Eating fruit

Bernstein forbids fruit, but eat it. I try to eat stuff with very little glucose or surose, so berries, apples, pears, I ate several apricots today. I also try to eat it a little under ripe, for less sugar. I actually prefer it that way. I don't eat bananas, because I think they contain starch. (I should check that.) I'm low carb

Fruit does contain sugars (especially bananas!) and the 7+ portions you eat a day means you are ingesting a lot of sugar. Whilst eating whole fruit rather than juice may slow down the absorption of sugars into your body because of the fibre content, your BS will almost certainly jump. Obviously everyone is different and there is a lot of debate on this forum about the pros and cons of low carb eating but personally I find that sticking to an apple or a pear or a small portion of berries (1 a day only) keeps my BS on track. I know it's hard to give up eating something you obiously enjoy very much but if you can, try eating more salads and green veg or small portions of protein such as cheese, and keep your fruit intake to one a day - you should find your BS coming down nicely.

i agree with that - i think 2-3 a day is enough.

I take a small plastic tub of berries,kiwis etc to work with me.the rest of the week I probably eat a portion of fruit over the course of the day,sometimes more depending on what fruits are around.Never eat bananas they disagree with me!

Hello Mags52,

Bananas (especially very ripe ones) are much higher in glucose than most other fruits.
You should also avoid grapes.
Most other fruit contains mostly fructose, which has a slower release.

It's worth remembering that fruit has very favorable nutrient density compared
to other "empty" carbohydrates.

Regards,
timo.

As others have said, fruit is a tricky one. I actually LURVE bananas but they are now a rare treat. I often get my fruit fix by stewing apples, rhubarb (yes I know it's really a vegetable but work with me here... :lol: )plums, or apricots when in season, sweetened with Splenda and lots (and I mean LOTS) of cinnamon. If I am feeling really brave I may add a VERY few sultanas as they are seriously naughty (so don't add unless you are very sure). This can be eaten cold and taken to work for lunch and maybe add a little low fat/no added sugar yoghurt.

Berries are great and remember to add a few blueberries when in season too. Lots of super antioxidants for those of us of (ahem) a slightly more mature generation (in fact I'm only 29, I've just had a VERY HARD life )

jay3109 I too take cinnamon and know it to be beneficial, you mention that you take lots and lots of it. You are i hope aware that in very large quantities it is toxic. Just do a google on toxins in cinnamon . It is as well to be informed.

Dave P

So are rhubarb leaves but I can assure you I don't eat those Dave!! Eat anything to excess and it's bad for you of course...but I happen to like cinnamon and I've not poisoned myself yet!!! :wink:

Hmm.a bit worrying as I tend to eat a fair bit of fruit...I have a banana after lunch..and it has to be a yellow banana...not keen of hard fruit or overripe fruit.
And in the evening after dinner I have fresh fruit salad..which I make from half of the following orange/apple/kiwi/peach..some berries..a piece of melon a plum and a banana...this is shared between the 2 of us..
I don't test my blood...am due for first 3 mthly check after diagnose...also have lost 1 and half stone since May...all the additional walking must have helped and I feel fine...

I was told no more than 3 a day I am type 1

Bit disturbing as I love fruit. Some days I eat fruit and yoghurt - 4-5 fruit + 2 yoghursts - while at work and then a meal in the evening. I was told to eat 5 fruit a day as it was good for me. told diabetes nurse that I do eat more and she was okay about it. :cry:

Mags52 said:

I was talking to a friend who is Type 2 like me and he told me that Type 2s shouldn't eat more than 3 pieces of fruit a dayMags

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I think this is wrong and unhealthy advice :!:
Unless of course you're eating a load of veg to make up for it.

The uk "5 a day" is at least 5 a day, some countries recommend more I believe.
Obviously getting our blood results right is more important than the 5 a day, but I don't see why we can't do both.

I'd say you should be eating as much fruit and veg as you can stomach.

I mentioned to my dietician that I ate 5, 6+ pieces of fruit a day and all that was said was that I should spread that out as much as possible.

Another example of too little guidance from so called 'experts' !! (not the posters I hasten to add) Poor advice or advice that is poorly communicated I wonder? :?

Hi,
This has me thinking. I deliver fruit in bulk and its normal to grab something, anything, in fact we are all told to eat the produce its called quility control.
Maybe I will have to count what i eat from now on.

Most fruits contain Fructose, which doesn't raise blood sugar, but some contain glucose, some sucrose and bananas contain starch too. Carrots,beets and onions store sucrose. parsnips, grains and potatoes store starch. Maize stores sugars, I can't remember which, but rapidly converts them to starch,(so it's probably glusose) Peas also contain sugars. In fact if it tastes sweet, it contains sugars. Unless it's a product of a chem lab. Since there's actually nothing essential in any of these foods, which can't be got from others, you can do perfectly well without them. Remember the 5-a-day is fruit AND vegetables. there are carbs in pretty much everything we eat except meat, but we can keep the amount down without getting deficiency symptoms. Lettuce isn't exciting, but it's low carb and contains traces of vitamin C. (actually I love crisp lettuce)

JamesA said:

Mags52 said:

I was talking to a friend who is Type 2 like me and he told me that Type 2s shouldn't eat more than 3 pieces of fruit a dayMags

Click to expand...

I think this is wrong and unhealthy advice :!:
Unless of course you're eating a load of veg to make up for it.

The uk "5 a day" is at least 5 a day, some countries recommend more I believe.
Obviously getting our blood results right is more important than the 5 a day, but I don't see why we can't do both.

I'd say you should be eating as much fruit and veg as you can stomach.

Click to expand...

I agree. As long as your BS is okay and you can eat a lot of fruit and veg then go ahead. It fills you up and is better for you than too much protein and carbohydrates. Helps to lose weight too.

Hi, My doc told me to have little or no fruit juice and no bananas at all :-(

"only have fruit if you are really desperate, have it as a treat." Meanie!

Instead of fruit i do Veg soup, and if i feel peckish i have a little bit of that and it covers the hole anyway. Not a big fan of the veg so it's a sneaky way of getting it in the diet!

The 5-a-day thing is fruits AND veggies. More veg, less fruit is the Bernstein way. I'm waiting for someone in the food and nutrition department of Reading University to get back to me on which sugars are in which fruits. We only need to worry about those that easily convert to glucose. Fructose is an issue, but only in triglyceride metabolism. Some veggies can be a problem too,eg carrots, parsnips, sweetcorn.

When you are newly diagnosed, before your BG has stabilized then the advice to avoid fruit is probably sensible. Most fruits contain a mixture of different sugars, most of which will raise your BG - some slower than others. Fructose does raise BG, but much more slowly than sucrose (although as already mentioned there are other issues with fructose). Bananas are particularly problematic because they contain a lot of both simple sugars and complex carbohydrates - that means they will quickly raise your BG and then keep it high for a long time.

However, a mantra that is often used in this forum is "everyone is different", and people do vary wildly in their responses to various different foods. Once you have the diabetes properly under control, then you will be able to start experimenting. You can try eating a banana, or whatever, and see exactly what it does to your BG. Then you can make informed choices, and work out how often you can eat various foods. However, don't do this until your BG has been stable for a while. If you tried to do it at the moment it would be difficult to interpret the results, and you could easily slow down your progress. For now avoid fruit, but be aware that this isn't a lifelong ban - when you get yourself sorted out you will probably be able to eat them - albeit in a more controlled manner than you might have done in the past.