Should Diabetics Eat Raisins?
These days, diabetics aren't restricted to the dietary limitations of prior years, and eating fruits such as raisins is completely acceptable even when you're trying to control your blood sugar levels. The key is to balance your intake of carbohydrates with fat and protein to prevent major blood glucose fluctuations.
Carbohydrate Exchanges
If you're following a carbohydrate exchange meal plan to help control your diabetes, 2 tablespoons of raisins count as a single carbohydrate exchange, or approximately 15 grams of carbohydrates. You can use one serving of raisins in place of any other carbohydrate source in a given meal, such as a 15-gram serving of grains, starch or dairy.
Glycemic Index
Diabetic Diet Food List
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Raisins have a low to moderate glycemic index, so a single serving does not impact blood sugar levels as much as many other carbohydrates. However, because raisins are small, it's easy to eat multiple servings in a single sitting. Stick with just one serving at a time.
Related Articles
References
- Nutrition Research: Raisins Are a Low to Moderate Glycemic Index Food With a Correspondingly Low Insulin Index
- American Diabetes Association: Fruits
- Raisins, dark, seedless. FoodData Central. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published April 1, 2019.
- Grapes, american type (slip skin), raw. FoodData Central. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Published April 1, 2019.
- Fulgoni VL, Painter J, Carughi A. Association of raisin consumption with nutrient intake, diet quality, and health risk factors in US adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2012. Food Nutr Res. 2017;61(1):1378567. doi:10.1080/16546628.2017.1378567
- Painter JE, Waters AR. A review of the health benefits of raisins. J Food Sci. 2013;78 Suppl 1:ii-iii. doi:10.1111/1750-3841.12139
- Bell SJ. A review of dietary fiber and health: Focus on raisins. J Med Food. 2011;14(9):877-83. doi:10.1089/jmf.2010.0215
- Rietschier HL, Henagan TM, Earnest CP, Baker BL, Cortez CC, Stewart LK. Sun-dried raisins are a cost-effective alternative to Sports Jelly Beans in prolonged cycling. J Strength Cond Res. 2011;25(11):3150-6. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31820f5089
- Wong A, Young DA, Emmanouil DE, Wong LM, Waters AR, Booth MT. Raisins and oral health. J Food Sci. 2013;78 Suppl 1:A26-9. doi:/10.1111/1750-3841.12152
- Chibuluzo S, Pitt T. Raisin allergy in an 8 year old patient. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2014;10(Suppl 2):A6. doi:10.1186/1710-1492-10-S2-A6
- Dreher ML. Whole fruits and fruit fiber emerging health effects. Nutrients. 2018;10(12):1833. doi:10.3390/nu10121833
Writer Bio
Bridget Coila specializes in health, nutrition, pregnancy, pet and parenting topics. Her articles have appeared in Oxygen, American Fitness and on various websites. Coila has a Bachelor of Science in cell and molecular biology from the University of Cincinnati and more than 10 years of medical research experience.