Can I eat raisins?

This is a question I get from new clients all the time. Since raisins are a form of fruit, it makes sense that people think that they are a good choice as a snack or as part of a meal.

While it is true that fruits in their whole and natural form are great to include in your diet in abundance, a lot changes about a grape when it is dried into a raisin. 

The drying process tends to increase the sugar in a fruit. This transformation dramatically changes the way that raisins impact our blood sugar.

Let’s compare an apple to raisins. The glycemic index of an apple is quite low at 34, while the glycemic index of a raisin is 64. The glycemic load of an apple for a 120 gram serving is 5, while the glycemic load of a 60 gram serving of raisins is 28.   

Glycemic index and glycemic load are measures of how a food impacts our blood sugar. Generally speaking, the lower this number, the easier the food will be on your blood sugar.

Whether your goal is to lose weight, improve your health or increase your energy, keeping your blood sugar stable is absolutely critical. Raisins make it difficult to do this. Limit raisins and other dried fruits and focus on whole, fresh fruits that are not processed in any way.