 Today, we are talking about the dried fruits for people with diabetes. Are dried foods good, bad, or ugly for diabetics? We'll talk about that. We'll talk about what dried fruits are, the health benefits, the carbs in them, and their glycemic index. Well, the best part is the last part, so stay tuned and keep watching until the end of this video. Hi, I'm Dr. Ahmed Ergin. I'm an endocrinologist and a certified diabetes educator who specializes in hormones or weight loss and diabetes management. I practice in Florida, but help people with diabetes all over the world via this YouTube channel. Dried fruits contain some of the best essential foods, the human body needs, to stay healthy. They are made after extracting the water from them. That's why we call them dry. Oh well, that's smart of me to say. Dried fruits are full of essential nutrients, including enzymes, the vitamins, the minerals, some fibers, whatever you call it. They protect the body from the environmental damage, such as oxidative damage. These fruits are also a great source for healthy food for diabetic people who are very concerned, just like you, about what to eat and what not to eat. But besides their countless benefits, these dry fruits can actually cause several harms to your body as well. Therefore, they must be used in a balanced way. Warning, eating dried fruits mindlessly can cost you big time. Yes, they can be part of a healthy diet, but as a diabetic, you should know everything about them before declaring a food item healthy or unhealthy. Well yes, there is plenty of literature on dry fruits, but it is all confusing and conflicting. Let's dive into further detail with that being boring, I promise. So, water removal from the fruits can be done in many different ways. It can be through the sun drying, or it could be specialty hydrators or dryers. No, not your hair dryer. This process produces a shrunken energy and carbohydrate-rich fruit full of essential nutrients. Also, dried fruits deliver vital nutrients in a balanced way with increased bioavailability, meaning that your body can readily absorb and use that easily. What else? Well, not surprisingly, dried fruits contain many medicinal properties due to the vast amount of nutrients present in them. They contain minerals, vitamins and enzymes along with polyphenols. Remember, polyphenols are substances high in antioxidant activity. These polyphenol antioxidants reduce the oxidative stress, they improve the blood flow, they help the digestive system, and they can decrease the risk of many inflammatory disorders. In addition to that, dried fruits are poor in fact, sodium alkylesterol, which is great. Some people use them to sweeten the food without adding those refined sugars, and those fruits also give their natural color to the food, which makes it fun. So, what to look for when purchasing the dried fruits? First of all, eating dried fruits should be limited with portion control, because too much of anything can be harmful and unwanted. Some dry fruits are coated with sugar before drying to make them sweeter. These are referred to as candy fruits. So, avoid these processed fruits because you can get, or they can give it to you, the exact opposite of what you're looking to get, which is heart disease, obesity and even cancer that you're trying to avoid, but if you are not avoiding those fruits covered with sugar, you may get the exact opposite. Also, since dried fruits contain fiber, too many dry fruits can cause problems in your GI tract, especially in those with gastroparesis. So, the symptoms can be abdominal cramps, the gas, the bloating, and even diarrhea. So, excessive dried fruits consumption will also possibly cause weight gain, because most dried fruits contain natural fruit sugar in the form of fructose. And some others even have artificial sugars, like we discussed before, for the drying purposes. Also, if taken in excess, the tooth decays may happen due to too much sugar in your teeth, especially if you're snacking on them frequently. So, a lot of dried fruits, especially sugar coated ones, have a high glycemic index, guys. You will remember that from our previous videos as well. When you have high glycemic index food, it spikes your blood sugar immediately. It may give you a sudden energy spike, and followed by a sudden crash, once the glucose is out of your system. This is seen a lot with insulin resistant patients, and occasionally, blood sugar can actually drop below the normal levels after ingestion of this high amount of carbs. We call that, actually, reactive hypoglycemia, which is not uncommon. Also, pay attention to the preservatives, such as sulfatides, that are added to dried fruits to prevent the discoloration during the drying process. These preservatives can actually cause serious abdominal cramps, even rashes on your skin. So, even asthmatic attacks have been seen due to allergies caused by the substances. Last but not least, improper handling and storage can lead to growth of fungus and toxins, such as aflatoxins, that can cause severe side effects, and in the long term, possibly cancer. So, as a diabetic, you must be wondering then, how much dried fruit can I eat? So, a typical one-fourth of a cup is one serving for a dried fruit, which is around 15 grams, if you remember that from our understanding carbs video. You can call that one exchange, or one serving, but one-fourth of a cup is 15 grams. So, you can include dried fruits, you can mix it with nuts in your daily meal plan, or as a fruit alternative, provided that you do not use added sugars, and you are staying on top of your daily carb intake allowance. Unfortunately, due to dehydration process, dried fruits will always be higher in sugar, even in a smaller serving. Let's talk about the glycemic index of individual dry fruits. So, the glycemic index of some uncommon fruits are, or dried fruits are, the dates would be 62, the dried apples are 29, dried apricots are 30, dried peaches are 35, and remember, anything less than 50 is actually not bad, the plums are 21, the figs are 61, raisins are 59, prunes are 38, In about 25 to 50% of this sugar comes from fructose, which can actually cause problems, such as weight gain, fatty liver disease, and heart disease. So, here are some low glycemic fruits. The dried fruits are prunes, the dried apples, the dried apricots, the dried peaches, and dried plums. So, the figs are considered a medium glycemic index, but again, it can put you at risk for serious spikes. Dates and raisins should definitely be limited quite a bit in a diabetic diet due to their high glycemic load that comes with them, guys. So, I hope this video was helpful. If so, please subscribe, like, and share, and I will see you in the next video. Hey, guys! I hope you're enjoying this channel so far, and I hope you subscribed already. If you didn't, do it. And if you did, watch this video right there. I think that will help you too.