Can You Get Diabetes from Eating Too Much Fruit?

Diabetes is complicated and as such, you should try to avoid getting the disease to the maximum possible extent. In question today, are the otherwise healthy source of nutrients for diabetics, that is fruits. It is surprising that researchers could even question whether eating too much of fruit can be bad for people who suffer from diabetes. However, when you deeply analyze the various causes and factors that could expose you to a greater risk of developing the condition, you will understand the logic behind such a thought process. In this article, we have tried to understand the analyze the same.

So, come and join us for the article “Can You Get Diabetes from Eating Too Much Fruit?”

Table of Contents

How Can Eating Too Much Fruit Lead to Diabetes?

The main type of sugar that is present in the fruits we eat is the fructose. The other forms of sugar such as glucose metabolizes in the blood, while fructose does so in the liver. So, when you eat too much of fruit, too much of fructose accumulates in the liver. When the sugar is more than the required quantity, your liver breaks down the same into triglycerides. The increase in the levels of triglycerides, as we know, is one of the many reasons that could expose you to a greater risk of getting diabetes as triglycerides are often stored as fat in different body cells. When you eat too much fruit, you often find it difficult to lose weight, particularly your belly fat. This, as we know, is a major contributor to diabetes, particularly type 2.

Relation Between Eating Too Much Fruit and Type 2 Diabetes

As you know, type 2 diabetes is a complex disease and is caused due to various factors. One important cause is the high levels of sugar which increase glucose in your blood. However, the relationship between the sugar from fruits and type 2 diabetes is a complex one. While a few researcher’s belief that too much of sugar can cause type 2 diabetes, a few others are of the view that the same may not be true completely.

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Researcher’s belief that both simple, as well as complex carbohydrates,breakdown into sugar which in turn, changes the level of blood sugar in your body. Simple carbohydrates are the ones that metabolize quickly because they get digested quickly as opposed to the complex form of the carbohydrates. Hence, when you are someone who is suffering from pre diabetes or want to avoid getting diabetic, you should avoid eating different food items that have simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are naturally present in a number of food items that we eat on a day to day basis. This is where fruits come into the picture. The fructose present in fruits you eat is, in fact, a form of a simple carbohydrate which might expose you to a greater chance of contracting type 2 diabetes. When taken in more than the recommended quantity, you can not only contract diabetes but also expose yourself to higher risks of getting a heart attack, stroke, amongst other complicated conditions.

Relation Between Eating Too Much Fruit and Gestational Diabetes

As per a new study conducted by the experts, eating too much fruit when you are pregnant, exposes you to a greater risk of contracting gestational diabetes. In fact, the risk of developing diabetes in such a case is somewhere around a whopping 400 percent. The main reason is the sugar content of the food. Besides, you should not forget the fact that the fruits which we get in the market today are the ones which have been artificially injected to look bigger and taste even sweeter. Thus, you should be careful while you are consuming fruits. Do not go overboard with the same.

What Is the Recommended Quantity of Fruits?

Depending on the total number of carbohydrates that you intend to take as per your condition and your doctor’s recommendations, the following is the recommended quantity of fruit for you:

  • If you are looking forward to maintaining a keto low-carb diet, you should perhaps take in less than 20 grams in a day. You should eat just a few berries in a day’s time.
  • If you are looking forward to maintaining a moderately low-carb diet, you should perhaps take in around 20 grams to 50 grams in a day. This means that you should not eat more than a fruit in a day.
  • Finally, if you are looking forward to maintaining a liberal low-carb diet, you should perhaps take in somewhere around 50 grams to 100 grams in a day. This implies that you should not eat more than two to three fruits in a day’s time.

While the above are the main recommendations for the amount of fruit that you should eat in one day, you should devise an overall meal plan to ensure that you can fit in the carbohydrates you get in fruits to the overall recommended amount of carbohydrates to lower the risk of developing diabetes and the other related complications.

Some Examples of Low-Carb Fruits

In order to maintain the total recommended quantity of food, you should know the various sources of low-carb fruits. The following are a few examples of the total number of carbs that you will get by eating 100 grams of the listed fruit:

  • Raspberry: 5 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Blackberry: 5 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Strawberry: 6 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Watermelon: 10 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Blueberries: 12 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Banana: 20 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Orange: 10 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Peach: 9 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Plum: 7 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Grapes: 16 Grams of carbohydrates
  • Mangoes: 13 Grams of carbohydrates

Basis the above, you can decide the number of fruits that you want to include in your daily diet so that you can be within the recommended limits of the total fruits that you should eat as a diabetic patient.

We hope that the above article has been helpful in improving your understanding of the relationship that exists between diabetes and eating too much of fruit. Fruits have several nutrients that could help you to manage diabetes in a much more efficient and effective manner. Having said that, too much of the fruit can be unhealthy for all types of diabetics and can also expose you to greater risks of developing the condition if you already do not have one. However, it should also be mentioned that several types of research are still being conducted on these lines by the experts. Till then, eat your favorite fruits within the recommended limits while staying healthy at the same time!!

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