What Food Should You Avoid If You Have Prediabetes or Diabetes?

When you have diabetes, you can eat most foods. However, eating certain types while restricting others may help you sustain healthy blood glucose levels and minimize your risk of developing other chronic conditions.

Fremont, CA: Certain foods and beverages can cause elevated blood glucose, insulin levels, and inflammation. These consequences may raise your probability of developing prediabetes or diabetes.

Prediabetes and diabetes can raise the risk of developing other chronic illnesses like heart disease, renal disease, and blindness.

Foods and drinks can maintain the blood glucose range your healthcare team recommends.

Limiting certain meals and beverages can help you manage your health and lower your chances of problems. Here are some such foods that people with diabetes must avoid:

Added Sugar

Limiting additional sweets can help you maintain normal blood glucose levels. Cakes, cookies, and pies are among examples.

The American Heart Association recommends that women restrict their added sugar intake to 25 grams or six teaspoons per day and men to 36 grams or nine teaspoons per day.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages        

Sweetened drinks such as sodas, flavored coffee drinks, various energy drinks, fruit punch, lemonade (and other "-ades"), and several mixed drinks are empty calories with no nutrition. Limiting these may help decrease your glucose and blood fat and the risk of developing fatty liver disease.

Saturated Fats

Consuming saturated fats raises cholesterol levels and increases your risk of heart sickness. The American Diabetes Association suggests that saturated fats comprise no more than 10% of your daily calories.

Saturated fats are present in high-fat meats, dairy goods, poultry skin, and oils like

Alcohol

If you have diabetes, you should restrict or avoid drinking alcohol, as it may impair your liver's capacity to release glucose. Alcohol may potentially interact with several diabetes treatments.

Ultra-Processed Foods

This category contains foods heavy in added sugars, processed carbohydrates, bad fats, preservatives, and sodium.

Ultra-processed foods, like high fructose corn syrup, contain additives you would only sometimes add to your meals. Consuming these items considerably increases the risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes.