The Ten Best Fruits for a Diabetic Diet

Just because you're a diabetic, doesn't mean you can't have fruit in your diet. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) says fruits are loaded with vitamins, nutrients, and fiber and should be part of your diabetic diet. But are some fruits better for the diabetic diet than others? Ideally, you want to choose fruits that:

-Are low in carbohydrates. The ADA recommends a single serving of fruit be 15 grams of carbohydrates

-Have a low glycemic index (less affect on blood sugar and insulin levels.) Most fruits do have a low glycemic index. Some exceptions include watermelon and dates.

-Are packed with vitamins, nutrients, and fiber.

With this in mind, here are some of the best fruits for your diabetic diet. (Nutrition information based on a fruit serving size of 100g)

Citrus fruits for a diabetic diet

Grapefruit-Grapefruits have 8g of carbohydrates, contain 34.4 mg of Vitamin C, and 1.1g of fiber.

Orange-This citrus fruit made the ADA's superfoods list. Oranges contain 11.75g of carbohydrates, 53.2mg of Vitamin C, and 2.4g of fiber

Non-citrus fruits for a diabetic diet

Apple-An apple contains 14g of carbohydrates and 2.4g of fiber.

Apricot-Not only are apricots low in carbohydrates (11g) and decent on fiber content (2g), but they're packed with a whopping 259mg of potassium!

Peach-Peaches have only 9.5g of carbohydrates, but they'll give you 1.5g of fiber and 190mg of potassium.

Plum-Plums have 11.42g of carbohydrates, 1.4g of fiber, and 157mg of potassium.

Berries for a diabetic diet

Blueberry-An ADA superfood, blueberries contain 2.4g of fiber, only 14.5g of carbohydrates, and are rich in antioxidants, which are good for your heart.

Cranberry-This ADA superfood will give you 4.6g of fiber, 13.3mg of Vitamin C, and only 12.2g of carbohydrates.

Strawberry-Another ADA superfood, strawberries contain only 7.68g of carbohydrates, 2g of fiber, 58.8mg of Vitamin C, and 153mg of potassium.

Melons for a diabetic diet

Cantaloupe-This melon contains 8.6g of carbohydrates, 32mg of Vitamin C, and 267mg of potassium.

Examples fruit servings with 15g of carbohydrates

½ cup orange or grapefruit

1 small fresh fruit (apple, orange, plum, tangerine)

1 cup melon or berries

Sources:

Food and Fitness: Fruits, Diabetes Superfoods American Diabetes Association website

Diabetes: Exchange list: Fruits, Mayo Clinic website

Food and nutrition: What's in the foods you eat? Search Tool, 3.0 USDA website