Can you eat fruit with gestational diabetes?

Yes. Fruit is part of the eating pattern the ADA advises in pregnancy with diabetes, but it contains carbohydrate, so it counts toward the carbs in your meal plan. Choose whole fruit over juice, eat one portion at a time with a meal or with protein, and check your blood sugar after a fruit you have not tested yet.

Last reviewed 2026-10-21. Written by the First Fork team from the published guidelines listed below; not reviewed by a clinician. This page is not medical advice.

Fruit is allowed, and it counts as carbohydrate

For pregnancy with diabetes, the ADA advises an eating pattern that includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fish and other lean protein.¹ Fruit contains carbohydrate, so you count it as part of your meal plan, and you can eat it in place of another carbohydrate food, such as a starch, a grain or dairy.² MedlinePlus lists fruit and fruit juice among the carbohydrate foods, together with bread, rice, pasta and milk.³ Both the amount and the type of carbohydrate change your blood sugar.¹

The ADA's best choices are fresh fruit, frozen fruit, and canned fruit with no added sugar. On a can, look for "packed in its own juices", "unsweetened" or "no added sugar". Its list of common fruits includes bananas, grapes, mango, pineapple and watermelon as well as berries and apples.² What changes from one fruit to the next is how much makes one portion.

Cutting out fruit and other carbohydrate is not the safe answer either. All pregnant people need at least 175 grams of carbohydrate a day, and the ADA says cutting carbohydrate can push fat intake up, which may lead to the baby growing too large.¹ "No more fruit" is one of the common gestational diabetes myths.

How big is one portion?

MedlinePlus gives 2 to 4 servings of fruit a day for people with gestational diabetes who do not take insulin. It counts one serving as one medium whole fruit (such as a banana, apple or orange) or ½ cup of chopped fruit.³ These two counts are not the same, and your own plan may differ again, so ask your dietitian how many portions fit your meals.

Whole fruit, not juice

It takes about 3 oranges to make 1 cup of juice. The CDC says it is easy to get too much sugar at once from juice, even 100 percent juice, and you miss the fiber.⁴ The CDC lists fruit juice with table sugar, honey and syrup as simple carbohydrates that raise blood sugar quickly. Whole fruit also has simple sugars, but it comes with vitamins and minerals.⁴

MedlinePlus also puts whole fruit before juice, because whole fruit has more fiber.³ Juice and dried fruit have small portions, so they may not fill you up as much as fresh fruit.²

Eat it with a meal or with protein

The CDC advises adding a protein food, such as meat, a small handful of nuts or low-fat dairy, when you eat carbohydrate at a meal or snack. It helps you stay full longer and avoid blood sugar spikes.⁴ The ADA suggests a small piece of fruit or ½ cup of fruit salad as the dessert of a meal with vegetables, a small portion of starch and protein.²

ACOG advises regular meals through the day, often three meals and two to three snacks, because eating regularly helps avoid dips and spikes in blood sugar.⁵ MedlinePlus advises keeping the amount and type of food about the same from day to day.³ Fruit can be part of a meal or one of those snacks. See what to eat with gestational diabetes.

Check how a fruit works for you

People react to the same food in different ways. The CDC's advice: when a food is new to you, check your blood sugar before and after to see how you respond.⁶ To learn from that check, change only one thing: eat the fruit in the same portion and with the same kind of meal, so the reading tells you about the fruit. Check at the time your clinic asked for (see when to check after eating) and compare it with your targets.

Write down each result. Your records help you and your care team decide whether your plan is working.⁷ In First Fork, each meal entry has a note next to the reading, so the fruit and the portion stay with the number.

If a fruit gives you a high reading

Do not cut out all fruit on your own. Look at the portion and what you ate with it, then bring your log to your dietitian. NICE advises that everyone with gestational diabetes is referred to a dietitian,⁸ and the ADA describes nutrition care for gestational diabetes as a plan made for you together with a dietitian.¹ See also one high blood sugar reading.

Questions

Can I eat fruit with gestational diabetes?

Yes. Fruit is part of the eating pattern the ADA advises in pregnancy with diabetes. It contains carbohydrate, so count it in your meal plan and eat one portion at a time.

Which fruit is best for gestational diabetes?

The ADA's best choices are fresh, frozen, or canned fruit with no added sugar. For the same carbohydrate, the portion of most berries and melon is larger, and the portion of dried fruit or juice is small.

Can I eat a banana with gestational diabetes?

Bananas are on the ADA's list of common fruits. Count one as carbohydrate, eat it with a meal or with protein, and check your blood sugar after it the first time.

Is fruit juice OK with gestational diabetes?

Whole fruit is the better choice. Juice has less fiber, and the CDC says it is easy to get too much sugar at once from juice, even 100 percent juice.

Should I stop eating fruit if my number is high?

Not on your own. Check the portion and what you ate with it, write it down, and ask your dietitian. Pregnancy needs at least 175 grams of carbohydrate a day.

Sources

1. American Diabetes Association. 15. Management of Diabetes in Pregnancy: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026. Diabetes Care 2026;49(Suppl. 1):S321. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12690181/
2. American Diabetes Association. Fruit and Diabetes: Best Choices and Eating Tips (patient page). https://diabetes.org/food-nutrition/reading-food-labels/fruit
3. MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine). Gestational diabetes diet (reviewed May 22, 2025). https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007430.htm
4. CDC. Choosing Healthy Carbs (May 15, 2024). https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/healthy-eating/choosing-healthy-carbs.html
5. ACOG. Gestational Diabetes (FAQ 177, reviewed April 2026). https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/gestational-diabetes
6. CDC. 10 Surprising Things That Can Spike Your Blood Sugar (updated September 11, 2026). https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/living-with/10-things-that-spike-blood-sugar.html
7. NIDDK (US National Institutes of Health). Managing & Treating Gestational Diabetes. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/gestational/management-treatment
8. NICE guideline NG3. Diabetes in pregnancy: management from preconception to the postnatal period (recommendations). https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng3/chapter/Recommendations

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