Are Bananas Good for Diabetics?

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It's true that bananas are higher in carbohydrates than other fruits, but the all-around health benefits of bananas make them almost the ideal snack for diabetics, states About.com. The carb count for typical bananas, ranging from small to large, falls between 23 and 31 grams.

Another way of assessing the likely effect that a certain food has on a person's blood sugar count is known as the glycemic index. This index runs from 1 to 100, with higher numbers on the scale indicating foods that raise blood sugar higher than lower-numbered items, according to About.com. On this scale, bananas fall squarely in the middle, depending on their ripeness at the time of consumption. A somewhat underripe banana registers 42 on the index, and a perfectly ripe banana with yellow skin can be as high as 51. As the banana ripens further, and the fructose in the banana is broken down, its score on the glycemic index falls back into the high 40s.

Bananas can also fit into a diabetic's diet plan as part of a healthy dessert menu. WebMD offers a recipe for a banana split cake that includes sugar-free pudding mix, light cream cheese and fat-free milk to ameliorate the relatively high sugar content of bananas.