Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar is chronically high, just not so high as to be classified as actual diabetes. But the condition comes with health risks just the same, including a much higher chance of developing full-blown type 2 diabetes, which requires daily blood sugar monitoring and insulin injections.
Why Dietary Changes Matter
If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, making lifestyle changes right away can help you avoid diabetes and actually reverse the prediabetes entirely. Shedding just 10-15 pounds if you are overweight can greatly improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control. To combat prediabetes, experts suggest eating as if you already have diabetes by eliminating the worst foods from your diet.
1. Sugary Foods
Diabetes occurs when your body's insulin becomes overwhelmed by sugar in your bloodstream. Prediabetics must avoid items with a ton of sugar and no nutritional value, such as candy, soda, and baked desserts. However, our bodies still need sugar for energy. Enjoy sweet treats mostly through fruit, which contains fiber to moderate how quickly sugar hits your bloodstream.
2. Fruit Juice
Drinking fruit juice is not as healthy as eating whole fruit because juice contains all the sugar without the fiber. The sugar is more concentrated, leading to skyrocketing blood sugar levels and a lack of satiety that can cause overeating. Try sparkling water with a splash of juice instead.
3. White Rice, Bread, and Flour
Refined starches break down quickly into sugar in your system. Heavy processing strips white flour of its fiber, minerals, and vitamins, causing it to hit your bloodstream very fast. Avoid white bread, most pasta, and white rice, and opt for whole grains like brown or wild rice and whole-grain breads in moderation.
4. Full-Fat Dairy Products
A diet high in saturated fat can worsen insulin resistance, making it harder to reverse prediabetes, while also raising heart disease risks. Skip full-fat dairy products like cream, butter, and ice cream, choosing low-fat versions, avocado, or coconut milk instead.
5. Fried Foods
Fried foods are loaded with fat and calories and quickly add weight. Preparation is the main issue here. Both chicken and potatoes can be healthy when prepared differently, but frying them creates unpredictable blood sugar spikes.
6. Alcohol
Alcohol must be consumed in moderation when fighting prediabetes because it can cause blood sugar to either rise or fall. Heavy drinking raises diabetes risk. When consuming alcohol, choose lower-sugar drinks like wine or spritzers, and limit intake to no more than one drink per day for women or two for men.
7. Fatty Cuts of Meat
Certain cuts of meat are too high in saturated fat. Components in red and processed meats, such as sodium and nitrates, can increase diabetes risk by causing insulin resistance and negatively affecting the pancreas. Avoid the fattiest steaks and processed meats, opting instead for leaner cuts like top round, skinless chicken, turkey, and fish.