Fruit on a low carbohydrate diet? Well, it all depends – first on the fruit, second on the timing of when you eat it, and finally on how your body reacts to it.
The best fruits for a low carb diet would be lemons, limes, plums, grapefruit, strawberries, watermelon, kiwi, and peaches. (Strawberries are also a decent source of fiber.)
The worst ones include grapes, pears, bananas, and mangoes.
The timing is also important. Fruits should be eaten after a meal high in protein, not as an in between meal snack or for breakfast. The reason is that fructose can play havoc with your blood sugar level, depending on how sensitive you are to it. By having it as a “dessert” you are using the protein to slow down your body’s absorption of it.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance for the sweetness of fruit. For some, it sets off intense cravings for more – or worse, for sugar. For others, the “feeling” of having had a sweet makes it difficult to avoid over-doing it. But for many, an occasional piece of fruit is simply a well-earned reward that makes it easier to follow a program at all the other meals.