Selecting fruits is a must for those who have diabetes. (Image via Eat Right)

Ways to Eat Fruit If You Have Diabetes

People who have diabetes are not allowed to eat sweets like candies, brownies, or cakes. As a substitute, they tend to eat fruits to satisfy their sweet cravings. But do you know that fruits contain sugars as well? Not as many as the stated sweets above, but you still need to be careful when eating fruits.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that people who have diabetes should not eat fruit, but it’s better to watch the types of fruit and the portion. After all, fruits are good for health because it contains vitamins, minerals, fibers, and anti-oxidant.

Things to look out before eating fruits are the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL). These two are ratings of foods on a scale from 1 to 100. The score is used to indicate how quickly the food will raise the blood sugar level. Therefore, low GI and GL fruits are better for diabetes people, as they help to control blood sugar levels.  Apples, avocados, bananas, berries, grapes, kiwi, orange, and peaches are some of the fruits that have low GI and GL. These fruits are the most recommended ones for diabetes, because it is safe to eat them in a large quantity.

It is also important to eat the whole fruits rather than eat the ones from cans because it may contain sugar to preserve them. If you’re craving for juice, try to make one at home. You wouldn’t know whether they add sugars to the store-brought or café juices. Just to be safe, make your own juice at home.

Although fruits contain sugar as well, it is better for people who have diabetes to eat fruits when they’re hungry than to eat sweet snacks. There are a lot of options of fruits (which are low in GI and GL) to choose, so taking different fruit every day is possible. However, one thing to do, don’t forget to discuss with the doctor, as people might have different reaction to certain fruits.