Hi, Moms to be bringing your baby on board comes with its own set of diet rules, especially with fruits. If you’re having trouble navigating through the sea of suggestions along with pregnancy cravings and aversions, we are here to help.
Fruits are must in pregnancy delivering all the right nutrients for your little one’s development – and in some way helping you with those undeniable sweet cravings. But not all fruits were created equal. While some of them are pregnancy“ girl gold,” some can truly mess with yours and your baby’s health.
Throw diabetes into the equation, and the restrictions spike courtesy build-up of glucose in the bloodstream. Even the form they are ingested in makes a whole lot of difference. For instance, fresh or frozen fruit is the best. Canned fruit is alright when preserved in its own juices or water, but syrupy canned fruit and juice – completely avoidable.
Juices do not have fiber that is beneficial so they are simply glasses of sugar. It’s ultimately about choosing your fruits well in order to get minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants that are beneficial for the two of you. So, in case you missed the backstory, here is a list of fruits you should steer clear from if you have gestational diabetes.
5 Fruits To Avoid During Pregnancy If You Have Diabetes
1. Oranges
Look pretty innocent right?Except, expect them to spike your sugar levels to dangerous levels if consumed out of moderation. It’s best to leave them at the supermarket, but if you have to have them, a small portion of a fresh orange can satiate you without causing damage. Orange juice that comes from a concentrate or one that hasn’t been unpeeled and squeezed right then are a strict no-no.
2. Bananas
While these are energy boosters with all that packed in potassium, large quantities of the fruit are better forgotten. Eating them in restricted amounts,(half a banana or a whole, small, banana) can help in maintaining good overall health.
3. Grapes
Carbohydrate heavy fruits mean higher glucose. Grapes have high levels of fructose in them which can aggravate diabetes. The same holds good for raisins which are higher up on the sugar chart in comparison to fresh grapes. So grapes are not an option at all.
4. Watermelons
Yea its summer and summer means watermelon. We get it, but the high natural sugar means it is best avoided until the end of the pregnancy. Watermelons have a glycemic load that hits 80 rendering them unsafe for pregnant women.
5. Dates
Sure they are delicious and nutrient-rich too. But dates and all the other dried fruits for that matter have water sucked out of them leaving them with high concentrates of sugar content. Their natural sugar levels are just way too high for your body. You don’t want all that excess glucose to linger around and cause complications.
Typically keeping the serving size of these fruits restricted to fit within the window of 15 gms of carbohydrates can put you in the safe zone. However, it is always best to exercise caution and ideally avoid these fruits as they are just “too sweet.”
Some fruits that fit well with your diabetes diet and considered safer to eat during pregnancy with diabetes in question are strawberries, apples, pomegranates, pears, guava, and blueberries amongst others. They can be eaten raw in the right proportions and without any added sugar. If you’re in doubt, speak to your diabetes doctor for more guidance on what you can eat and in what portion sizes. Happy pregnancy!
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