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Testing BS levels when eating fruit

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C

Carina1962

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I feel i need to eat more fruit in my diet as before i was diagnosed T2 i used to have about 3 portions of fruit a day but having discovered that some fruit too can be high in carbs, i seem to be having it less and less but last week decided to buy some apples and pears (i picked the smallest ones) and want to make sure that they are 'BS friendly' for me so my question is to people on here - if you eat fruit do you eat it as a snack (ie in-between meals) or do you add it on to your main meals as a dessert? if i eat it as a snack, do i just test my BS level before and 2 hours after i've eaten a particular fruit to see whether that particular fruit is OK for my personal BS levels? is this procedure the same when testing 'new' foods? Also how many 'points' would you consider high? ie if i test before i eat an apple and my BS is 6.1 what will be considered OK or high when i test 2 hours later?

Advice is very much appreciated 🙂
 
Hi Carina,

I eat fruit as a snack and not usually as part of my main meals.

What I'd do is test before you eat the fruit - preferably quite a while after you have eaten anything else just to get that food out of your system. It's quite important that you do the test well away from a time that you have eaten other food so you just get the effect of the fruit.

Then I'd take a test at one hour - then ninety minutes and then two hours after finishing eating. What you need to are look for is the rise in blood glucose level rather than the actual result - i.e. how much does the fruit raise your level.

By the way, weigh the fruit as well so you will know how much carbohydrate is involved.

Here are the results of some tests I did:

Anyway, here are some of my recent testings on different types of fruit:

6.7 - Before eating
Grapes - 125g
5.9 - 30 mins after finishing eating
6.8 - one hour after finishing eating
5.5 - 90 mins after finishing eating

4.7 - Before eating
Apple - 225g - i.e. large
6.8 - one hour after finishing eating

Figs - 100g - four small figs
5.8 - one hour after finishing eating

5.4 - Before eating
Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
5.1 - one hour after finishing eating

4.6 - Before eating
Apple - 125g - i.e. small/medium
5.5 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
5.7 - one hour after finishing eating

Apple - 150g - i.e. medium
4.9 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
4.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Apple - 190g - i.e. large
3.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
3.8 - one hour after finishing eating

3.9 - before eating
Apple - 360g - i.e. absolutely massive - possibly the biggest apple I have ever eaten
6.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Banana - 100g - i.e. small
5.1 - one hour after finishing eating

Just do some tests and tell us what you find.

Best wishes - John
 
wallycorker said:
Hi Carina,

I eat fruit as a snack and not usually as part of my main meals.

What I'd do is test before you eat the fruit - preferably quite a while after you have eaten anything else just to get that food out of your system. It's quite important that you do the test well away from a time that you have eaten other food so you just get the effect of the fruit.

Then I'd take a test at one hour - then ninety minutes and then two hours after finishing eating. What you need to are look for is the rise in blood glucose level rather than the actual result - i.e. how much does the fruit raise your level.

By the way, weigh the fruit as well so you will know how much carbohydrate is involved.

Here are the results of some tests I did:

Anyway, here are some of my recent testings on different types of fruit:

6.7 - Before eating
Grapes - 125g
5.9 - 30 mins after finishing eating
6.8 - one hour after finishing eating
5.5 - 90 mins after finishing eating

4.7 - Before eating
Apple - 225g - i.e. large
6.8 - one hour after finishing eating

Figs - 100g - four small figs
5.8 - one hour after finishing eating

5.4 - Before eating
Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
5.1 - one hour after finishing eating

4.6 - Before eating
Apple - 125g - i.e. small/medium
5.5 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
5.7 - one hour after finishing eating

Apple - 150g - i.e. medium
4.9 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
4.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Apple - 190g - i.e. large
3.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Satsuma - 80g - i.e. small
3.8 - one hour after finishing eating

3.9 - before eating
Apple - 360g - i.e. absolutely massive - possibly the biggest apple I have ever eaten
6.6 - one hour after finishing eating

Banana - 100g - i.e. small
5.1 - one hour after finishing eating

Just do some tests and tell us what you find.

Best wishes - John
Click to expand...

im going to try it john ...as i miss my fruit ...Also the type of fruit ie apple will effect it as some have been grown to be sweeter ....what difference in a coxs or russet to a pink lady or braeburn ?
 
Thank you so much yet again Wallycorker for your advice, you are becoming a real inspiration for me, I was only talking to my partner today about you and said how sound your advice is and it is really good to know how you are 'spreading' this advice to new people on here who, like me when first diagnosed hadn't got a clue what i was supposed to be doing right. Like many, the only advice i got from my DN when i was first diagnosed was, "there is no such thing as a diabetic diet" and shoved a picture in front of me of a plate of food, all sectioned off in different food groups. I know now it is not that simple, there is much much more to diabetes and food than i first thought. Anyway, i will start experimenting on different fruits starting from next week and when i've collected some conclusive info on different fruits, i too will post it on here to let you know. My other 'experiment' that i will do (i discussed this with my partner today) is that i will experiment what excercise (walking) will do to my levels and for 2 weeks i will work out a meal plan, the first week i will go for my walks BEFORE i eat my main evening meal and the 2nd week i will have the same meal plan as the first week and this time will go for my walks one hour AFTER i have eaten my main meal and compare the 2 so i have some serious testing to do over the next few weeks - will keep you informed 🙂
 
🙂 How many strips you getting Carina?

Good luck with all the testing. That is how we learn how to deal with our own individual situations.

Very best wishes as usual - John
 
hi carina i await you results with fruit and might try and join you xx
 
I have managed (somehow) to persuade my DN to let me have some test strips on prescription and she has agreed and all i did was take my little log book and told her that by testing i can work out what foods work for me and which ones don't but it took several visits before she agreed as initially she prescribed me urine sticks and told me she didn't want me to test with a monitor, my GP said the same but thankfully i now have a prescription which allows me 5 more times to get them and i'm hoping that i can show her how useful the testing will be for me so will take my 'experiments' with me when i next see her in June. I've also in the past been buying the strips a lot cheaper on ebay but i wouldn't have been able to do this if she hadn't agreed to give me some on prescription so i may as well use them to my advantage 🙂
 
am64 said:
im going to try it john ...as i miss my fruit ...Also the type of fruit ie apple will effect it as some have been grown to be sweeter ....what difference in a coxs or russet to a pink lady or braeburn ?
Click to expand...
Hi am64,

I really haven't ever noticed any difference between different types of fruit - or, for that matter, in ripeness.

Really, none of the fruits seem to do much to me at all. In fact, I might do an experiment by overdosing on fruit for a day just to see how my body reacts - i.e. have a "fruit day"!

Best wishes - John
 
Interesting chart John but i wonder why you only test at one hour ? I have found that my blood sugar levels can rise at two and even three hour readings with some fruit.
 
Something is not right!

There is something wrong here, i did my first test today with a small apple (80g in weight), i tested before i ate it, my BS was 7, i tested one hour later it was 7.2 and 2 hours later it dropped to 7. Since i had a cold last week (which i am now over) my levels seem to have 'stuck' and my 2 hour post meal readings are very high whereas they never used to be ie last night i had a bowl of tomato soup (tinned) and 4 very wafer thing crackers, total carbs, 40g and my reading was 11.2! - what is going on?
 
I am in agreement with Irisdove here. Fruits can spike after 2 hrs. Whatever people decide to do, it is the testing that is important and if you are introducing a new food then it is worthwhile testing after 2hrs.
 
Irisdove said:
Interesting chart John but i wonder why you only test at one hour ? I have found that my blood sugar levels can rise at two and even three hour readings with some fruit.
Click to expand...
Hi Irisdove and cherrypie,

In general, I use one hour as my most used test time because I've found that usually finds my peak. These days, by the 2 hour mark, I'm usually back around 4.5ish no matter what I have eaten.

However, in the case of fruit, when I've done this testing what I usually do is as follows:

I test before I start - then eat a piece of fruit - test one hour after finishing eating - I then eat another piece of different fruit - test again one hour after finishing eating the second piece - then eat yet another piece of a different fruit - test after another hour after eating the third piece of fruit - and so on.............

In doing that my one hour readings are also the before reading for the second and subsequent piece of fruit - also, I'd be picking up any later spike. I never spike no matter how much fruit I eat or for how long I've carried on - i.e. sometimes up to 5 hours.

Hope that explains things.

Yes - testing is always very important when carrying out any such experiment with foods that can cause elevated blood glucose levels. I certainly agree with that.

Best wishes - John
 
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wallycorker said:
In general, I use one hour as my most used test time because I've found that usually finds my peak. These days, by the 2 hour mark, I'm usually back around 4.5ish no matter what I have eaten.

However, in the case of fruit, when I've done this testing what I usually do is as follows:

I test before I start - then eat a piece of fruit - test one hour after finishing eating - I then eat another piece of different fruit - test again one hour after finishing eating the second piece - then eat yet another piece of a different fruit - test after another hour after eating the third piece of fruit - and so on.............

In doing that my one hour readings are also the before reading for the second and subsequent piece of fruit - also, I'd be picking up any later spike. I never spike no matter how much fruit I eat or for how long I've carried on - i.e. sometimes up to 5 hours.

Hope that explains things.

Yes - testing is always very important when carrying out any such experiment with foods that can cause elevated blood glucose levels. I certainly agree with that.

Best wishes - John
Click to expand...

Wally.
Someone once said, " You cannot be serious !!" You are joking aren't you ?
How on earth can you get a true reading testing in such a manner ?

You say you eat a piece of fruit and then test after 1 hr, fair enough. Then you say you eat another piece of fruit and test after another hour, ad infinitum ??? Frankly, that is lunacy.

Are you just thinking that the difference between the readings is all you need ? You have to just take readings at 1, 2, 3,and possibly 4 hrs without feeding yourself in between, by testing in the way you are you are just getting meaningless figures. Everything will be compounded as you go along.

If I was to test like that my numbers would just go up and up ad infinitum !

All those fine looking numbers are just meaningless. In all my years on forums I don't think I have ever seen such misguided thinking, misleading and frankly dangerous. New members need to ignore this strange advice.

How do you think that is going to give accurate Blood Glucose readings ? All you are doing is destroying any evidence of what test results you had and making it a mockery of evidence of your blood glucose readings. Which I am sure most of us thought were admirable, not any more my friend.

I have noticed that you are quoting these testing figures as if they are factual. Sorry Wally they are just plain useless. Who on earth told you to test in that fashion ? They were obviously not a diabetic. I would have thought any half decent diabetic could tell you that Wally.

I sincerely hope any new and inexperienced members are not trying to test as you are, they are storing up masses of trouble for themselves. Your method goes against all the advice on any forum I have been on, it is plain ridiculous !

I am sorry Admin but this is just bad to have displayed as being a credible method of testing.

Dave
 
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Hi again Dave,

Quite the contrary! When I test in such a fashion my numbers don't "go up and up ad infinitum" - in fact, they go down and flip under 4 in certain instances.

I'm away from home at present but when I get back I'll post the result from actual experiments that I've carried out.

As regards, "who on earth told you to test in that fashion"? The answer to that is quite simply nobody. I work out my own testing programmes and review and adapt that test programme and my diet accordingly.

By the way, my last HbA1c was 5.1% and is still going lower. I'm expecting to end up controlling my HbA1c below 5 - in the mid-4s. How are you managing with control of your HbA1c?

Best wishes - John
 
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What a strange method of testing ! Like Dave above if I did that my numbers would just go up and up.

I wonder, John, have you lost a lot of weight ? Sounds like you have almost non diabetic numbers.

Frankly you are lucky, but to advise new diabetics to test in that fashion is dangerous to them as they will not have such good control or pancreatic response.

I'm sure this forum would want the best advice possible on it's board for new diabetics not just one person's personal method which obvious works for you but would not work for diabetics with impaired insulin response.
 
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Hi again Irisdove,

I'm talking as I only ever do about what happens to me and what I have done. I'm never suggesting that anyone should do anything irresponsibly such as eating without testing..

The whole idea of this thread is about testing. Testing things out is he only way that we learn anything whatsoever in life. In my opinion, we didn't ought to have closed minds to anything because that's the road to nowhere.

Best wishes - John
 
I Think what wally does for us all is tell us his story that works for him ...i for example have a real problem with fruit ...sadly but the main thing here is about testing ...the problem i have is not to eat between the tests ...for example After having grapes today with my lunch ..only 6 small ones i was 6.7 2 1/2 hrs later its ok not mega dangerous but still high for such a small amount ....was it worth it ....??? .... by testing we can see whats what ...
 
Surely its all about what works for the individual and by looking at johns sucsess story and his hbA1cs his way is obviously working for him.
 
Wally.

Nobody here has closed minds, I prefer to have the information that is available to all as factual as possible. I hate seeing individuals who have found a way to control their diabetes putting it forward as the only correct way, there are many ways to control diabetes.

You might be talking about yourself as I have noticed you seem to do a lot. The thing is other people, uninformed and confused people read all of this.

You have to be very careful that you don't give the impression that your method of testing fruit, which is very odd indeed is what everybody should be doing. Your numbers and the results, if correct would appear to show a non diabetics type of response. Numbers rising and then quickly dropping back to normal. That is nothing like the normal response from most diabetics, the majority in fact.

Are you a diabetic Wally ? Either you aren't or as Irisdove says you have probably lost weight and you are now displaying non diabetic responses. Whilst that is fine, it is wrong that those newly diagnosed should be given the impression that that this testing method of yours is the correct one to use.

Regardless of how you have found it to work. It is peculiar to you and your circumstances, no more.

My HbA1c is fine thank you, it has been for many years. 🙂

Dave
 
That is fair enough John but newly diagnosed members do read these boards and do take on the 'advice ' that they read there on the assumption that what they are reading, from an experienced diabetic, is correct. Maybe you should put a disclaimer in your posts.
 
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