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Fruit - blueberries

HSSS

Expert
Messages
7,675
Location
South of England
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Many on here eating low carb/keto recommend blueberries as a small treat (along with other berries). Now I’m a bit confused.

They seem to be about 12g/100g according to dietdoctor.com. Other fruits eg melons, peaches, oranges and even pineapple are lower or the same.

So why recommend blueberries and not the others? A mistaken assumption about the blueberries? Something different about berries to other fruits? (Btw I stick to strawberries, blackberries or raspberries)
 

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I have a zero fructose policy so consume no fruit at all and never will.

Admittedly not a very constructive contribution, but I felt like it needed to be said
 
Is it because you can put on just a half a dozen and thus rendering it low carb? Or something like that?
 
I can't tolerate bluberries but I do not think that they are a true berry (in general a berry has its seeds on the outside of the fruit). They are however very sweet so very small amounts may be acceptible to some. I tend to think of where the fructose is stored so I avoid fruit these days.
 
Listlad said:
Is it because you can put on just a half a dozen and thus rendering it low carb? Or something like that?
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Not sure it works that way. I could have a teaspoon of bread. Doesn’t make bread low carb. Or anything else for that ugh I do employ the minimal damage by tiny amounts of high carb food occasionally. Eg dark chocolate
 
I don’t do much but was curious about this anomaly.
 
I had a half of my kids milk chocolate button the other day. I made the assumption it would do me no harm. But I might be wrong.
 
Many people are of the opinion that 'berries are better than other fruit' so they recommend them.
My experience is that my meter is OK with very small quantities of any fruit. So long as the portions are tiny.
But I still avoid them, because of the fructose.

Each to their own, I suppose.

For someone who has always been told that fruit eating is a good and healthy thing, it is easier to take 'berries are the best of a bad lot' rather than 'all fruits are bad'.
 
I did try blueberries at the beginning but discarded them as they raised my levels more than I liked - and I only had a few at a time. I also tried a fresh plum and shot to double figures. Since then I have stuck to raspberries or strawberries - no more than 6 raspberries or 2 strawberries and always with cream or yogurt as part of a meal. Never as a snack. I have stolen the odd slice of hubby's apple and haven't noticed anything unacceptable. Even with the straws and raspberries, it is only once or twice a week. It is the fructose that stops me rather than the carb content.
 
HSSS said:
I don’t do much but was curious about this anomaly.
Click to expand...
The berry recommendation should be for fruits with berry in their name rather than the botanical definition. In botany, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone produced from a single flower containing one ovary. Berries so defined include grapes, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, eggplants and bananas, but exclude certain fruits commonly called berries, such as strawberries and raspberries.
 
So in short there’s no reason to assume a blueberry is any better for you than an apple? We’ve just arbitrarily got used to saying berries are better ( carb wise) without specifying which ones.
 
It is sometimes a huge leap for people to accept that fruit of any kind isn't quite the healthy option that the (PHE?)s advice of Five a Day recommends. Especially when considering the amount (think fruit juices and smoothies so populat atm) and the type i.e modern varietirs bear little resemblance to their ancestral forebears which were seasonal anyway. The advice to the newly diagnosed is to cut down and choose fruits lower in carbs and to test. Hopefully as time passes people learn about fructose metabolism and adjust their intake accordingly or to their taste.
 
No one ever seems to mention the humble gooseberry... no matter, I can't abide them.
 
Guzzler said:
No one ever seems to mention the humble gooseberry... no matter, I can't abide them.
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I adore gooseberries. In season, they sometimes even usurp my beloved rhubarb at breakfast time.

As I have said elsewhere I also find how my body reacts to food depends on how many air miles it has under its belt. Fresh fruit, eaten where grown is much kinder to my system. Please note I'm speaking purely personally, based on my experiences and testing.
 

Quite right. I have blackberries in my garden and they are better than any in the supermarket just as long as I can get at 'em before the birds and the youngest XL son.
 
I suspect that in the USA blueberries are sweeter than those grown in the rest of the world as the carbs shown in the US charts are considerably higher.
I do not buy blueberries alone as I find them lacking flavour, but as I get frozen berries the carb content is on the back of the packet. The value does vary between sources due to the different mixtures specified.
 
It always amazes me as well that "low carb" cooks always seem to go for blueberries (I had a bit of a spat on Twitter with Emma Ported the "low Carb with Mrs P "lady about this exact thing..) She was showing something low carb and had included blueberries in the picture of it even though they weren't mentioned anywhere in the recipe. She ddn't seem to be aware that raspberries and strawberries were far lower in carbs (although I guess she does now!).
 
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I know frozen berries are very popular on this forum, but I only ever buy unfrozen ones and do not freeze the ones I buy. I find that frozen ones cause more of a rise than unfrozen - possibly because they tend to be squashier when defrosted, maybe similar to them being juiced? I don't know, but that is my experience. I also think the frozen ones lose a lot of their flavour.
 
I've always understood that blueberries were very high in antioxidants (one of the highest foods apparently) and that together with their vitamin C & K content would be why they were recommended. So sometimes it's not just the carb content but also a food's nutritional value that makes it "low carb acceptable".

I quite enjoy a few blueberries occasionally but would never choose to eat 100g worth in one go - I tend to agree with @Brunneria regarding small/tiny quantities.

If I was particularly concerned about fructose I'd be checking my vegetables as well, e.g. seedy ones like tomatoes, courgettes, peas.

Google has pointers to various lists that can be very useful in making informed low carb choices.

Robbity
 
Agreed. There has to be a little bit of balance. I bought some today. They are great for the kid. She needs stuff like that in her diet and I will have a few too, but not tons of them.

The small quantities thing makes a lot of sense. Less carbs (and fructose).

I mention some high carb content stuff but surely in small quantities it’s okay. But I notice that some don’t look at it that way.

Part of my recent approach has been smaller quantities except, Greek yoghourt.
 
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