Q. Why aren’t bananas and grapes recommended for people cutting sugar?

A. While most fruits make a slow journey through the digestive tract, bananas and grapes are particularly high in fructose given the amount of fiber they contain, so they give us a faster sugar spike. Dr. Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco, calls grapes “little bags of sugar.” Enjoy bananas and grapes sparingly and opt for a variety of fruits.

Q. Can I eat dried fruit on a low-sugar diet?

A. Dried fruit is packed with nutrients, but the drying process removes the water and concentrates a lot of fruit sugar in a very small bite. The risk is that it takes more dried fruit to fill you up than whole fruits. Raisins and dates are about 60 to 65 percent sugar, dried figs and apricots are about 50 percent sugar, and prunes are about 38 percent sugar. The good news is that dried fruit still has the fiber, and it can be a great snack as long as you are aware of how much you are eating.

Another way to weigh the pros and cons of dried fruit is to look at glycemic load, a measure of how fast your body converts a serving of food into sugar. Ideally you should eat foods with a glycemic load of 10 or less. Anything above 20 is considered very high. Prunes have a glycemic load of 10, whereas raisins have a glycemic load of 28. Compare that to whole fruits. Strawberries, apricots, grapefruit, lemon, limes, cantaloupe, nectarines, oranges, pears, blueberries, peaches, plums, apples and pineapple have glycemic loads of 6 or less.

Q. I use milk in my coffee. Is that added sugar?

A. A quarter-cup of milk contains about 3 grams of a natural sugar called lactose. The sugar in milk is not considered an “added sugar,” and it doesn’t overwhelm the liver the way added sugar does. Adding milk or cream to your coffee and enjoying the naturally sweet taste of milk is a great way to kick the added sugar habit in the morning.

Drinkers of soy and nut milks need to check the label. Many of those products have added sugar. If you love a few teaspoons of sugar in your morning coffee, try adding more milk and cut the sugar in half to start. Over time you can cut it in half again and wean yourself off the sugar.

Q. Can a few more details be provided about a no-sugar, no-grain breakfast? Doesn’t bacon have sugar? What if I don’t want eggs all the time?

A. With so much added sugar lurking in granola, cereals, pastries, breads and yogurts, you might as well just call it dessert. But readers have had a tough time figuring out alternatives to popular grain-based breakfast foods. Here are some ideas.