It’s a pretty simple question, but the answer can be elusive, especially since it depends on what kind of blueberries we’re talking about: fresh, juiced, or dried.
Fresh blueberries
If we talk about 100 g of ordinary raw blueberries, the carbohydrate figures according to wikipedia are as follows: dietary fiber = 4.6 g; total sugars = 4.04. However, these figures may confuse some of us, because as low carb dieters we are advised to subtract dietary fiber from total carbohydrates to calculate “net carbs”, which is the number we really care about. Dietary fiber is a carbohydrate, but it is not digested so it does not contribute to raising blood sugar levels).
Since wikipedia only lists total sugars and not total carbs, you need to check another reliable source to see if they list total carbs. The about.com calorie counter gives us the following numbers for 1 cup (95 g) of blueberries: dietary fiber = 4.4 g; sugars = 3.8 g; total carbohydrates = 11.6 g. Subtracting the fiber from the total gives us 7.2 g of net carbs, which is low enough to conclude that blueberries are a low carb fruit. So far so good, except that we hardly ever eat raw blueberries, we are more likely to drink their juice or eat them dry.
Cranberry juice
If we are talking about 95 g of cranberry juice, these figures from the National Agricultural Library should be interesting: dietary fiber = 0.1 g; sugars = 11.49 g; total carbohydrates = 11.59 g, which gives us a net carbohydrate amount of 11.49 g (11.59 – 0.1). In other words, gram for gram, cranberry juice contains 1.5 times more net carbs than raw cranberries. But how often would we drink only 95g of juice?
A typical cup contains 253 g of liquid. Using a cup as our new unit of measure gives us 7.2 g of net carbs for raw blueberries and a whopping 30.57 g of net carbs for cranberry juice. Although blueberries are fundamentally a low-carb fruit, when you consider how many blueberries should be used to produce a single glass of juice, and the fact that most of the fiber is removed, it’s easy to see how concentrated the content would be. sugar.
Now if that’s not bad enough, most cranberry juices have additional sugar added to it because the pure substance is simply too sour for most people’s taste. So unless it’s a specially processed cranberry juice made with artificial sweetener, it’s probably best to avoid cranberry juice on a low carb diet.
Craisins
Finally, let’s consider dried cranberries, popularly known as “raisins.” Unfortunately, most commercially available raisins are loaded with sugar for the same reason as cranberry juices – dried cranberries are too acidic for most people. The exact net carb count for a cup of dried raisins would depend on the brand because each producer has their own production process, but suffice it to say that unless artificially sweetened, dried cranberries are not low carb fruits.
If you’re lucky enough to get unsweetened dried cranberries, the gram-for-gram net carb count will still be higher than for fresh ones simply because they’re smaller, so you can fit more of them in 95g than you can. can raw fruit.
Then Are Blueberries a Low Carb Fruit? In theory, yes, but in practice, the answer is usually no.
