Limit fruits and eat them whole

Q: I have a friend who recently found out that she’s prediabetic. She’s also very obese. She has started juicing her fruits and vegetables to lose weight and get healthier. Isn’t it just healthier to eat produce whole as opposed to making juice out of it?

A: Eating more vegetables and fewer simple sugars and processed starches is a good idea for nearly all people who want to eat healthier, and it might help people lose weight. Fruits also are an important part of our diet.

But for people with or at high risk for diabetes, I recommend no more than one or two fruits with meals, and that the fruits be whole. Fruit juice is absorbed much more rapidly into the blood, so excess fruit juice can actually precipitate diabetes or worsen diabetes control.

Juicing makes it easy to consume vegetables and fruits, but in addition to the problem with faster sugar absorption, taking food in liquid form usually isn’t as satisfying. That’s not true for everyone, but because reducing calories is essential for weight loss in nearly everybody, juicing might have the opposite effect, unfortunately, and I don’t recommend it in general.

Of course, what doesn’t work for one person might work great for someone else. If she is able to change her diet, reduce unhealthy choices and lose some weight, then juicing might be just right for her. I would still recommend against too much fruit juice, and to have fruits mixed in with vegetables, preferably taken with some protein and healthy fat.

Never forget that exercise is the other critical intervention for diabetes prevention or control.

— Dr. Keith Roach Readers may email Dr. Keith Roach questions at toyourgoodhealth@med.cornell.edu.