# Dried fruit or fresh fruit?



## veganlass (Mar 20, 2011)

I love fresh fruit and especially the large oranges. I also love dried apricots.

Which is the best sort to have to control my blood sugar?.


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## Northerner (Mar 20, 2011)

Either kind of fruit can have a big effect on your blood sugar, it can be a very personal thing too. Some fruits are better than others according to the glycaemic index - strawberries, cherries and apples are generally better than grapes or bananas, but the only real way to find out is by testing after eating, I'm afraid. I seem to remember someone saying that dried fruit concentrates the sugars so can have more per 100g than fresh.


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## Steff (Mar 20, 2011)

fresh for me everytime , dried are way to bad for me


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## Liz! (Mar 20, 2011)

Dried are way too full of sugar. 

And neither will control your blood sugar well - oranges are one of the worst, they have a high sugar content and it is absorbed quite quickly. 

It would be better to eat one with a large meal with some fat in so that the whole meal delays the absorption of the orange.


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## Sheilagh1958 (Mar 20, 2011)

What about Melon .............is that good or bad


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## HelenM (Mar 20, 2011)

The GIs of dried fruit really vary, some are low enough to be  very good for sustaining long distance exercise, others relatively fast. A hundred grams of dried fruit would have a far higher glycemic load than fresh fruit, but I would have thought you would eat less in any case.
GIs
Apricots are around 30
Prunes  vary 21-50
raisins vary  50 -65
dates   vary 36-60
figs 61
dates  vary 31-62 

it presumably depends on the ripeness of the original fruit and how they are processed
.
One of my favorite 'trail' snacks when on a long walk are dark chocolate covered pieces of dried apricot,.


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## veganlass (Mar 20, 2011)

The large Navel Oranges are in at the moment and I have one  day. To me they are essential for vit C.
 I usually have one after a meal as a pud,.

I thought dried fruit were better as they were complex carbs?.  Oh well. I will have to find my essential minerals from somewhere else as Apricots are full of Iron and magnesium. As a vegan I have to find alternatives. I suppose I will have to check amounts I eat.


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## scanz (Mar 20, 2011)

Fruit is one of the most annoying things for me at the moment. I've been trying bananas the past couple of weeks and they are just so varied in terms of effect that i'm beginning to think I should just forget about them. One banana i'll be absolutely fine, another one might make me go up a bit and then another could send me sky high! Size and ripeness has a huge effect when it comes to bananas. Another annoyance is that I love grapes, but they have a high sugar content, so i've avoided them since diagnosis 

Fruit that i've found okay are raspberries (I believe about 50g is only 2.5g carbs!), strawberries (again, 80g is only 5g carbs!) and satsumas (the small easy peel ones are 5g carbs). The raspberries and strawberries mixed with some natural yoghurt is an absolute winner 

I tried dried apricot and found it sent my levels up a bit, so haven't had any since. So fresh fruit every time for me.


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## Liz! (Mar 21, 2011)

Bananas are VERY quickly absorbed. Athletes use them for quick bursts of energy. My son is a fencer and huge numbers of fencers carry bananas to give them a boost during bouts. 

Oranges are full of vitamin C but they are not the best source. Better than oranges by far are green kiwis (twice as much) or yellow kiwis (three times). Melon and blackcurrants (when in season) are also better. All better for you glycaemically. 

Also very full of Vit C are broccolli (VERY good for your digestion as well) Cauli, sweet potato and bell peppers.


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## Alan S (Mar 21, 2011)

veganlass said:


> I love fresh fruit and especially the large oranges. I also love dried apricots.
> 
> Which is the best sort to have to control my blood sugar?.



I know you don't have your meter yet. But when it arrives - *ask it*.

I think you will find fresh fruit less dangerous. More bulk for the ingested carbs. But even fresh fruit needs to be treated with some caution.


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## margie (Mar 21, 2011)

Dried fruit will have more carbs per 100g simply because the water has been removed which will add weight but not carbs to the fresh fruit.

Use your meter to see what affects you. Bananas are tricks things as they vary so much in size. I have a relative who eats small bananas but only half a one at a time - then covers with cling film till the next day. 

There are some online sources that tell you the number of carbs in various fruits, and the gl of fruits. It may be worth having a look there.

From your nursing days do you have any dietician friends - or ex colleagues with dietician friends who could get you some information on the carb content of various foods ?


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## rhall92380 (Mar 21, 2011)

margie said:


> Dried fruit will have more carbs per 100g simply because the water has been removed which will add weight but not carbs to the fresh fruit.
> 
> Use your meter to see what affects you. Bananas are tricks things as they vary so much in size. I have a relative who eats small bananas but only half a one at a time - then covers with cling film till the next day.
> 
> ...



Yes, and its easier to to eat too much dried fruit - e.g 3 dried apriocots = 1 portion of your 5 a day

Richard


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## Natalie123 (Mar 22, 2011)

I find that fresh fruit is slower release - I tend to eat fruit after a meal but sometimes as a snack if I am going for a walk or my levels are low. I also find that I can eat dried fruit sometimes, although I have it with something low GI like nuts or seeds to balance things out a bit.


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## FM001 (Mar 22, 2011)

Fresh fruit every time.  Most days I'll eat 3 or 4 portions of fresh fruit but never touch dried or tinned fruit, by far bananas are my favourite.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Mar 22, 2011)

veganlass said:


> Oh well. I will have to find my essential minerals from somewhere else as Apricots are full of Iron and magnesium. As a vegan I have to find alternatives. I suppose I will have to check amounts I eat.



Since you have an additional reason to want to eat the Apricots it might be worth persevering (as others have said you'll only really know how it affects you by testing a few times with a BG meter).

I've happily eaten *a* dried apricot at a time and seen little or no effect on my levels. But I know that would not be the case if I ate a handful. You might find that you can eat enough throughout the day without sending your BG skywards if you simply spread them out several hours apart.


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## veganlass (Mar 22, 2011)

I will be getting my monitor on friday so I will be able to check it out. I usually have about 4 or 5.
Not every day though. I also like nuts. So that will be a challenge too!.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Mar 22, 2011)

Nuts should be much easier. They tend to be very low GI and easy on the BGs. Nuts are my nibble of choice


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## Liz! (Mar 22, 2011)

Nuts are good, no CHO really! Brazil nuts, almonds and macademia nuts are very good for you. Peanuts are not so much.


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## veganlass (Mar 23, 2011)

Nuts are extremely good as they are loaded with essential minerals.

But they do contain fat so better not to have many at a time.


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## Liz! (Mar 23, 2011)

The ones I mention have mainly monounsaturates, so no need to worry too much.


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## veganlass (Mar 23, 2011)

thanks Liz.


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## caffeine_demon (Mar 23, 2011)

only make sure you don't mistake a pistachio in it's shell with a blanched almond - they're rather crunchy!


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## veganlass (Mar 24, 2011)

I love pistachios but very fattening . I dont buy them these days as I end up eating loads.


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