The 5 Best Fruits for Diabetics

The CGM Blog

Is Fruit Good for People Living with Diabetes?

Fruit is part of a well-rounded diet, but it can also cause spikes in blood sugar. Here’s what you need to know about incorporating fruit into your diabetes meal plan.

Fruits are an important part of a well-rounded diet. They are also delicious and can make a good substitute for more sugary options like candy or pastries when you’re craving something sweet. Diabetes Canada recommends that, at every meal, half of your plate should be made up of fruits and vegetables.¹

Fruits contain essential nutrients like vitamin A (beta-carotene) and B, antioxidants like vitamin C and E, folate, and magnesium—all of which contribute to our overall health.² Studies have shown that consistently eating 200 g of fresh fruit a day may help prevent progression of type 2 diabetes (T2D).² Eating fruits alongside a variety of other whole foods helps to ensure that you have the fuel you need to function.

People living with diabetes need to keep in mind that fruit is also a source of sugar and carbohydrates which can impact their blood sugar levels, also known as glucose. Eating fruit may lead to higher blood sugar levels.² It’s important to understand which fruits are best for those living with diabetes—as well as when and how to eat them—to make sure you can keep your glucose levels within your target glucose range (generally defined as 3.9 mmol/L–10.0 mmol/L)³ as often as possible.

How Fruit Affects Your Blood Sugar

Most types of fruit contain sugar as well as carbohydrates. When we eat certain fruits on their own, it can cause a spike in blood sugar.^2,4 Frequent spikes in blood sugar decrease time in range (TIR), which can lead to an increase in A1C.⁵ Eating a lot of fruit without also including protein and healthy fats in your diet can increase blood sugar levels over time.²

However, the way that fruit influences blood sugar is complex. Many fruits are also a great source of fibre which slows down the digestion and absorption of glucose in the body, helping to prevent hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, and increasing insulin sensitivity.⁶ Fibre from fruits and vegetables in the diet has been shown to lower the risk of T2D and cardiovascular disease.⁷

When you’re looking to incorporate more fruit into your diet, be aware that fruit juices are not the best option for doing so. Fruit juice has higher amounts of sugar than the whole fruit it’s made from. While fruit juice might be suitable for treating a hypo for those living with T1D, drinking fruit juice regularly may keep blood sugar levels high, increasing A1C over time.⁸ Fruit juice does not typically contain any fibre, especially if it’s highly processed.⁸

Fruit smoothies may be a better option as long as you’re mindful about the ingredients you’re using and counting carbs to ensure you won’t consume too much sugar.⁹ Keep in mind that using fruit juice or yogurt with added sugar as a base for your smoothies can increase the sugar content.⁹ Many smoothies sold at the store use fruit concentrate or puree as their main ingredient and therefore have more sugar and less fibre than a smoothie you might make at home.⁹

Fruits that Can Help Support Your Overall Health

When it comes to choosing fruits to incorporate in your diet, Diabetes Canada suggests going for options that have a lower glycemic index (GI). The GI ranks foods and drinks by how much they raise your blood sugar after you consume them. Low GI fruits do not increase blood sugar as fast or as much as high GI fruits. You can work with your diabetes dietitian and doctor to determine which low GI fruits will work best with your diabetes management plan. They can also tell you whether fruits with a medium or high GI are suitable for you and when you may be able to eat them.¹⁰

Quick Definition: Glycemic Index (GI)
The glycemic index (GI) is a scale from 1 to 100 that ranks foods and drinks containing carbohydrates. The ranking is based on how much, and how quickly, each food and drink increases glucose levels in the body. Those with a high GI number significantly increase glucose levels fast, while those with a medium or low GI number do not have as big an impact on glucose.10

A few low GI fruits to incorporate into your diet are:¹⁰

Apples and pears
Unripe bananas (on the green side)
Berries
Cantaloupe and honeydew melon
Citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruits
Stone fruits like apricots, peaches, and plums

Medium and high GI fruits that you may want to eat less often or eliminate include:¹⁰

Ripe bananas (yellow with brown spots)
Dried figs, cranberries, and raisins
Pineapple
Grapes
Kiwis
Watermelon

If you’re looking to incorporate more fibre into your diet, raspberries, pears, and apples are also great options.¹¹ Eating fruit with other foods that contain healthy fat and protein can prevent a sudden spike in blood sugar. For example, you could eat sliced fruit with sugar-free yogurt or cottage cheese, or snack on apples and bananas with peanut butter.¹²

Learn Which Fruits are Right for You

Each of our bodies is unique and everyone reacts to food in different ways. Even though certain popular diabetes diets may be recommended to you, it’s important to pay attention to how the foods you eat affect you. Understanding how your glucose levels change when you eat fruit can help you figure out which fruits are a good choice for you, and which aren’t, with the help of your healthcare team.

One of the ways to get a better idea of how your meals affect your glucose levels is to use a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system like Dexcom CGM Systems. CGM systems allow you to see your glucose levels change in real time. With this information at your fingertips, you can see how a fruit impacts your glucose levels immediately or in the hours after eating it.

CGM systems also give you insight into glucose data from the past. Using the Dexcom Clarity app alongside Dexcom CGM Systems enable you to see your historical glucose readings and trends over days, weeks, and months.* That means you can take a look back at your data to see if you can spot any patterns. This lets you take note of how certain habits are impacting your glucose levels. For example, if you eat an apple as a snack in the middle of the afternoon every day, you can consult your glucose data over a couple of weeks to see if there’s a significant spike in glucose that correlates with your snacktime. With that information, you and your healthcare team can make adjustments to your diet plan.

It’s important to remember that eating fruit is just one piece of a very complex network of factors that influence your glucose levels. It can be hard to isolate individual factors in your diabetes management plan. When you eat a fruit and what you eat it with can change the way it affects you. Other elements like sleep, stress, medication, and even how hot or cold it is outside can impact your glucose levels—even if you’re consuming foods that you eat all the time.¹³

There are many variables beyond your diet that contribute to your glucose management and A1C. Learn more about what can affect your A1C and a few tips for reaching your glucose management goals.

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*An internet connection is required to send data to Dexcom Clarity.

1 Healthy eating. Diabetes Canada. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.diabetes.ca/nutrition---fitness/healthy-eating
2 Park HA. Fruit Intake to Prevent and Control Hypertension and Diabetes. Korean J Fam Med. 2021;42(1):9-16. doi:10.4082/kjfm.20.0225
3 Imran AS, et. al. Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada: Targets for Glycemic Control. Can J Diabetes 2018:42(S42–S46). doi: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2017.10.030
4 Dholariya SJ, et. al. Biochemistry, Fructose Metabolism. StatPearls Publishing. Updated October 17, 2022. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576428/
5 Vigersky RA, et al. The Relationship of Hemoglobin A1C to Time-in-Range in Patients with Diabetes. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics. 2019;21(2):81-85. doi: 10.1089/dia.2018.0310
6 Fiber: The Carb That Helps You Manage Diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated June 20, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/role-of-fiber.html
7 Canada’s Dietary Guidelines: Section 1 Foundation for healthy eating. Updated June 10, 2022. https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/guidelines/section-1-foundation-healthy-eating/
8 What Fruit Juice Can People With Diabetes Drink? Diabetes.co.uk. Updated September 8, 2022. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/juice-and-diabetes.html
9 Are smoothies really good for you? Diabetes Canada. Updated December 18, 2020. https://www.diabetes.ca/about-diabetes/stories/are-smoothies-really-good-for-you--
10 The glycemic index (GI). Diabetes Canada. Updated May 24, 2023. https://www.diabetes.ca/en-CA/resources/tools---resources/the-glycemic-index-(gi)
11 Chart of high-fiber foods. Mayo Clinic. Updated January 5, 2021. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948
12 Eating Fruit with Diabetes. DiaTribe. Updated September 29, 2022. https://diatribe.org/eating-fruit-diabetes
13 42 Factors That Affect Blood Glucose?! A Surprising Update. DiaTribe. Updated September 29, 2022. https://diatribe.org/42-factors-affect-blood-glucose-surprising-update

Fruits that Can Help Support Your Overall Health

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