The glycemic index shows that various fruits receive different GI ratings on scale: low (55 or less), medium (56, 69) and high (70+) The glycemic index is a scale of 1 to 100 that shows how quickly or slowly food raises blood sugar. The higher the number, the more quickly blood sugar rises. Foods at the low end of the scale affect blood sugar only slightly.
Most fruits are foods with low glycemic index. Summer peaches, juicy apples and tart pomegranates answer when you want something sweet. Although they can taste as sweet as a candy bar, those fruits have low glycemic index.
Which Fruits Raise Blood Sugar Fast or Slow
Low GI fruits include cherries, grapefruit, pears, dried apricots, apples, oranges, plums, strawberries, peaches and grapes. Cherries have a value around 20, which is very low. Peaches mark about 42, and plums around 39.
Grapefruit, oroblanco and pomelo also are fruits with low glycemic valus.
Fruits from temperate regions, such as apples, pears, citrus and stone fruits, have low GI values. Tropical fruits such as pineapple, papaya and watermelon commonly have higher GI values. Watermelon has one of the highest glycemic indexes among fruits.
The GI of watermelon is 76, so it is as high as the GI of a doughnut. Brown and overripe bananas, as well as watermelon, are foods with high glycemic index. Yellow and ripe bananas are medium GI.
Other medium GI fruits include figs, dried cranberries, grapes, raisins, lychee and pineapple.
The ripeness of fruit matters a lot. The more ripe is the food, the higher usually is the GI. Also the portion size affects.
The more carbohydrates you eat at once, the more blood sugar will be attained. With smaller plums, about the size of a golf ball, it is possible to eat two fruits as one serving.
The glycemic load completes the GI, because it considers the GI value and the amount of carbohydrates in one serving. Food with high GI but little carbohydrate, such as watermelon, can however have low GL. Orange has GI of 52, but glycemic load of only 4.4, which is low.
A candy bar with GI of 55 can have GL of 22.1, which is high. Keep in mind portions, especially when dealing with dried fruit.
The body absorbs glucose from whole fruit differently than from squeezed fruit juice, because of the fiber. Generally, the more processed is food, the higher it sits on the glycemic scale. Fruit juice has a higher GI rating than fresh fruits.
Every fruit carries a bit of sugar, but the fiber in it slows the absorption. Berries and citrus tend to be quite low according to glycemic impact on their own. Fruits such as bananas, grapes, watermelon, mango and papaya should be eaten moderately.