What Happens to Your Blood Sugar When You Eat Watermelon

Watermelon is considered a healthy fruit, but it can cause blood sugar spikes when eaten in large quantities.

How Does Watermelon Affect Blood Sugar?

For many people with diabetes, the glycemic index (GI) is often used to estimate how a food might affect their blood sugar levels. But it doesn't always show the full picture.

“GI is not always a reliable indicator of blood sugar responses,” said Samantha M. Coogan, MS, RDN, LD, director of the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

Coogan explained that the index doesn’t account for how foods are cooked or combined, or differences in people’s digestion. While GI tells us how quickly food can raise blood sugar, glycemic load (GL) measures how much carbohydrate a typical serving contains