Can consuming large amount of Durian raises one's blood sugar?

A lot of articles have been written about this that anyone with Diabetes will be inclined to watch his/her intake of Durian. Endocrinologists as well as dieticians also differ in their advices when it comes to consuming the fruit. Other articles state of "MYTHs", not only about this increase of blood sugars alone, but also for its' other contents that may affect body metabolisms, an example is it's deadly combination with alcohol where findings only show bloating, indigestion etc.

One article for example here, stated that "Durian fruits are rich in natural sugars" where consuming large amounts can also increase blood sugar.

If this is true or not, perhaps science can explain it further. Surely, there have been some research about it that we can find to justify this issue. And hopefully, for those durian lovers who suffer Diabetes, we can give them a result that can in a way influence their choice when eating Durian.

Glycemic Index (GI)

Sourced from 365fitt.blogspot.com

" GI is a relative ranking of carbohydrate in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels". Some fruits may be sweeter than most but it doesn't mean that its' GI is higher. Nor consuming more makes its' GI higher. Am afraid that this is not easy to quantify unless proven or there is a data of what fruits have low to high GI which the internet have a lot of lists of fruits and other food.

I have attached one chart at the bottom of this post but please feel free to check for more information.

I've never heard of Glycemix Index before but obviously, some fruits are sweeter than some that there is a query of increasing a person's blood sugar when consuming them. Durian although not necessarily sweet, have produced some concerns that apparently, because of its' addictive effect to durian lovers, they tend to eat more than they should in one helping, especially if they are easily accessible.

Here is where the issue came about, can consuming large amount of Durian raises one's blood sugar?

An Endocrine Specialist in Singapore, Dr. Abel Soh, from Raffles Diabetes & Endocrine Centre, in an article five-myths-about-durians he was advising people to limit their consumption or eat in moderation as the fruit have high sugar content. Same thing with their Principal Dietician, a Miss Bibi Chia, she also stated that the fruit have a high content of carbohydrates and has advised people with Diabetes to limit their intake to 1-2 seeds per sitting.

How people reacted to these, anyone can only guessed. But from watching my sisters devour them, 1-2 seeds are not a lot and the temptation to finish the rest would be hard to resist. A non-durian lover in the same house will probably beg them to finish it just for the smell to go away!

In 2016, an Australian-trained dietician Bonnie Lau published an article fruit-for-diabetes-best-worst/ where she stated that Durian fruits have a very low glucose index compared to bananas who have low to medium GI content and watermelon have the highest GI among the 3. This in agreement to result of a study in 2008 where pineapple, papaya, watermelon and durian were checked for their GI. Among the four, Durian had the lowest result.

Here you go folks, which ones do we believe? Although there are contradicting reports, articles and such, perhaps there are more research with more information that we can gather that have more informative and definitive results.

Here is a sample GI chart:

Sourced from buckwheat health.wordpress.com

"Carbohydrates with a low GI value (55 or less) are more slowly digested, absorbed and metabolised and cause a lower and slower rise in blood glucose and, therefore insulin levels."

References:
durian-blood-sugar/
five-myths-about-durians
fruit-for-diabetes-best-worst/
glycemicindex
GI study

Disclaimer: all images were sourced as stated.