Hi everyone, I've had some weight fluctuations and cravings lately & wonder if berries are to blame.

I have some suspicions about the glycemic index testing of fruit. I notice that some books say canteloupe is low GI while others say it is high. I wonder if the ripeness of the fruit being tested affects the results. Thus the very sweet tasting berries I've been eating, might be causing blood sugar fluctuations.

Do others of you find you can eat a reasonable serving of berries with no problem? What about other kinds of fruit? If I'm correct about ripeness, I should be able to eat underripe bananas. Do any of you do this?

I'd be interested to hear what others of you do regarding fruit. I've brought my weight back in line by eating peppers, broccoli & other vegetables instead of fruit, but would like to go back to eating more of it.

Hi!

In small quantities, most people have no problem with berries. They're supposed to be avoided on Atkins induction, but just about every other plan encourages them. They're really nutritious and they're loaded with antioxidants.

Unless you're way overdoing it, that's probably not the culprit.

I rarely eat other fruit. Sweet fruit, that is: tomatoes, peppers, avacadoes, and many other foods we call "vegetables" are actually fruit and have excellent nutrition profiles. I load up on those!

Ripeness shouldn't have any affect on the carb count. If I understand correctly, the sugar in ripe fruit is converted from starch. Thus, the carbs are still there in the unripened stage.

HTH...

Hi Megan,

I was doing Montignac several months ago, and bought the book NGR (New Glucose Revolution) that has a really good glycemic index listing in it. As far as I know the GI does increase with the ripeness of the fruit, since berries are amongs the lowest fruits on the GI I don't think that even them being very ripe would bring them to such a high rating that it would detrimentally effect you (unless you are extremely sensitive). Since banannas are so much higher on the GI I know Montignac suggested eating them while slightly under ripe. I only like slightly under ripe bannanas anyway . I can't really help you with thoughts on fruit and cravings and weight fluctuation as I'm not easily affected by sugar as far as cravings go.

Also there are a couple of different ways the GI tables work - on one of them white sugar is used as the base and on the other I think it is white bread that is used for the base. What actually matters more is the glucose load, the table in NGR has the both the GI and the GL listed. But it still can be confusing, I bet pretty soon there will be lots more pocket counters etc available for the GI/GL.