Diabetic Diet & Fruit Juices

Most people are encouraged to drink fruit juice as part of a healthy diet but that's not the case for people with diabetes. Diabetics can drink some fruit juices but have to be aware of the carbohydrate content, since it can elevate blood sugar levels.

Fruit Juice and Carbohydrates

The problem with fruit juices is that they are high in carbohydrates that are converted into sugar. A four ounce glass of orange juice or apple juice contains 15 grams of carbohydrates that are rapidly processed into blood sugar because they come in liquid form. While fruit juices don't need to be avoided completely, they should be limited to one four-ounce serving and the carbohydrates they contain should be factored into your meal plan. That means you may have to exclude another item from the menu in exchange for your juice.

Preferred Juices

There are juices that are safer for diabetics because they contain less sugar and carbohydrates and good options include sugar-free juices. One fruit juice manufacturer, LiquiFruit, recently became the first to include a Glycaemic Index (GI) on all 13 of its fruit juice flavors. The GI measures how rapidly the sugar from each juice is released into the blood (the lower the GI the better) and gives people with diabetes a helpful guide. A 2006 study showed that pomegranate juice is a healthy option that lowers the risk of developing heart disease in people with diabetes. The study also showed the juice contains a type of carbohydrate that does not raise blood sugar levels as much as other fruit juices.

Fruit Juice Tied to Developing Diabetes

If you are a women at risk of developing diabetes, you may want to limit your intake of fruit juice or avoid it altogether. A 2007 study of 71,000 women at the Tulane School of Public Health Studies showed that women who drank an extra glass of fruit juice per day were 18% more likely to develop Type 2 Diabetes. The study concluded that the large amount of carbohydrates and sugar in fruit juice helped the patients along in developing diabetes and provided yet another example of the dangers of fruit juice and diabetes.