Fruits, along with grains, legumes, some dairy products and sugar, are the main source of carbs in the American diet. If you have diabetes, you need to track your carb intake to keep your blood sugar levels under control. Even if fruits are healthy and provide good carbohydrates packed with fiber and antioxidants, eating too many fruits at once can lead to a sharp rise in your blood sugar levels. For most diabetics, aiming for 45 to 60 g of carbohydrates per meal and up to 30 g of carbohydrates per snack is optimal.
Digestible Carbs
Digestible carbs, also called net carbs or available carbs, corresponds to the portion of the carbohydrates able to raise your blood sugar levels. You can obtain the digestible carb content of a food by subtracting its fiber content from its total carb content. With diabetes, it is more useful to track your digestible carb intake to better understand the influence of foods over your blood sugar levels.
Apples, Pears, Oranges and Peaches
A small piece of fruit, whether it is an apple, pear, orange or peach, contains an average of 15 g of digestible carbs. A larger piece of fruit can provide 30 g of carbs per serving. If possible, eat the skin of the fruit, with the exception of citrus fruit, after washing it thoroughly to increase your fiber intake.
Prunes and Kiwifruits
With smaller fruits such as plums, kiwifruits and clementines, you usually need to eat two to get 15 g of carbs. This means that if you only have one, your carb intake will be closer to 7 to 8 g, while if you eat three to four at a time, your carb intake will reach 22 to 30 g.
Bananas
The carbohydrate content of bananas vary according to their size. A small 6 in. long banana contains about 20 g of carbs, while a larger one, measuring between 8 in. and 9 in., contains around 30 g of carbohydrates.
Grapes and Cherries
A serving of 3/4 cup of sweet cherries, 1.5 cup of sour cherries or 20 grapes, which is just over 1/2 cup of grapes, each provides 15 g of digestible carbs.
Melons
A serving of 1 cup of cantaloupe or honey dew melon contains 15 g of carbohydrates. You can get slightly more watermelon, close to 1.5 cup, for the same amount of carbohydrates.
Mango, Papaya and Pineapple
You will get about 15 g of digestible carbs in either 3/4 cup of mango, 1 cup of papaya or 3/4 cup of pineapple. If you have a whole mango, your carb intake will correspond to 50 g.
Berries
You can eat large quantities of berries for relatively few carbohydrates. For example, you can have about 1.5 cup of strawberries, 1 cup of blueberries and about 2 cups of raspberries for the equivalent of only 15 g of digestible carbs.
