What Foods To Avoid If You Are Prediabetic?

Your nutrition plan and the foods you eat are key factors in controlling or reversing your prediabetes.

With prediabetes, returning your blood sugar and A1c to normal is possible in about 4 months in most people, or up to a year or so if you’ve got a few other health issues to get on top of.

And generally, it’s not that difficult to do. Eat the right foods and your blood sugar and A1c can return to normal, and you can avoid a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Eat the wrong foods and your blood sugar and A1c can spiral without too much improvement.

Recently, we shared our prediabetes food list and today we’re focusing on what foods to avoid if you are prediabetic.

Top 6 Foods (and 2 Drinks) To Avoid

1. Stop the Sugary Treats

The first place to start is to reduce the “added sugars” in your diet by avoiding sugary treats.

Sugar treats like candies, cookies, cakes, and pastries might be delicious (and addictive), but these foods are high in refined sugars, which can lead to blood sugar spikes and send you on the blood sugar roller coaster.

By limiting sugary treats, you’ll notice that your cravings reduce quickly, your energy levels will stabilize, and most importantly, your blood sugar levels will start coming down rapidly.

That doesn’t mean living without sweets, as there are many options and alternatives.

2. Cut Refined Carbs

Similar to sugary treats, refined carbohydrates (think the ‘white’ stuff), like white bread, white rice, and pasta made from white flour, should be avoided or even cut all together.

These foods are stripped of their fiber and nutrients during processing, causing a rapid increase in blood sugar levels.

Replacing refined carbs with whole grains like quinoa, brown rice, or whole-wheat bread is a better option, although for the best results we recommend you reduce or cut these out as well, as you will see rapid improvements in your health.

3. Switch Out Starchy Vegetables

High-carb vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn can increase your overall carbohydrate intake, making it harder to manage blood sugar levels.

For people with prediabetes, it is best to limit your consumption of starchy vegetables and focus on non-starchy alternatives like leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, and bell peppers.

These are naturally lower in carbs, and contain more fiber and nutrients that are beneficial for your health.

4. Hold Off on High-Carb Fruits

While fruits are generally healthy, some are higher in carbohydrates than others.

With prediabetes it is best to avoid fruits like bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and grapes, which can raise blood sugar levels more significantly.

Instead, choose lower-carb fruits like berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries), cherries, apricots and peaches as healthier alternatives.

5. Say No to Sugary Condiments

May store-bought sauces like ketchup and barbecue sauce contain “added sugars,” and some of them can be super high in sugar!

Read food labels carefully and choose low-sugar or sugar-free alternatives when possible. And the best option is to flavor your food naturally with herbs, spices, and sauces or condiments you make at home.

6. Eliminate Processed Foods

Packaged snacks, fast food, breakfast cereals and lots of other processed foods are often high in salt, carbs, sugar, additives, preservatives, and the list goes on.

What did your great grandmother eat?

A diet made up of whole, unprocessed nutritious foods. Foods we could recognize. Not man-man processed foods in shiny packets.

The more processed food you can eliminate from your eating plan, the better health you’ll have.

7. Shelf the Sugar-Sweetened Drinks

Sugar, sugar, sugar – see a pattern emerging here?

Sugar-sweetened drinks like soda, flavored milks, sweetened teas and energy drinks are all a fast way to rapidly increase your blood sugar levels.

Again, these beverages are high in “added sugars” and provide little to no nutritional value, so what’s the point in having them?

8. Avoid Excessive Alcohol Intake

In terms of general health we all know too much is no good for us.

In terms of prediabetes health, alcohol can affect blood sugar levels, lead to weight gain, liver problems, and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

That’s not to say you can’t have any, but when consuming alcohol, opt for lower carb alcohol options like red wine, spirits, or light beer, and always drink in moderation.

Foods To Avoid Have A Few Things In Common

Did you notice that the foods to avoid have a few things in common?

They are all the foods that are high in “added sugars” or high in carbohydrates.

Most people only think about ‘sugar’ on food labels or in foods. But the thing to understand is that sugar and carbohydrates are the same thing.

A carbohydrate food of any kind is made up of various chains of ‘sugars/glucose.’

Where you hear the word carbohydrate/sugar/glucose – these are all essentially the same thing. All carbohydrates break down in the body to become sugar/glucose in the bloodstream.

If you focus on reducing carbohydrate intake and choosing the right types, you will see your blood sugar and A1c come down pretty quickly.

Plus, you’ll also see your overall metabolism improve, which means you’ll experience easier weight loss and your blood pressure and cholesterol will improve as well.

Get started with avoiding those 6 foods and 2 drinks above; and if you need more help, consider joining our Prediabetes Reset Program.

In as little as 16 weeks, you can reset your blood sugar balance and metabolism back to normal so you can continue living your best life possible – free of prediabetes!

You can start resetting your prediabetes health right away by grabbing a free copy of our recommended food list below – designed by a doctor and proven to get results!