Diabetes mellitus requires a strict diet with the exclusion of all unhealthy foods. One of the first places is sugar. From the menu, you need to remove not only chocolate cakes, but also sweet fruits. This tactic will also help overweight people - only fruits with a low fructose content can be included in a low-calorie diet.
Fruits for diabetes: what to choose
Diabetes mellitus of any type dictates strict dietary restrictions. All foods with a high glycemic index, including sweet fruits, are removed from the diet. Fruits rich in carbohydrates can provoke the development of the disease and the deterioration of the patient's condition. Bananas, grapes of all sorts, pomegranates, figs, persimmons, mangoes, melons, watermelons, pineapples are banned. Dried fruits with too many calories are also not suitable: raisins, prunes, dried apricots, dates.
Diabetics should not eat any fruits in icing, sugar sprinkles, or syrup. All commercial compotes, juices with artificial sweeteners and commercial fruit desserts should be replaced with fresh or frozen fruits and berries that are low in fructose. The fruits are rich in fiber, ascorbic acid, potassium, magnesium and other valuable macro- and microelements.
The best option for diabetics is fruits with a low glycemic index. The most useful are apples, kiwi, grapefruit, peaches, oranges, apricots, pears, quince, nectarines, lemons, plums, cherries. These fruits are eaten fresh, used for making compotes and simple desserts without sugar. Fruit juices are not recommended for diabetics: they contain a minimum amount of fiber and an increased dose of fructose.
Champions among unsweetened fruits useful for diabetics are avocado and cherry plum. High in natural oils, avocados are highly digestible and suitable for salads and other cold snacks. Cherry plum is rich in vitamin C, it promotes the breakdown of fats and improves digestion. You cannot abuse sour fruits, a few pieces a day are enough. Patients with gastrointestinal problems should definitely consult a doctor, for them additional restrictions are possible.
When choosing fruits, you need to consider the variety. Some types of pears, cherries, tangerines may contain more fructose, so diabetic patients will have to give them up.
Weight loss diet and fruits: possible combinations
Fruit is a valuable food for overweight people. However, fruits with an increased dose of fructose will not help you lose weight. With obesity, it is necessary to exclude sweet bananas, grapes, most of dried fruits from the diet. Watermelons are not at all as harmless as it is commonly believed, ripe specimens contain a lot of sugar and give an additional load on the kidneys. Melon and persimmon can be eaten in limited quantities, no more than 200 grams per day. But pineapple, forbidden for diabetics, fits well into a low-calorie diet. Thanks to its high concentration of bromelin, which helps burn fat, it speeds up the process of losing weight.
The healthiest fruits list includes all citrus fruits, especially limes, lemons, and grapefruits. Lose weight will help apricots, peaches, kiwi, apples and pears. Fresh berries are very useful: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, lingonberries, cranberries, cloudberries, blueberries, red, white and black currants. Berries contain a lot of vitamin C, healthy fiber and amino acids. In the winter season, fresh berries can be replaced with freshly frozen ones, they are used to make homemade cocktails, mousses, mashed potatoes, compotes and even cold fruit soups.
Fruit diet recipes
Home cooking can help you control your calorie intake. You should not order in restaurants or buy fruit salads, mousses, jellies in stores. Sweeteners will definitely be added to all these desserts: sugar or its substitutes, jam, honey. It is better to make treats yourself, using simple or original unusual recipes.
Sour fruits can be tasted better by baking them in the oven or microwave. An interesting recipe is apples with cinnamon. Making a dessert is easy, just peel the apples, cut into cubes, place in a fireproof dish and bake until the fruit is soft and juiced. It is important not to overdry the fruit. Hot apples are transferred to a bowl, sprinkled with ground cinnamon and served immediately. There are only 60 kcal in a portion of such a dessert, while it is quite satisfying. Instead of apples, you can use pears, quince, peaches. Fruit can be added to pancakes, curd casseroles, light puddings. An excellent option for a dietary dessert is a jelly made from juice diluted with water and supplemented with pieces of fruit.
An ordinary grapefruit will help you lose weight quickly. Nutritionists recommend eating half of the fruit before each meal for 6 days. Then you can take a break. To diversify your diet, you can use different grapefruit varieties: white, pink, yellow. A successful dessert idea is a salad of citrus fruits: tangerines, oranges, pomelo, kumquats. A spoonful of unflavored low-fat yogurt will help to make the taste more delicate. An important condition is to make the diet as varied as possible. The benefits of such nutrition will be higher, and the likelihood of breakdowns will also decrease.
Food should not only be healthy, but also tasty. Homemade salad recipes can be diversified with unsweetened fruits, for example, add freshly squeezed orange or lime juice to green leaves, chop fresh strawberries or kiwi, and make avocado puree. Cooking should be kept to a minimum. Fresh fruit will retain all vitamins and add nutritional value to meals without increasing the total calorie intake.
