How Eating Fruits at the Right Time Can Control Your Blood Sugar

Fruits are always a healthy option to eat, especially if the option is between junk food and fresh fruit.

The Department of Agriculture recommends adults eat 1 ½ to 2 cups of fruits per day, whether they’re fresh, canned, frozen, or dried. Frozen fruits, especially, have been studied to show a higher nutritional value as they’re frozen as soon as they’re picked.

Fruits have the most nutrients when they are freshly picked from the branch, so if they’re being packed, shipped, or stored on a grocery store shelf, they are slowly losing their nutritional value.

Not only that, but fruits also contain varying amounts of sugar depending on when you eat them.

Sugar Level in Fruit

Most fruits contain certain enzymes in the tissue that progressively break down starch. Starch is unsweet version of sugar as it’s the long, polymeric form of sugar.

These enzymes break down the starch into simple sugars – the sugars that taste sweet such as monosaccharides and disaccharides.

When fruits ripen, the enzymes are breaking down the starch so our stomachs don’t have to. This creates a spike in blood sugar as our bodies absorb the sugars into the blood stream much more quickly.

If you’re diabetic, this could be harmful to your daily sugar intake. It’s best to eat fruits right in the morning with protein in order to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. You could also eat fruit with nut butter, as the fat slows down the absorption of sugars.

Glycemic Index for Fruit

Most fruits are low on the glycemic index (GI), which is a ranking of 0-100 used as a guide to show the rate of how foods containing carbohydrate raise blood glucose after being eaten.

Low GI foods cause a slow rise in blood glucose, while a high GI food will create a sudden spike. Basing your diet on GI foods can be beneficial in maintaining a healthy weight and managing diabetes.

Fruits will have a different GI depending on when you eat them because of the process of enzymes breaking down starch.

Below is a guide on the best times to eat fruit in order to control your blood sugar. Disclaimer: this isn’t to say there is ever a wrong or bad time to eat fruits, but simply some better times if you’re looking to gain the most out of your fruit eating experience.

Berries

The absolute best time to eat any type of berry, including strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, is right before they get mushy.

When berries are pulled off the vine, they’re at their lowest sugar content and therefore are higher in starch.

“If you want to get fewer calories from them, you would eat them when they’re green,” says Sonya Angelone from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “But it wouldn’t taste as good.”

The smaller the berry becomes, the higher their sugar levels are. Blueberries, for example, may increase in sugar by almost 200% between the time they are picked and when they rot.

Bananas

The right time to eat bananas is before they start to spot. The riper a banana becomes, the more sugar it will contain although it will maintain the same amount of carbs and calories throughout its lifecycle.

Eating bananas before they spot also has the power to slow down digestion, keeping you feeling fuller for longer. This can help you consume fewer calories which help with weight loss.

Apples

Eat your apples when they’re crisp and tart. Ones that are less ripe will be more tart in taste, as well as the different strains of apples that are created to be tart will have less sugar.

Experts in the field suggest that you should eat fruit when it tastes good to you. If it tastes good, it most likely means you’re getting a lot of nutrients from it! However, if you can stand eating fruit that is less ripe, you’ll receive lower sugar content and a tiny bit more of those nutrients.

Sources:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/278384-the-glycemic-index-for-fruits/
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/the-absolute-best-time-to-eat-bananas-berries-and-apples
http://positivemed.com/2014/09/16/best-time-eat-banana/