It’s always a good idea to keep track of the sugar in your diet, but when you decide to cut down on the amount you eat, don’t start by cutting out fruit. There are low sugar fruits that we can choose without having problems impacting our blood glucose levels.
First, eliminate added sugar that you can get from baked goods, candy, and sodas. Then, if necessary, you can choose fruits with less sugar. Despite their natural sugar, most fruits do not affect blood glucose and are good sources of fiber and nutrients, although there are clearly exceptions and fruits that it will be preferable to avoid or consume together with proteins, to reduce their glycemic impact.
The best low-sugar fruits
One teaspoon of granulated sugar equals 4 grams, so this list starts with fruits that contain 1 to 4 grams of sugar.
1. Lemons, limes and blueberries
Lemons and limes have less sugar than most other fruits. You could eat a whole lime and gain only 1 gram of sugar, while a whole lemon has 2 grams. Half a cup of raw blueberries also has 2 grams.
The downside is that lemons and limes are so bitter that they are usually sweetened and end up in high-sugar drinks or dishes. If you want to squeeze lemon or lime into your water, rest assured that you are not adding sugar.
3. Avocados
Avocados technically belong to the fruit family, which means they have a place on the list. One cup of avocado cubes or slices (a little less than a whole fruit) contains 1 gram of sugar.
3. Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries
The last three fruits with the least amount of sugar, the ones I might call very low sugar, are probably some of your favorite berries. Based on a 1/2 cup serving, raspberries contain 3 grams of sugar, blackberries have 3.5 grams, and cut strawberries come with 4 grams.
4. Fruits with 5 to 12 grams of sugar
You also have quite a few fruits to choose from in the group that has 5 to 12 grams of sugar per serving.
Just remember to pay attention to serving sizes to make sure you’re getting roughly the same amount of sugar per fruit.
This group starts with the guava, which only contains 5 grams of sugar in one piece of fruit. Fruits with 6 to 8 grams of sugar include papaya, kiwi, blueberries, grapefruit, and pineapples. Serving sizes are 1/2 cup blueberries and pineapple, one kiwi, and 1/2 papaya and grapefruit.
A medium nectarine, 1/2 cup of mango and 15 seedless grapes provide 11 grams of sugar. You can enjoy a medium peach or a medium-sized orange and get only 12 grams.
5. Watermelon and melon
Half a cup of cantaloupe offers 6 grams of sugar, while a larger serving, such as a quarter of a cantaloupe, has 10 grams. Watermelon is a good example of why portion viewing is so important. A 1/2 cup serving of diced watermelon belongs to the low sugar range because it contains 5 grams, but if we exceed the amount, we can easily exceed 10 grams of sugar per watermelon dish, therefore it is not only about which fruit to choose, but to know how to eat the right portions for each type of fruit.
For example, a generous portion of melon has 17 grams of sugar, therefore in this case it will be preferable to eat only a few cubes of melon, and accompany it with a natural yogurt without sugar, that allows you to cushion the impact of the sugar.
6. Fruits with moderate sugar (13 to 20 grams)
In the moderate sugar category, you will find fruits with between 13 and 20 grams of sugar per serving. Fruits in the lower half of this range, 13 to 16 grams, include bananas and sweet and sour cherries, while prunes, apples, and dried figs are 17 to 20 grams.
The serving sizes used are a medium-sized banana and apple, 1 cup of cherries, and five dried figs or plums. You can also include raisins in this group because 1/4 cup of seedless raisins has 21 grams of sugar.
