typically stay on the low end. I add more veggies or protien if I’m still hungry. Just be aware of the portion size of fruit; 1/2 a banana is 1 carb choice and since I usually can’t stop at half (lol) I will op for the cup berries. Like you, I prefer to keep my dosing low also but probably due more for financial reasons (I’m cheap). Fewer carbs=less insulin. I was told by my endo that as long as I cover my carbs I really don’t have any limits; for me I find this to be true…as long as I cover those carbs… It’s the estimating that usually trips me up.

For fruit you may need to adjust the timing of the insulin i.e take it sooner for the faster acting fruits. I stress the importance of seeing a diabetes educator for those who have not yet done so.

This is all still a learning process for me; I am new to insulin since I was just “rediagnosed” from a T2 to a T1 in Feb. My A1c was 14+ and by March came down to 9…I go for my first “true” three month A1c on April 29!

I don’t think fruit should be completely (type 2 or not) ruled out it has so many health benefit even if you’re newly diagnosed with a high AC1, you just need to have them in place of other carbohydrates and try to stick to the lower glycemic options. Talk to your nutritionist and see what they say, if you want fruit they should be able to find a way to work it into your meal plan for you!

After reading all 4 pages of this discussion I’m quite disappointed that no one has mentioned 2 things. First of all, think back to when we all were first diagnosed. Remember meeting with the dietician and discussing portion sizes? It might be helpful to get out your scale again and weigh that apple or orange to make sure you’re eating just a serving and not two or three. The other thing that is extremely important is fruit is FULL of natural fiber. If you omit it completely from your diet, well I think we all know the effect. Refer to the Weight Watchers approach, if you eat something containing more than 5gm of fiber you can subtract 5gm of carbs from that food. This approach has worked for me for years. But, it only works if I eat one portion. If you’re going to sit down with a gigantic Granny Smith apple, you might as well just fix a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream.

I find that bananas are a good fruit for me - the release of the sugar seems to be a lot slower than citrus fruits or apples - they taste a lot less ‘sugary’ too (since my diagnosis and not eating anything sugary, I find that I really can’t stand very sweet things anymore).

I do just really wish that once I could have a nice big glass of orange juice (it was one of the only things I drank before my diagnosis) without it sending me sky-high and then crashing not long after.

I find that fruit makes me very hungry very soon, but not sure if that’s just me.

My dietitian says no bananas, no way, no raisins or dried fruit because the sugar is concentrated, and only 15 grapes at a time, per day, factoring in the carbs. If I get really craving, I will do a canned pear half, usually a dietetic brand, or eat some flavored jello. Not the same I know, but I do not want to pay the price for a few minutes of satisfying a craving.

Mandy,
Hi, I have had diabetes for a long time.My mother,sisters (2) my aunt, niece, Both of my boys,all have diabetes.I’ve seen the long hard road most diabetics go down. I have to say to start with
I have always chosen the alternative path of medicine. I always felt that the pills were a huge part of the problem! when I was diagosed I took the pills, My suger was 519. I went from a 14 ac1 to a 6.1. I kept with it for about 9 mo. Then I had a small piece of birthday cake, then maybe just a bite of this or that. I exercised faithfully and drank lots of water. But I didn’t want to take the pills .I saw every one I knew go from one pill to two then insulin. So I tried to control it with diet, which went ok for a while, then it would go up and I couldn’t get it down, so I would take the pills.Then I would try diet only again, with the same yoyo effect. To make a long story shorter,
this went on for years, but gradually it kept creeping up, pretty soon I was just like every one else I knew, eating some suger and taking the pills. I felt this was Absolute INSANITY! I also had some heart issues, severe arthritis, chronic back condition, and depression!
I was very depressed for about a week crying to no end. I prayed very hard, I asked for help.
To make a long story shorter. Within days I found some articles on diabetes that said it was a fat disease. The membranes of our cells are made of fat. When we eat hydrogenated fat (which is in everything) our membranes get hard and the glucose can’t get through. Plus cooked starch causes other severe problems. I found a diet called rosedale diet .where you eliminate, Beef, pork, bread, dairy and sugar.Your pretty much eating fish, chicken and veggies only. My husband and I went on it for 1 month. My sugar was 378 and I weighted 214.I lost 8 pounds and my suger came down some to around 259.Then I saw this trailer to a movie that is coming out this year www.rawfor30days.com After watching this I decided to eat raw food. I stopped the fish and chicken, watched everything I could find online about raw food Which was just a huge amount!
I bought a juicer, a cusient art food processer, and receipe books. I followed gabriel cousens program http://www.treeoflife.nu/diabetes. I stopped all my medicine. Even my blood pressure. I went on a 7 day juice fast. My sugar went down to 88. It is now 5 months later 101. and I haven’t taken any pills at all ! I can’t eat fruit or grains for about 6 mo.I have lost 30 pounds and my husband has lost 33. I talked to a women yesterday that has been a vegetarian all her life. But she ate a lot of junk food. She got Multiple sclerosis, 3 tumors. she started eating raw food. and she completely healed herself from multiple sclerosis!! even from the tumors! She introduced me to her friend that had brittle diabetes, and also healed herself completely from diabetes by going raw. You can transition into it slowly. There really is a lot of really good stuff to eat! fruits, nuts, veggies, seeds. You can make flax crackers, eat them with almond butter, or celery with almond butter. you can make pizzas, wraps, tacos, desserts, like almond milk, raw chocolate, coconut cream, stevia,ice/blend, makes a delicious smoothie,if you add more ice it is a ice cream.Gabriel cousens is a dr. he has been healing diabetes for over 30 years.read his book there is a cure for diabetes.He made the movie,he owns tree of life rejuvenation center in pagonia arizona.follow the links above.
Just wanted to share this with you and maybe save you the long hard road… Good Luck, Bonnie

I eat lots of fruit. For many years I avoided it, but that was more a product of my eating disordered thinking. Now that I’m recovered, I don’t avoid any food I like. I try to have at least one serving of fruit a day, typically with breakfast. I like any kind of berries and peaches in the summer. In the winter, I like grapefruit, bananas, apples, pears. Regardless of the season, I just buy what’s on sale though since I pretty much like all fruits. I weigh it on my scale to get about 15-20 carbs worth when I do eat it. It’s amazing how many strawberries you can eat for only 15 carbs!

Mandy, see a Diabetes Educator. It sounds like what you need is a rundown of how to manage your diet. As a diabetic, you should never, NEVER let anybody tell you to give up foods. What you need is to be armed with the knowledge to work with the food, not around it. Hang in there!