The Worst Fruits to Eat If You’re Watching Your Blood Sugar

First things first: fruit is your friend. Sure, a staggering one in 10 Americans has diabetes, but bananas are not the culprit. Unlike ultra-processed foods that are filled with added sugars (think: corn syrup and cane sugar), fruit contains natural sugar called fructose. Fruit also provides hydration—most fruits are about 90% water!—and fiber. The presence of fiber helps to slow down the body’s absorption of sugars like fructose from the gut into the blood, meaning you experience less of a blood sugar spike after eating an apple compared to, say, a cookie. Of course it’s possible to overdo anything, fruit included. Consuming very large amounts of fruit everyday (fruitarianism, anyone?) may hike up blood sugar levels over time. This is especially important to consider for people with insulin resistance (IR) or Type 2 diabetes who are striving to maintain healthy blood glucose levels. Or for the 88 million Americans—that’s more than 1 in 3 adults—living with prediabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But we want to be clear: Nobody needs to cut fruit from their diet, even if they have IR or diabetes. Fruit is an essential part of a nutritious diet. That said, it’s helpful for everyone to have a sense of which fruits are the highest and lowest in sugar, and to be aware of what a serving of fruit looks like. Because a whole bag of grapes is not a single serving (sorry!). RELATED: Healthy Eating for Diabetes: The Best Nutritious Snacks and Tasty Breakfast Ideas In general, we recommend sticking to two or three servings of fruit per day. Be sure to choose whole fruits instead of juices, which lack that critical fiber we mentioned earlier. Curious which fruits are the highest in sugar? Read on for our high-sugar fruit list and then check out our low-sugar fruit list here. 5 Highest-Sugar Fruits 1. Pomegranate Pomegranates are high on the sugar scale, with 1 cup of the juicy kernels serving up nearly 24 grams of sugar. But the vibrant fruit is also jam-packed with longevity-friendly antioxidants like anthocyanins. Stick with ½ cup as a serving (which will cut the sugar down to 12 grams) and combine it with a source of high-quality protein so you aren’t eating the carbs alone. We love sprinkling pom seeds on top of Greek yogurt for a tart topping. 2. Mango One cup of mango can bring 23 grams of sugar to the table, but it also provides two-thirds of your daily needs for vitamin C. Stick with ½ cup as a serving of this tropical fruit. Another option? Whip up this Avocado and Mango Salsa that pairs the sweet fruit with heart-healthy fats thanks to the avocado. Add it to your fave fish tacos or use it as a dip for crudite. 3. Cherries Anyone else get super excited for seasonal fruits? For us, summer screams cherries (and watermelon and berries and, let’s be real, ice cream). Go for ½ cup of cherries to cut the sugar content down to about 10 grams per serving. 4. Banana Bananas get a bad rap, but the potassium-rich fruits are satisfying and versatile. After all, what other fruit can become pancakes and ice cream?! Stick with 1 small banana or ½ of a large banana as a serving and you’ll get about 12 grams of sugar from the fruit. Also smart: pair your ‘nana with a source of healthy fat or protein if you’re looking to level off your blood sugar response. We love our Chocolate, Banana, Almond Butter smoothie that combines bananas with protein powder, collagen peptides and nuts for a balanced breakfast. 5. Oranges One large orange contains 17 grams of sugar and is packed with goodness. That same large orange provides more than 100% of your daily value for immune-supportive vitamin C, plus 4.5 grams of fiber. Stick with a small orange as a serving. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Watching your sugar? Here are 5 lowest-sugar fruits that satisfy your sweet tooth (Image: Shutterstock)

Is The Sugar in Fruit Wrecking Your Diet?

Q: Is there too much sugar in fruit, and should I stop eating it altogether? I know people want a simple, yes or no answer, but this question is one that requires a little more detail. My bottom line is that there is indeed sugar in fruit (there is going to be a but so keep reading) and I generally recommend one or two servings of fruit per day, depending on the person, their lifestyle, their goals and the long list of other factors I consider when I am customizing a meal plan. I get a little sad when I hear that people don’t eat fruit at all because it’s “too high in carbs” or “too full of sugar.” I promise you, we are not dealing with an obesity epidemic because of fruit (I have clients who chow down on M&M’s but won’t touch a banana!), but I do think it can be overeaten. Eating apples all day will add up, unlike the cucumbers you are snacking on as a “freebie,” which is why I do often limit people to one to two servings of fruit per day. Even though fruit does contain approximately 15 grams of sugar per serving (small apple, cup of berries), it also has a lot of great “stuff” in it, like phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, minerals and water, to name a few. This “stuff” adds to your health by helping prevent disease, improving your skin and immune system and aiding in weight loss by helping you to stay satisfied and full. The body really does know how to use every part of the peach, melon, berries and banana. Also, the sugar in fruit is natural. It’s not the same as a spoonful of refined sugar, such as table sugar, which only provides calories in the form of sugar and nada else.  This sugar causes inflammation and will turn to fat fast if it is not needed for energy. When people ask me what fruit I recommend, I usually say that they should choose the fruits that they enjoy the most. A caveat to this: if you’re watching your weight, I’ll suggest one to two servings of the lower sugar fruits – berries over bananas, for example.  Again, with that said, we are not an obese nation because we are eating too many bananas. Lower sugar fruits include: Lemon and limes (and their cousins grapefruits and oranges), which may not be eaten like a traditional fruit, but offer amazing flavor in water, seltzer or on lean proteins (they also are fabulous for liver cleansing properties) Rhubarb and cranberries (if you can tolerate a compote without too much added sugars) Berries such as blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (no beating their high fiber content and antioxidant properties) Higher sugar fruits (which on occasion I do have clients limit), include: Bananas Cherries Dried fruit (raisins, dried apricots, prunes) Figs Grapes Mangoes Pomegranates Tangerines If you still need a fruit “prescription”, go for one to two servings a day of an organic, in season, ripe piece of goodness that you are craving. And, enjoy each and every bite.