The Ultimate Guide To carbs in fruit is an easy to use photo grid. Take a look below for the full list of 28 fruits. And learn why bananas are the worst fuel to take to the gym.
All values are net g carbs per 100g
The Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Fruit
Have you always wondered why you should stay off the fruit when starting low carb? Why are berries recommended but not bananas? They’re healthy right? And read on to read why I have a pet hate relationship with dates and other dried fruit (bliss-ball lovers, look away). Do you actually know the numbers of carbs in fruit?
'Ultimate guide to carbs in fruit'. Which to enjoy and which to avoid in an easy photo grid.Click To TweetTake a look at the entire series of Ultimate Guides
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Food 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 lists
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Vegetables
- Ultimate Guide To Healthy Fats
- Ultimate Guide To Low Carb Sweeteners
- Ultimate Guide To Low Carb Flours
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Alcohol
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Beige Food
- Ultimate Guide To Coconut Flour vs Almond Flour
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Nuts And Seeds
- Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Sauces
Carbs In Fruit
Repeat after me – if you are overweight, fruit is not your friend
Fruit has been given the same nutritional status as vegetable ever since the 5-a-day guidance was introduced. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but fruit does not even come close to vegetables. Once you look at the carbs in fruit infographic, it will become clearer.
Fruit is high in fructose which can only be metabolised in the liver, where it is turned into fat. We all know the term “beer belly”, otherwise known as alcoholic fatty liver disease, where fat deposits itself around the abdomen (the most dangerous type of fat).
But you can also develop NON-alcoholic fatty liver disease – from too much fructose. That fructose may come from table sugar (half fructose half glucose) in a high sugar or high carb diet, or it may come from the fructose found in fruit.
Dr Robert Lustig states – you wouldn’t dream of giving your child beer or cola, but fruit juice is metabolised by the body in the same way.
Healthy Fruit – let’s bust those myths
Let’s clear up a few myths about how healthy fruit is.
Yes, of course, a piece of fruit is always a favourable choice over a candy bar, but it must be accounted for in your sugar allowance. I also don’t want you to be mis-led by modern marketing and advertising. Too many products say “refined sugar-free”, “made with real fruit juice” to give them the healthy halo. I just want to make you aware, so then it is YOUR choice, and an informed one.
- Fruit and vegetables are equal – no, no no. Fruit should be an occasional treat, nature’s dessert, but do not count fruit, fruit juice, dried fruit or fruit pouches as equivalent to vegetables.
- Children can fill up on fruit – It is always easier as a parent to encourage your children to eat fruit, but do not think they are equal to vegetables. I allow my children to eat 1, sometimes 2 pieces of fruit a day because they are active, do not have weight to lose and are metabolically healthy. I also allow them to have the occasional tropical fruit such as pineapple and mango, but they know this is a real treat and will be their after-dinner treat, possibly once a fortnight in the summer months. Years ago, they may have eaten tinned fruit with breakfast, 2 pieces in their lunchbox, chopped apple for an afternoon snack, and maybe even another piece for an after dinner treat = 5 servings!!!! Yikes. And I didn’t even add a bag of raisins in that equation. So my children are allowed fruit, but they have learned to be mindful of how much, and how often.
- Dried fruit is refined sugar-free – ahh, this old marketing trick. Yes, it is refined sugar-free but sugar is sugar, your body and insulin see it ALL as the same thing. Whether the sugar is from fruit, table sugar or organic, free range, natural, zero air miles, holistic, farmers market, bee friendly, coconut sugar – it is ALL sugar. And as for those recipes which use medjool dates (my pet hate) as a sweetener, run for the hills. Use Medjool dates by all means, but make no mistake, it is not sugar-free.
- Fruit is packed with nutrients – well, not so much. The small amount of micronutrients they contain does not undo the damage the high sugar does. Yes, they have vitamin C, but so do lower carb vegetables, which we eat in abundance without the fructose to accompany them.
- Fruit juice and smoothies are such a health boost – sorry, no. A smoothie or juice based on fruit can be higher than a can of fizzy drink, yes there will be some nutrients in there, but too many think this somehow balances out the high sugar in the smoothie. Remember, a glass of orange juice isn’t the same as the goodness from 6 oranges, it’s the same as the sugar from 6 oranges. If you would like to enjoy a juice or a smoothie, base them on leafy vegetables and a healthy fat such as coconut milk/cream.
- Bliss balls are better than candy – welllllll, kind of. Bliss balls are made with dried fruit (which you remember is dried sugar) so yes it may have a few more nutrients than candy, but make no mistake, bliss balls are high in sugar and must be accounted for in your daily allowance.
- Bananas are a great fuel source – Many regard bananas as the perfect fuel for the gym, and to grab some extra potassium. Let’s take a closer look.
A small banana (and most are huge these days) has 24g carbs (21.4g net), 1.2g or protein, 9mg vitamin c and 379mg of potassium.
A cup of chopped broccoli will give you 6g carbs (3.6g net), 2.6g protein, 81mg vitamin C, and 287mg of potassium.
A medium tomato is worth 4.8g carbs (3.3g net), 1.1g protein, 16.8mg vitamin C and 291mg potassium.
So ignore all the marketing hype about fruit and veg. Fruit is great for the fibre and micronutrients they provide, but do not confuse them with vegetables, or hold them in the same high regard. Fruit is an occasional food.
See why a banana is the worst thing to fuel up at the gym. Who knew?Click To TweetFruit was once a seasonal food, enjoyed in limited quantities. It is now imported from far and wide and available year round. Even the varieties available in the supermarket are sweeter than the old heirloom varieties.
Enjoy fruit, but try to choose low sugar, nutrient dense fruit such as berries.
Which fruit do you enjoy and how often? Take a look to see how many carbs in fruit, to help you make an informed choice and work them into your plan.
If you loved this, take a look at my Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Vegetables, Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Nuts and the Ultimate Guide To Carbs In Alcohol.
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Cate says
Hello Libby, just received your email linking me to this article and it summarises beautifully what I keep trying to explain to everyone I know who thinks that eating lots of fruit is fine because it’s good for you.. Love your blog!
I think there may be a typo which could be confusing in the paragraph underneath ‘If you are overweight, fruit is not your friend’. You explain that when eating table sugar it is half fructose and half sucrose. Did you mean half fructose and half glucose?
Thanks for all this information and your recipes. Your blog is one of the three ‘go to blogs’ I use for LCHF because it is so full of ideas and inspiration. I have lost 22lbs so far and my weight is steadily going down. Please keep up the good work!!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Thank you, Cate. I’m glad you enjoyed this article in my series of Ultimate Guides. It’s a tough call isn’t it, explaining to friends that fruit isn’t to be eaten in huge quantities. So many parents will allow their kiddos free reign on the fruit bowl when really whole fruits should be seen as nature’s desserts. And as for fruit juice, smoothies and dried fruit, they should never be compared to the whole fruit which is almost self-limiting.
WOW, you have lost 22lb already – go you! I love this, well done. You must feel on top of the world. P.S. I have corrected my typo, you are correct, it should have read table sugar = 50% fructose and 50% glucose.
Doreen says
Even tho I agree with most of the facts re low-carb, I have a hard time with fruit. I’ve also been reading 2 other sites, Medical Medium, and Forefronthealth, which are saying the direct opposite, especially for thyroid problems. These are really confusing, and makes one wonder which way to go. LCHF is said to be the worst way to eat, and can cause all kinds of long-term health problems. Also intermittent fasting is said to be the opposite of what people should be doing. Where can one get “correct” info?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
It can be confusing, can’t it. Don’t look for opinions, look for the science. Here are a few papers. Carb restriction in metabolic syndrome. Low fat vs low carb in long-term weight loss. And then there is my post on the advantages of a low-carb diet. At the end of the day, find a way of eating that gives you the results you are after.
Kay says
A little confused. For instance…net grams for strawberries….is that per strawberry? Or per how much?????
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
All the values stated are “per 100g”.
Lynlea says
I have stopped eating fruit every day. I brought
Tangelos last week for a treat 3 I just can’t bring
Myself to eat them. I am not over weight at all
But enjoy the benifits of the lifestyle. I just
Want to half a one a day.
They are the size of my fist.
Janell says
Loved the graphic! Thanks! Two questions…dried cranberries are listed as having 76 grams. Are these the usual sweetened cranberries? Also, raisins are much higher in sugar than grapes, but if you ate equal amounts (16 grape vs 16 raisins) wouldn’t the sugar content be the same?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Awesome questions! Yes, this is the carb count for the regular sweetened varieties, some are even as high as 82g/100g. The sugar content is the same (16 raisins = 16 grapes) if we count them only, but this chart shows by weight, not number. So 100g of grapes = 16g carbs. But 100g of raisins = 75g becasue 80% of the water has been removed from the grapes to become raisins and so the 100g now contains roughly four times the number of grapes. So now you can see why dried fruit is so high in sugar, so easy to overconsume and are really dried sugar bombs! I want people to be aware of dried fruit sugar content because so many believe that “refined sugar-free” recipes that contain dates, raisins etc, won’t affect their blood sugars, and spoiler alert – they will. They are sugar, by another name.
Riley says
Wow, what a bunch of bologna… Diet is simple: Eat what you can if you were all alone, no grocery store, just simple foods. For example:
Nature puts food in reach which relates to how often you should eat it. Want strawberries? Pick ’em and eat. Apples? Some reachable, some you have to climb for, work for it. Coconut? Bananas? Go ahead, how much effort would it take to climb that tree to get it? How much effort would it take for you to hunt, clean, and prepare your meat for dinner? Want a cake? Go harvest wheat, beat and ground it into flower, get your sugar cane and make your sugar, find a chicken to get your eggs, gather your cultured yeast, get it? It’s the refined and industrial processed food, ease of purchase, no effort society we live in that makes us fat. ALL VEGETABLES GROW AT GROUND LEVEL.
There’s a reason why the only living species on the face of the earth that can’t control it’s weight naturally is humans and the animals we domesticate or trap as pets.
Riley says
flour, not flower. Spell check got me…
Oshea says
Fruit is not an occasional thing. If jor it is the opposite of that. Please look into Armold egrets teachings on the fruit diet And mucusless diet. Alot of this information can be misinformed. Please seek further knowledge and education regarding fruit. It will truly change your views.
Doreen says
I’m beginning to agree with you. I can’t imagine that fruit would have been put on the earth for us to eat if it was as bad as the LCHF says it is. If we can pick it off a tree, or from the ground, to me that seems like a signal to eat it.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Absolutely, we should pick it, we should forage for it, but we don’t. We place a whole bag in our supermarket trolley and drive home. Fruit is amazing, we just have to be mindful of how much. Therein lies the problem with modern fruit consumption 🙂
Ann Johnson says
I like your chart showing the fruits and the net grams of carbs. However, I am still on the metric system so I don’t know what the servings are to have those grams. Would you please tell me in teaspoons, tablespoons, cups or lbs.?
Thank you so much.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Grams are metric. 4g sugar = 1 teaspoon, 15g = 1 tablespoon. I have shown you the carbs per 100g in fruit so you may compare them side by side in the chart. As an example, 100g berries is equivalent to 1 cup berries.
Francis Ranada III says
Kudos. Permission to print and share to my diabetic patients. Makes my job easier to explain to them dietary choices. Of course, your website acknowleged as the source of the infographic.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Thank you for asking, and yes I give you permission with the attribution and my website name remaining on the chart. How wonderful this will help your diabetic patients. I am a pharmacist and when trying to discuss carbs in food, so many people just won’t believe how much is in fruit, and there are simple better choices that can be made. Good luck and give a big hello to all your patients 🙂
incense says
Thanks for sharing this useful information with us.
theresa says
Something to look forward to, chopped broccoli in the morning.
Rita says
Hey! Just thought you might want to know, that picture of a passionfruit is actually a fig.
Karen Fidler says
No, it’s a passionfruit. The picture of a fig is just under it. Both are delicious.
Neil Whyte says
I stumbled across your misleading article. You dont understand biology. We are built mainly to eat fruit as frugivores. It is a myth that fruit has too much sugar. Fruit does not cause diabetes. The most important thing is to eat the whole fruit, not fruit juices. One quality juice per day is okay ( fruit and vege combined). Do you actually know what value is in an avocado or a berry for example?
You mentioned one piece of fruit per day. Are you kidding? I am just warming up after 6. I could have 10 figs in a day from our fig tree during fig season, not to mentioned the other fruit i would also have in the same day.
“If you are overweight fruit is not your friend.” You haven’t seen the clients i have had over the years. I can assure you fruit could absolutely be their best friend to replace the crap they are eating. Fruit does not make you fat. Show me a fat islander who lives off a lot of tropical fruits.
Bonnie says
Great comment by Neil! I agree with his statement that it is the whole fruit that counts, not the fakes passed off as fruit…snacks, juices, and all that.
It has been proven (sorry, don’t have citation available) that if fruit is eaten by itself, and not part of or following a heavy meal, the fructose will be nearly all broken down by the time it leaves the stomach. Fruit is NOT the cause of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease!
robyn says
So glad someone said this. It’s really hard to maintain belief in the biology of the human body when there are SO MANY misleading articles out there like this one.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Fructose is one of the causes of NAFLD https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4405421/ and a high concentration is gained by drinking fruit juices, smoothies, dried fruit, sugar and HFCS. And yes I agree, eating whole fruit is completely different to having these concentrated forms. The fibre and all the micronutrients and phytochemicals that come packaged in a whole fruit, is completely different. This graphic is to show readers the sugar values of each fruit so they can make an informed choice.
Katie says
Your plum is a mangostine
Dietwithsofia.club says
Very rapidly this site will be famous among all blogging and site-building people, due to it’s pleasant articles
Marjolein says
What about black currants.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Per 100g they have 15.4g total carbs – 6.8g fibre =8.6g net carbs
Kelly says
Is there a way to print these?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
The easiest way is to ‘right click’ and ‘save image’, then ‘print’.
Cra says
Strawberries in limit are good, apples are good, coconut is good as well. If you balance a dish with a splash of lemon juice or zest that’s wonderful. The fat from coconut milk is also a good balance.
Shelby Salvador says
How does cantaloupe compare?
Thank you.
Julia M Brook says
Hi, what about rhubarb? You’ve not mentioned it on your list and I believe it is one of the least net carb fruits!
Many thanks for your guides. Have printed them out and put at the front of my personal food plan!
Julia
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
What an excellent question. Rhubarb has 2.7g net carbs per 100g. You have now sparked some recipe ideas in my head. Watch out!
LooneyTunes Horner says
Are the carbs noted in the article net or total carbs? I find this all confusing
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
“All values are net g carbs per 100g”
Marjolein says
With rhubarb, do you need a lot of sugar to make it palatable?
Cate says
I cook rhubarb sweetened with Sukrin or Xylitol and use it in Martha Stewart’s Rhubarb Fool recipe. You don’t need to add very much sugar and you have all the lovely cream which sweetens it too. Delicious dessert.
Hélène says
Dried Cranberries come sugared, they are sprayed with a sugar syrup n then dried as theyre way too tart to eat without sugar.
Alot of fruit is not high in vit C. Also, if any food is heated or frozen the vitC is lost. There are also food-herbs rich in C…camu camu, amalaki, rose hips, etc. U eat these dried, in tspfuls, very few carbs. You can make rosehip tea too.
RandalSchwartz says
“Fruit has been given the same nutritional status as vegetable ever since the 5-a-day guidance was introduced.” As they say on the Pedia of Wiki: {citation needed}. There is evidence that this statement was made up of whole cloth when it was stated, and has absolutely no more evidence today.
Chantalabou says
What about coconut? Not good? Same as berries? Im thinking about shredded coconut and coconut butter
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Coconut isn’t so bad, it’s only 6g net per 100g and you would be hard pushed to get through 100g, unless it is in baked goods then you need to keep an eye on how much you eat. Coconut butter is about 7g net per 100g, but again, you might only eat a tablespoon or two to keep hunger at bay.