You can eat
- White, black or pink grapes, with or without seeds, depending on availability and preference.
- Grapes with a distinctive aromatic profile, if they help you vary the fruit you usually eat.
- Washed grapes served whole as a dessert or snack.
- Grapes with plain yoghurt or fresh cheese as part of a satisfying snack.
- Grapes in a salad with leafy greens, pulses or nuts.
- Frozen grapes to enjoy slowly in the warmer months.
- Other seasonal fruits to alternate colours, flavours and textures.
- Water as your usual drink when eating fruit.
What to avoid
- Grape juice as a regular substitute for whole fruit.
- Soft drinks and grape-flavoured drinks with added sugars.
- Grape-flavoured sweets when you are looking for a serving of fruit.
- Eating raisins without paying attention to the amount: they are dried fruit and contain more sugars per volume.
- Eating straight from the packet if it is hard to notice how much you are having.
- Sweet grape sauces with added sugar as the first ingredient.
- Choosing a variety because of a health claim rather than taste or availability.
Changes that help
Grape juice at breakfast
Instead of grape juice at breakfast, have a handful of whole grapes with yoghurt, as they are more filling and their sugars are not free sugars.
An open bag on the sofa
Instead of snacking from the bag, serve yourself a small bowl and put the rest away; you can see how much you have and it is easier to stop.
Grape-flavoured sweets
Instead of grape-flavoured gummy sweets, try frozen grapes: you eat them one at a time, they are cold and sweet, and they are fruit.
Handfuls of raisins
Instead of eating raisins by the handful, sprinkle them over yoghurt or salad; drying concentrates more sugar into a smaller volume.
Habits that help
- Keep the grapes on the fridge shelf you see as soon as you open the door.
- Read the label on products marketed as grape, because juice or sweets are not whole fruit.
Every autumn, new grapes arrive at the greengrocer’s: seedless, larger or with an aroma reminiscent of another fruit. It is natural to wonder whether those differences change what you bring home. They are still grapes, and you can choose them for their taste, texture or season.
What matters most in your diet is eating whole fruit often, varying the fruit you choose and not confusing grapes with a product that merely tastes of grapes.
What are flavoured and seedless grapes?
Flavoured grapes are varieties with a more intense or distinctive aroma, sometimes reminiscent of another fruit. “Seedless” describes something else: you barely notice the seeds when you eat them. Neither label creates a different nutritional category. Sweetness, size and water content vary between varieties, and none is always better than another.
Are seedless or flavoured grapes genetically modified?
No. It is the question we hear most often in appointments when these grapes arrive at the greengrocer’s. They are produced through conventional plant breeding: grapevine varieties are crossed, and plants with the desired trait are selected. That trait might be a particular aroma, thinner skin or seeds that do not fully develop.
In seedless grapes, the seed starts to grow but does not harden, so you barely notice it when you bite into the grape. In the European Union, regulations require genetically modified food to have specific authorisation and to be identified on the label [3].
What do grapes provide per 100 g?
For every 100 g, raw black grapes provide 15.5 g of carbohydrates, 15.5 g of sugars and 0.4 g of fibre [1]. These figures come from one specific entry in the Spanish Food Composition Database. White, seedless or flavoured grapes may differ slightly.
How many grapes count as a serving?
A small bowl is a useful guide to one serving; there is no need to count the grapes, as their size varies considerably between varieties. What matters is how much fruit you eat over the whole day. The Spanish food safety agency recommends 2–3 servings of fruit a day [4]. Adults should aim for at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day [2].
Grapes can count as one of those servings. Alternating them with other fruits during the week is more helpful than aiming for an exact amount of just one fruit.
Is eating grapes the same as drinking grape juice?
No. Juice is drunk more quickly and is usually less filling than whole fruit. The World Health Organization also recommends keeping juice within the limit for free sugars, which are the sugars we should reduce [2]. A glass now and then is fine; what matters most is what you choose day to day. Whole grapes require chewing and help you notice when you have had enough.
If you have diabetes or kidney disease
If you have diabetes and use insulin or medicines that can lower your blood sugar too much, discuss changes to the amount or timing of carbohydrates with your healthcare team. If you have kidney disease and have been advised to adjust potassium or fluid intake, follow that guidance rather than this guide.
How to include grapes in simple meals
Try grapes in a salad with pulses, leafy greens and olive oil, or with plain yoghurt and oats. They also work well in a seasonal fruit salad, with fresh cheese or on a skewer. Varying how you eat them is more useful than treating them as a special ingredient.
How to choose and store them
Look for bunches with firm grapes and no damaged areas. Store them in the fridge and wash them just before eating. Spanish recommendations give plant-based foods a prominent place [4], and choosing fruit you enjoy makes them easier to follow.
What we are most often asked about grapes in appointments
When grape season arrives, two questions come up repeatedly.
“They have a lot of sugar, so I’d better avoid them.” You do not need to. The sugar in grapes comes as part of whole fruit, with water and some fibre, and you have to chew it. Grapes count as one of your servings of fruit for the day [4]. Juice and products that merely taste of grapes are the things to keep an eye on.
If you monitor your blood glucose, the guide to the glycaemic index gives you more context.
“Black grapes are healthier than white ones.” There is no basis for saying that. Variety affects flavour and some components, but the figure from one database entry cannot be applied to every grape at the greengrocer’s [1]. Choose the ones you like that are in good condition.
Seedless and flavoured grapes are a practical way to eat fruit, especially if you prefer them and they help you eat fruit every day. Include a variety of fruits, prioritise whole fruit and adjust the amount to suit your day.
Choose the grapes you feel like eating: the ones you eat are the ones that count.
If you have more grapes one day and choose another fruit the next, there is nothing to make up for. For an overview of foods and habits, continue with the anti-inflammatory diet guide. If a medical condition calls for specific guidance, our anti-inflammatory nutrition team can tailor it to you in coordination with your doctor.
Your first step this week
Grapes for an afternoon snack at work
This Monday, take a small container of grapes washed that morning for your mid-afternoon snack instead of buying something from the vending machine.
When to see a doctor
When to see a doctor
Grapes are a fruit, and no variety treats a disease. “Anti-inflammatory” describes an eating pattern that may support your health and help you feel better. That pattern does not cure an autoimmune disease or replace medication.
If a symptom does not go away or you notice an unexplained change, speak to your doctor before changing what you eat. The signs that call for a medical appointment are listed in the anti-inflammatory diet guide, under “When to see a doctor”.
Every case is different
General guidance can only take you so far. The next step is to look at your situation in a consultation.
Keep reading
Anti-inflammatory nutrition: what to eat and what to expect
You have been told to eat ‘anti-inflammatory’ foods, and what you find is superfoods, supplements and lists of…
Glycaemic index: what it tells us and what it is used for
You have been told that watermelon or bananas raise your blood sugar, and now you are unsure which…
Dates: benefits, sugar content and how to eat them
You fancy something sweet in the afternoon, and dates seem like the healthy choice. But you have read…
Orange: benefits, how much to eat, and what to pair it with
You have heard that oranges reduce inflammation, reduce bloating or contain too much sugar, and you are unsure…
Resource hubOther conditions: diet and nutrition guides
Nutrition as part of your treatment
How we work: first visit, eating plan and follow-up
Sources
- Red BEDCA. Base de Datos Española de Composición de Alimentos: uva negra, cruda. Agencia Española de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición y Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Consulta 2026. https://www.bedca.net/bdpub/
- World Health Organization. Carbohydrate intake for adults and children: WHO guideline. Geneva: WHO; 2023. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073593
- Parlamento Europeo y Consejo. Reglamento (CE) n.º 1829/2003 sobre alimentos y piensos modificados genéticamente. Diario Oficial de la Unión Europea. 2003. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2003/1829/oj
- López García E, Bretón Lesmes I, Díaz Perales A, et al. Informe del Comité Científico de la AESAN sobre recomendaciones dietéticas sostenibles y recomendaciones de actividad física para la población española (AESAN-2022-007). Revista del Comité Científico de la AESAN. 2022;36:11-70. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8783742
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