Fruit

[DiBug]

Hi, this is all new to me. Can someone tell me how much fruit you can eat with type 2. I looked it up & there are mixed answers some say only two portions others say four so very confusing.

 

[bulkbiker]

I'd go for as little as possible.
Berries are probably ok but other fruit (especially tropical) won't do your blood sugars any good.
Also can accelerate development of fatty liver disease.

 

[bulkbiker]

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00365521.2022.2071109?scroll=top&needAccess=true

 

[catinahat]

Hello @DiBug
I don't think anyone can answer your question, because the amount of anything in your diet is entirely up to you.
Just because I can occasionally have a small apple or a few strawberries as desert without it affecting my blood sugar levels, will not mean its the same for you. Each of us have to make our own decisions about what medication we're prepared to take, how well we want our T2 controlled and what dietary restrictions we are prepared to make.
If you have a glucose monitor, do your own experiments. Test just before you eat a portion of your favourite fruit, and then test at at intervals afterwards, say 30min, 60min 90min. You will then know what that fruit does to your glucose levels and will be able to decide if that rise is acceptable to you.
I think you will then understand why most of us if we eat any fruit at all, consider it to be an occasional treat.

 

[Lobsang Tsultim]

I often have some Greek yoghurt with berries for breakfast. I’ve found that to avoid my blood sugar levels spiking too high, I can’t have more than about 3 berries. Checking your own reaction to fruit and adjusting your diet accordingly is probably the way to go

 

[Deleted member 543160]

How much fruit you can eat is very personal as our diabetic bodies all respond uniquely to different levels of carbohydrates. In spite of all the "5 a Day" type advice we don't actually need fruit in our diets, so we have to make our own informed decisions, so if you prefer to eat fruit then using a meter as suggested will help you discover what you personally can cope with glucose-wise. For advice and charts showing carbs in fruit Diet Doctor is a reliable and informed resource: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/fruits

I'm T2 and I've chosen to include regular small amounts of low carb fruit as part of my LCHF menu, but no way will I touch high sugar tropical or dried fruit. My meter confirms (or otherwise) what are acceptable limits for me, and I've been able to keep within my own pre-diabetic glucose "target range" for over eight years now.

 

[Resurgam]

I eat things which are botanically fruits - cucumber, sweet pepper, tomato and have berries a couple of times a week. We don't need multiple servings of high sugar fruits every day - there was no sort of research done when 5 a day was recommended, and that is vegetables as well as fruit.

 

[Outlier]

Like Resurgam, I will eat salad veg. such as mentioned above, but I have had to cut fruit out of my diet completely. I used to love fruit, and bought in to the fallacy that it was "good for me". Well, not if one is any variety of diabetic. Also I am not the temperament of person who can eat two or three berries - it's all of them or none of them. We are all different not just in how our bodies handle food but also our own attitudes, and "know thyself" is as important emotionally as physically. No need to make diabetes management hard by setting ourselves against our own characters.

 

[MrsA2]

After extensive testing using a blood glucose meter, and getting my hba1c back to "normal" levels, I find I can have one small portion of berries a day, if they are accompanied by othe food such as full fat yoghurt or cream.
About once or twice a week I may have half a pear or half a peach or a small handful of cherries, but only when they are in season and as part of a meal that contains proteins and fats
I find fruit as "snack" still spikes my bg levels especially grapes so I no longer touch them.

Test yourself and see what, if any suits your body

 

[Deleted member 543160]

I'd agree with that! My fruit is always part of a meal, and generally gets eaten with cream, crème fraiche, yoghurt, or sometimes in a muffin. And much of my choice tends to be seasonal too - at the moment gooseberries, redcurrants and if I can ever get them blackcurrants, and although these last two also come in frozen packs of mixed "berries" the fresh ones are a special summer time treat.

 

[LaoDan]

Test them with your meter.

I have a small bowl of berries every morning before I head out to the gym. They’re a great source of micro nutrients. I typically won’t eat fruit on rest days.

my portion size