Gone are the days when doctors used to advise their diabetic patients not to eat fruit because they have sugar. Today, fruits have become the part of daily diets for diabetics for a well-balanced and healthy meal plan. Diabetics should have proper control on blood sugar and strictly avoid unhealthy drinks and fruits which can cause complications.
How Much Grapes to Take?
When it comes to grapes, you may obviously have them in your diet plan to lower the risk of diabetes, high triglycerides, heart disease, high blood pressure, and metabolic syndrome, as per the study conduct by the University of Michigan. If you are a diabetic, you may take at least 1 cup of serving of grapes per day to get all the goodness of nutrients they have. In fact, it is not likely to raise blood sugar levels. Keep in mind that grapes also have carbohydrates like any other fruit.
Diet for Diabetics
This kind of diet should be designed to prevent the common complications of diabetes and its symptoms. It means you should include high-fiber foods for your diet which are low fat, especially saturated ones.
One of the common diabetes complications is blockage in arteries that can be caused due to saturated fat. Diabetics should control sweet foods that have carbohydrates which can increase blood sugar levels. To ensure proper control on your blood sugar, you should control your carbohydrate intake and take something that contains protein along with it. It is also advised to take only 2-3 handfuls of fruits per day and you can also include grapes in your diet.
How Much Carbohydrate Can I Consume?
Don’t exceed 15g of carbohydrate in one serving of fruits. Keep in mind that 1 cup of grapes has 16g of carbohydrate, out of which 15g are sugars and 1g is fiber. Fiber doesn’t cause spike in blood sugar and is not digested easily. So, it is often deducted from counting carbs. So, it is best to take 1 cup of grapes in diabetes.
GI and Diabetes
The Glycemic Index is a unit used to describe the food which contains carbs on the basis of the amount of blood sugar they can raise. You should take foods with GI lower than 55 as they don’t increase blood sugar level when consumed in control. Grapes are low in GI, with just 46.
Read Also: 20 Low Glycemic Index Foods for Diabetics
Health Benefits
According to a study published in PLOS Medicine journal on April 2017, Grapes are rich in healthy antioxidants which prevent the complications of diabetes and protect against diabetes. Grapes are fresh fruits which are proven to reduce odds of type 2 diabetes. To reduce the odds of death due to heart disease, diabetic patients should consume grapes in moderation. Eat a lot of fresh fruits to prevent chronic disease, even if you don’t have diabetes.
Control Blood Glucose Levels
You can control your blood glucose levels and cut spikes by relying on foods with low GI along with other foods high in GI and foods which doesn’t contain carbohydrates. Don’t eat plenty of carbohydrate foods together as it can raise the risk of blood sugar spikes. It is recommended to control the servings to 45 to 65 grams of carbohydrates in every meal for the diabetics.
Red Grapes and Diabetes
Red grapes have a component named “Resveratrol” to help curb the risk of diabetes. It is a phytochemical in the skins of red grapes. It controls the response of blood glucose by affecting the secretion in your body and the way insulin is used in diabetes, according to a study in European Journal of Pharmacology in June 2010. It might also help in weight loss, which is also the main reason behind diabetes.