Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

[Q007]

Morning, I've posted on this matter before as I'm craving sugar really badly that gets worse at night. I read that raisins contain concentrated glucose and the post heading was Raisins Are Dangerous. The article goes on to say that they cause bs levels to spike.

Just stumbled across another article on the same subject which does a 180 on previous reading? Would you care to have a look and give your opinion, I did notice that the research was sponsored by North Americas largest seller of raisins.

It like to bottom this out as raisins could do several things for us, such as cutting down snacking or adding a treat to bland tasting breakfast cereals ( which I eat any time) kind regards, Q

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/247222.php


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[Beachbag]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

Hi Q007
An unscientific, purely personal experience response from me is that raisins raise my BGs rapidly!, so I am disinclined to believe your latest research find. The "victims" weren't diabetic so unlike a diabetic, would have a normal reaction to highly concentrated glucose in as much as they could deal with it rapidly. I used to love raisins, used them as a sweetener in my porridge and snacked on a few when I had the late night munchies! Now I use them as a hypo treatment... just 8 well chewed gives an almost instant sugar lift. Late night munchies affects lots of people, not just diabetics. I'm sorry I don't really have a solution to your problem other than to say pick something with a low damage limitation or go to bed earlier to avoid the midnight temptations

 

[phoenix]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

I'm positive that people who normally snack on raisins will have better health markers than those who snack on many other things. They are a much healthier item than biscuits and sweets ( high in potassium, vit A and K, fibre etc) but they still contain the glucose and fructose present in the fresh fruit, it's more concentrated and that is a problem for someone with diabetes.

I had to dig for details of the study you mentioned, I haven't found that it has been published but I found the protocol: the alternative snacks were 100cal from foods such as the following:

Any prepackaged commercial snack is permitted as an alternative comparator snack, as long as it is 100 kcal/serving, does not contain raisins, does not contain solely fruits, and/or does not contain solely vegetables. Preferred comparator snack examples include: Keebler® Cheez-It® Crackers, Fudge Shoppe ® Grasshopper® Cookies, Fudge Shoppe ® Mini Fudge Stripes ™ Cookies, Nabisco Chips Ahoy! Baked Chocolate Chip Snacks, Honey Maid Cinnamon Roll Thin Crisps, Lorna Doone Baked Shortbread Cookie Crisps, Oreo Baked Chocolate Wafer Snacks, Pepperidge Farm® Goldfish® Baked Snack Crackers

and the winner was .... raisins!.... are you surprised?

They are better than the alternative but they still have a GI in the 60s.
Other dried fruits such as dried apricots, peaches, plums and apples are all much lower GI, (around 30) blueberries and cranberries would in theory be very good but unfortunately they usually contain added sugar.
Because they are concentrated (calories and carbs) portion sizes are small.

 

[lessci]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

I'm with Beachbag, love dried fruit, and when I was 1st diagnosed before I found the forum thought I was being good by putting a few raisins in my porridge instead of golden syrup. Then discovered that it was spiking my BG as bad as the Golden Syrup! The only thing I would say is we're all different so test, have a measured amount then test again in 2 hours.

I miss my mince pies and Christmas Cake :cry: :cry: :cry:

 

[Thommothebear]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

The only dried fruit which seems relatively benign to me is, strangely, crystalised ginger (ok, i know thats not really a fruit, but its similar). i really don't understand how this can be unless its because the sugars it contains are sucrose rather than fructose.

Raisins are like the dead flies of death to my BG levels which distresses me a lot!

 

[phoenix]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

The only dried fruit which seems relatively benign to me is, strangely, crystalised ginger (ok, i know thats not really a fruit, but its similar). i really don't understand how this can be unless its because the sugars it contains are sucrose rather than fructose.

Interestingly there is a candied ginger, sucrose free, on the GI data base. That has a GI of only 10. (carb serv of 19g!)
This was made by a company called Buderim. Google tells me this company sells a product in the UK called naked ginger( and labelled low GI) but am not sure that it is the same product as it seems to have cane sugar as an ingredient.

 

[Q007]

Thank you all for the research and information you give, well done beachbag; I didn't spot that the raisins analysis I did was on non-diabetics.

I gave up on testing with my meter when my diet crashed & burned, but I'll start again and do some test runs on raisins. What do you think would be a good serving size? Kind wishes all, Q..


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[Thommothebear]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

I'm talking about bog standard crystallized ginger lol, the type covered in granulated white sugar!

 

[Beachbag]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

I'm talking about bog standard crystallized ginger lol, the type covered in granulated white sugar!

Mmmm, I love ginger in any shape or form! I'll get a box and "experiment". If it causes a spike I will give it away.....maybe!

 

[hanadr]

Re: Raisins for Diabetics; what to believe

I love raiwsins too and have a jar in the cupboard. I do eat them, but watch the portion. TINY is the keyword.
Hana