Fruits & Veggies To Eat & Avoid If You Have Diabetes

Hello everyone, this is Dr. Ahmet Ergin, your endocrinologist, diabetes specialist in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Today I'm going to give you a complete breakdown of best fruits and worst fruits, best vegetables and the worst vegetables for diabetes. Managing diabetes does not mean giving up your fruits and vegetables, right? In fact, they're great for controlling blood sugar levels. I'm going to give you a complete breakdown right now. Smart choices. Now, let's talk about the things that are low in sugar, high in fiber. Leafy greens, right? Spinach, kale, packed with essential nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, K, folate, fiber, helps with slowing down the absorption of the glucose. And berries, for example, the blueberries, strawberries. Recently a patient of mine told me that, well, how about grapes? Well, that's not a berry. So anything that ends with berry, that has anthocyanins, that has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and improve insulin resistance. What else? Cruciferous vegetables, right? Broccoli, cauliflower and low glycemic index foods. These are going to have fiber and compounds like sulforaphane, which may help reduce the blood sugar levels and give you anti-inflammatory benefits. Now, how about citrus fruits, grapefruits, oranges? Well, they're low in GI as long as you don't overdo it and increase the glycemic load. A lot of vitamin C, flavonoids, great for heart health and improve the blood sugar levels. Of course, it's not going to reduce your blood sugar, but what's going to happen is you are going to have all the benefits, especially if you're eating orange instead of orange juice, your blood sugar is not going to go up as much. Tomatoes, they're low in carbs and a good source of antioxidants like lycopene, which can, again, reduce the inflammation and improve the heart health. Just don't have the tomatoes like in a ketchup kind of situation. Now, avocados, great, low in carb, heart healthy. There are a lot of monounsaturated fats in there, fiber, improve the insulin sensitivity and, again, reduce the blood sugar spikes. Now, carrots, that's one of my favorite snacks. So why? Because it's slightly sweet, they have a low glycemic index, high in fiber, helps control the blood sugar levels compared to eating chips, right? And zucchini, for example, super low in carbs and sugar, of course. Fiber, water content is great, excellent option for, again, people trying to control their diabetes. Bell pepper, again, high in fiber, low in sugar, rich in vitamin A, super important for immune health and eye health, vitamin C to reduce inflammation and support your health overall. Now, the worst fruits and vegetables, to touch base on that quick, well, I wouldn't say totally worst, but bananas are not as good, right? They're high in carbs and sugars, especially if they are ripe. So you want to go for the greener bananas. But one medium banana can contain up to 27 grams of carbs, so not so great. Grapes, again, they're like sugar bombs, right? Quickly absorb, one cup contains around 30 grams of carbs. Mangoes, in summertime in Florida, that's a big problem here. Glycemic index of 51, not very ideal. You know, we like to keep the GI glycemic index below 40 if possible. Pineapples, that is 66 in the glycemic index. It can cause super rapid increase in your blood sugar levels. Now, potatoes. Well, yeah, some people say, how about sweet potatoes? Well, they are both high in carb, high in GI glycemic index, 70 to 85, making them very likely to raise your blood sugar. Same thing as corn, high in carbs. And again, one cup of corn can contain up to 27, 30 grams of carbs, so not great. Now, glycemic index we have been talking about is basically it is talking about how quickly the foods can raise the blood sugar levels. So anything 50, preferably 40 or less is great. Like apples are 39, oranges are 40, carrots are 41, beans are 28. So these foods will help you absorb glucose a lot slower and to maintain blood sugars in the long run better. And the high GI foods like 70 and above, for example, watermelon, pineapple, potatoes, these foods will definitely skyrocket your blood sugar levels very quickly, especially if you don't pay attention to portion control. Now, there is something called glycemic load, which actually incorporates how much you're eating, not just the glycemic index. So glycemic index tells you how quickly you absorb the food and how quickly you can spike your blood sugar. But the glycemic load comes into play because it considers, again, both the glycemic index and the actual amount of carbohydrates in a serving. So that's a little bit tricky. Let's try to understand that. So, for example, one serving of watermelon, let's say one cup, right? So because watermelon is mostly water and the volume wise, it basically fills the cup very much. It is not going to have a lot of sugar in that one cup. However, if you put the same cup, if you fill it with rice, well, you're going to have almost 45, 50 grams of carbs loaded in there compared to just 11 grams of carbs with the watermelon. So one cup of watermelon will be 11 grams of carbs versus one cup of rice will be 45 grams of carbs. Now, they both have high glycemic index, but rice will spike your blood sugar so much more. For example, rice have a glycemic load of around like 60, which is huge. One cup of rice will skyrocket you. But the same one cup of watermelon have a glycemic load of only four. So compare the four to 60. So, yes, they both have high glycemic index, but because of the sugar content of watermelon is much less per serving, you're not going to have the same effect as the rice or more dense foods. So you try to stay away from dense foods and try to stick with the food that are high in water and fiber content. Now, let's talk about the first set of vegetables that you can consume in moderation without having to worry too much about them, right? Well, those are the ones that are in between. So they have some natural sugar content in there. Like I discussed, the watermelon high glycemic index. But unless you overdo it with the large quantities, not a big problem. Same thing with dates. You know, if you're eating one date or so or two dates, GI of glycemic index of 42. Again, as long as you consume in small amounts, you're OK. Cherries are the same way. They're nutritious. They have a moderate glycemic index. And as long as in a controlled portion, you're good to go. Peas. Well, the peas are the source of protein and fiber, but they have a high carb content. And again, you can eat it, but in moderation. Now, practical tips for you. You know, when you are having to manage diabetes. Yes, you can go on a keto diet, you can go carb free, but that's kind of a hard life to live, right? So a lot of people cannot do it. But if you can learn how to control your portion and use smaller plates, avoid overeating, have a lot of fiber in your food, and you can combine low glycemic fruits and vegetables with proteins and healthy fats that will reduce the spike in your blood sugar levels, all will help. And of course, try to stay active because your body will turn the glucose into fat and you will become insulin resistant because of too much fat in your fat cells. Well, you can prevent that by using that glucose that's coming into your system so that it doesn't have to create insulin resistance or blood sugar spikes. So I hope that helped you today. And if it did, please take a moment to say thank you. Give a thumbs up. Share this video. Take the quiz below. And again, thank you. Thank you. I'll see you in the next video. 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