Fruit Is A Welcome Choice For Diabetics…

Thank you to a great reader who left a great comment. He questioned my choice of foods like fruit and popcorn, and to be completely honest I confessed to having an ice cream sundae. Hey, at least the base was sugar free ice cream, and you have to be crazy once in a while or you will be constantly craving something “bad”. At least that is how I work, so my portion of the sundae was about 1/2 cup after my girls got done with it, so not that bad, one horrible choice while at the beach on vacation. Nobodies perfect.

Anyway getting back to the foods that he questioned… popcorn and fruit. I am a firm believer that fruit serves a great purpose in our diet. They provide us with natural fibers and there are vitamins and minerals to be had from natures sweet stuff. The key is finding out what works in your body. Fruit is one of those things that works differently for each diabetic and what might provide no effect for me, will raise your blood sugars through the roof. Here is what the ADA suggests… and this is what I base my teaching on.

Eat some fruit each day for vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Be honest with yourself about your serving sizes. It is easy to drink a few extra ounces of fruit juice or to call a huge piece of fruit 1 serving when it is at least 2. The steps to take to track your response to fruit are: Check the serving size, eat your fruit, and check your blood glucose level about 1&1/2 to 2 hours later. Easy ways to eat more fruit:

• Put slices of banana or peaches on cold cereal.
  
• Add dry fruit (such as raisins, apricots, or apples) when cooking hot cereal.
  
• Keep a plastic container full of cut up fruit — have some at breakfast or for a snack topped with plain or fruited non-fat, sugar-free yogurt (to get a bit more calcium).
  
• Take one or two pieces of fruit from home each day to eat with lunch and as an afternoon snack or on your

Another great way to approach fruit is to look at the glycemic index (GI), while some fruits will be high, I try to stick to the ones below 60. Some of these would include a moderate size apple, half of a banana, small portion of cantaloupe, small box of raisins and a small serving of mango. That is just to name a few.

Fruit is often though of as “scary” for diabetics when truth be told, it is a great way to get what you need in your daily diet naturally. I know that personally, I have to eat my 5 a day, that includes veggies, to stay regular with my blood sugars. That is just how I work. Find out what works for you and let me know if you have any other tips. And thanks again to my wonderful reader that left the great comment that made me ponder my fruit choices!

ADA