Here we will take you through fruits that are great to consume on a keto diet, as well as fruits which will sabotage keto. You will not need to be afraid of fruits on keto again, you can enjoy all of the nutritional benefits, without the fear of kicking yourself out of ketosis. 

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If you’re anything like me, you have spent years eating low fat diets, where fruits are ‘free foods’, you could eat as much fruit as you like. 

For years, we have been told how healthy eating fruit is, and it’s true that they are full of amazing vitamins and minerals, including fiber, which are great. 

However, over eating fruit on a keto diet could sabotage your efforts, putting you over your daily macro limits, and kick you out of ketosis.

So, in order to answer which fruits will sabotage keto, we’ll take you through our list of fruits to avoid on keto.

We will also take you through all of the delicious fruits that you can consume on a keto diet, so you don’t interfere with your keto way of living.

Why Are Fruits So Contentious On Keto?

After years of trying a low calorie diet, I was used to fruit being an all you can eat buffet. However, this is different for a keto diet, foods need to fit into your macros.

Fruits contain fructose, which is a sugar with a GI of 23.

The Glycemic Index (GI) is a way of rating carbohydrates. All sugars are carbohydrates.

The GI is rated from 0-100. In simple terms, it measures how quickly a food will affect your blood sugar (glucose) levels when you eat that food, or in the case of sugars, normally a food that contains the sugar.

A GI of 23 is higher than we would normally like on a keto diet, which is why some fruits should be avoided, and others can be eaten in moderation.

If you have been living a keto diet for any time, you will likely know that one of the main aims is to regulate your blood sugar levels.

It is the spiking up of blood sugar levels that leads to that euphoric feeling, followed by a feeling of hunger, which makes you want to eat more.

That’s why not long after eating an apple you feel hungry again.

You will eat the apple, your blood sugar will spike, which will make you feel good, and then it will drop, which will leave you craving more food/sugar.

Does this sound familiar?

It is by controlling these blood sugar levels which prevents cravings for further sugary foods. This is to get your body back to that euphoric high.

Foods scoring zero, or as close to zero as possible, will not spike your blood sugar levels.

These foods are broken down more slowly. Foods that are closer to the higher end of the GI are broken down quickly in the body causing a rapid increase in blood glucose levels.

It is for this reason that sugars are limited on the keto diet, if not your blood sugar levels would constantly be yo-yo-ing, which is really hard to control.

So, are keto and sugar free the same thing? The answer is no, but read this article to find out more on that.

This is not healthy for anybody. More importantly, it will make it very difficult for your body to remain in a state of ketosis.

If you are interested in finding out more about keto sugars, check out our ultimate guide to keto friendly sugars, which will take you through everything you need to know.

If some of these terms and abbreviations have been confusing, we have guides available for you.

If the ketogenic diet in its own right is confusing, check out our keto 101 starters guide, which will take you through everything you need to know to get started on your keto journey.

List Of Fruits To Avoid On Keto

Fruits that are likely to sabotage your keto journey have been listed below. These should be avoided on a keto diet.

Not eating fruits on a keto diet can seem counter intuitive after years of being told they are great for weight loss.

Below is a list of fruits that you should avoid on the keto diet, including their net carb count. This includes some canned fruits and variations on the original.

In order to try and explain why these fruits should be avoided on a keto diet, we have included the number of net carbs per serving size. 

• Grapes [0.41 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Plums [6.64 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Peaches [7.85 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Figs [8.19 grams / 1 medium]
• Goji Berries [9.2 grams / 1/2 cup]
• Pineapples [9.41 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Tangerines [9.71 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Dried Fig [10.24 grams / 1 piece serving]
• Honeydew Melon [10.36 grams / 1 wedge serving]
• Loganberries [11.15 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Mulberries [11.32 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Canned Apricots in Water [11.63 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Peaches in Water Pack [11.71 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Nectarines [12.05 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Oranges [12.29 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Raisin Sauce [13.31 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Litchis [14.67 grams / 10 pieces]
• Apricots [15.05 grams / 1 cup sliced]
• Canned Mandarin Oranges (Drained) [15.48 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Apples [15.76 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Grapefruit [17.88 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Red Sour Cherries in Water Pack [19.11 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Watermelon [20.49 grams / 1 wedge serving]
• Pears [20.56 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Chinese Gooseberries (Kiwi Fruit) [20.65 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Bananas [23.85 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Papayas [24.32 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Peaches in Extra Light Syrup [24.92 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Sweet Cherries in Water Pack [25.46 grams / 1 cup pitted serving]
• Canned Apricots in Juice [26.21 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Canned Apricots in Extra Light Syrup [26.88 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Rasins [27.4 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Milk Chocolate Coated Raisins [28.84 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Figs in Water Pack [29.2 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Seeded Raisins [29.57 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Seedless Golden Raisins [31.2 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Carob Covered Raisins [31.25 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Chocolate Covered Raisins [31.37 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Mangos [31.49 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Peaches in Light Syrup Pack [33.22 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Fruit Cocktail in Light Syrup [33.73 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Yogurt Covered Raisins [33.75 grams / 1/4 cup]
• Fruit Salad in Light Syrup [35.65 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Canned Apricots in Light Syrup [37.72 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Mandarin Oranges in Light Syrup Pack [39 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Canned Mandarin Oranges [39 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Sweet Cherries in Light Syrup [39.77 grams / 1 cup pitted serving]
• Figs in Light Syrup [40.73 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Spiced Peaches in Heavy Syrup Pack [45.49 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Red Sour Cherries in Light Syrup [46.64 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Peaches in Heavy Syrup Pack [48.84 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Sweet Cherries in Heavy Syrup [50.01 grams / 1 cup pitted serving]
• Canned Apricots in Heavy Syrup [51.29 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Frozen Sweet Cherries [52.51 grams / 1 cup pitted serving]
• Figs in Heavy Syrup [53.61 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Frozen Sweetened Apricots [55.44 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Frozen Sliced Peaches Sweetened [55.45 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Red Sour Cherries in Heavy Syrup [56.77 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Sweet Cherries in Extra Heavy Syrup [64.56 grams / 1 cup pitted serving]
• Peaches in Extra Heavy Syrup Pack [65.68 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Figs in Extra Heavy Syrup [72.71 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Red Sour Cherries in Extra Heavy Syrup [74.19 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Dried Fruit Mixture [78.04 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Stewed Apricots [81.22 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Stewed Peaches [82.62 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Dried Cranberries [84.3 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Dried Peaches [85.03 grams / 1 cup serving]

This is not an exhaustive list, but it does provide a good guide as to the fruits that may sabotage your keto journey.

By all means, print it out and take it with you to the store next time you’re doing your family shop.

Although the list of keto fruits to avoid appears to be extensive, this does not mean that you have to miss out on fruit and all of the amazing vitamins they contain.

A reader recently asked if they could still eat all of the fruit they wanted if they took carb blockers to counter the carbs. The simple answer to this is no!

Rather than trying to ‘game’ the system, below, we have drawn up a list of the most keto friendly fruits for you.

Keto-Friendly Fruits [The Definitive List]

Just because you are eating a keto diet, does not mean that you have to be afraid of eating fruit on keto. The only thing you need to be mindful of is your serving size.

Fruits and nuts are one of the few things that I still try and measure out as serving sizes can soon creep up if you are eating them on a regular basis.

Gradually increasing your net carb consumption can lead to a keto stall, which may see you not achieving your keto non-scale victories.

To try and keep this in context for you, we have added the number of net carbs in grams per serving size to help you out.

[Definitive] List Of Keto Friendly Fruits

• Coconut [2.85 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Lemons [3.81 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Guavas [4.88 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Cantaloupe Melon [5.03 grams / 1 wedge serving]
• Limes [5.16 grams / 1 medium piece]
• Blackberries [6.24 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Boysenberries [6.24 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Youngberries [6.24 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Raspberries [6.69 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Cranberries [8.32 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Berries [8.49 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Strawberries [8.67 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Cherries [9.49 grams / 10 pieces]
• Oheloberries [9.58 grams / 1 cup serving]
• Red Sour Cherries [10.95 grams / I cup]
• Blueberries [17.51 grams / 1 cup serving]

Fruits can be a great source of fiber on keto. However, it’s essential that you remember to portion out fruits on keto to ensure that you do not overeat them.

The net carbs in fruits can soon add up and put you over your daily carb limit.

When I am not intermittent fasting, Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and some fruit is one of my go-to keto breakfasts. This is particularly good if I am on the go and need to throw something into my handbag for later in the day. 

Summary: Fruits Which Will Sabotage Keto?

Hopefully, we have given you all of the information above about which fruits will sabotage your keto journey, and which you can enjoy in moderation.

Fruit is not something that you need to be scared of when you are eating keto.