There's a lingering myth among diabetics, especially new diabetics, that you just plain can't have sweet things. It isn't a bad rule when it comes to cakes and cookies, but it certainly doesn't apply to healthful fresh fruits such as mangos. A reasonable portion of mango has little effect on your blood sugar and is good for you in many other ways, so feel free to enjoy them in moderation.
One popular tool used to manage diet for diabetics is the glycemic index. It measures how quickly a given food causes your blood sugars to rise, comparing it to the effect of pure glucose. A food with a low number, or low GI, has less impact on your blood sugars than a food with a high number. Mangos have a low GI of 51, well below that of comparable tropical fruits such as pineapple or papaya. In other words, a reasonable portion of mango – roughly a quarter of a fruit – is about 1/2 cup of cubed fruit, and will have only minimal impact on your blood sugar.
The American Diabetes Association recognizes the value of calculating the GI of common foods, but it recommends focusing on your total intake of carbohydrates, rather than obsessing over GI numbers. By this standard, mangos still look like a good option. The same 1/2 cup contains 12 grams of carbohydrates, fewer than the 27 grams you'd find in a medium banana or a cup of red or green grapes.
Nutrients in Mangos
Keeping your blood sugar under control is important, but it's not the only measure of a food. Maintaining a healthy overall diet also means paying attention to how much nutrition a food packs,relative to the calories it provides – its "nutrient density" – as well as other factors such as its fiber content.
Mangos score very well when considered in that light. They're high in vitamins C and A, contain the prized soluble fiber you find in beans and oatmeal, and also have a bit of potassium. The USDA's 2015 Nutritional Guidelines call for a diet with a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods in reasonable portions, and a quarter of a mango fits beautifully with that recommendation.
Incorporating Mangos Into Your Diet
Mangos are notoriously messy to eat, so you might be tempted to enjoy them in dried or juice form. Those are still healthy, but they're much more concentrated sources of sugar, so they aren't as good of an option.
To enjoy a fresh mango, master the simplest way to cut one. Instead of peeling it and then trying to slice the slippery fruit, cut a cheek from the flat pit wit the skin still on. Use the tip of your knife to score the soft fruit into slices or cubes, then turn the skin inside out. The pieces will slice way from the skin quite easily, ready to eat on their own or as an element in a salad or salsa. Mangos also make an excellent garnish for fish, poultry, grilled meats and other healthy entrees.
- MayoClinic.com: Diabetes Diet: Should I Avoid Sweet Fruits?
- American Diabetes Association: Fruits
- University of Sydney Glycemic Index Database: Mango, Raw
- University of Sydney Glycemic Index Database: Pineapple, Raw
- University of Sydney Glycemic Index Database: Paw Paw (Papaya), Ripe
- American Diabetes Association: Glycemic Index and Diabetes
- Glycemic Index Foundation: Food of the Month -- Mangoes
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015 to 2020 -- Executive Summary
- National Mango Board: How to Cut a Mango
- United States Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database: Mangos
- United States Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database: Banana
- United States Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database: Grapes, red or green
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