Prediabetes Diet Foods to Avoid
Millions around the world suffer from diabetes which is a known health condition in both its types, juvenile diabetes and diabetes type 2 which is more common.
However, some experience a different health condition related to diabetes. This condition makes your blood sugar levels higher than normal (still not reaching diabetic level), and high insulin resistance. This condition is called prediabetes.
In fact, prediabetes is a warning sign that you have a higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes with all its complications.
Although type 2 diabetes development depends mainly on genetics, some studies proved that lifestyle and nutrition also have a great impact.
So still the good news that you still can reverse that condition and keep yourself in the safe zone.
In this article, we’ll talk about pre-diabetes diet foods to avoid, and what to eat, plus we will include some rules to follow that will help you manage this condition.
Prediabetes Diet Foods to Avoid
1- Sweet foods.
Prediabetes is a condition in which the body couldn’t handle the high levels of sugar in the bloodstream effectively.
The insulin in this case cannot insert sugar in your cells so that it can convert it into energy.
Diabetics should avoid dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels, this means avoiding things that contain a lot of sugar, such as candy, soft drinks, ice cream, and baked sweets.
However, our bodies really need sugar as fuel, so you don’t need to avoid it all, except if you need to lose weight on the keto diet.
It’s important to enjoy the natural sugar present in the fruit, which is a non-processed option.
Therefore, the fruit contains fiber along with sugar. This can reduce the rate at which it affects blood sugar levels and slow digestion.
2- Juice:
Fruits make the best choice if your body needs sugar, but drinking it as juice is unhealthy.
In addition, that juice contains fruit sugar, it lacks fiber, and sugar concentration is high in juice more than in whole fruits. As a result, your blood sugar may shoot to high levels after drinking juices.
Fruit juice satisfy you well as eating whole fruit, no doubt, fiber plays a big role in satiety. This can lead to overeating, or make you get additional calories when you plan your meal.
3- Wheat flour:
Even carbohydrates that don’t taste sweet can turn into sugar in your system. This is definitely the case with refined carbs.
Things like white flour are processed so aggressively that all the fibers, minerals, and vitamins are stripped away. The flour and all foods we use flour in it as the main ingredient gets digested very quickly leaving your blood sugar high.
It’s important to avoid foods like white bread, pasta, and white rice, and other bakeries for this reason.
However, you may replace the above foods with better options that include whole grains such as brown or wild rice and wholegrain bread.
Align more with the Paleo diet and the Mediterranean diet rules which are healthy diets that you can follow throughout your whole life.
4- Dried fruits:
Although dried fruits such as raisins are a rich source of healthy nutrients and minerals, they raise blood sugar levels.
So it is better to avoid them to maintain the appropriate sugar level. In contrast to fruits
5- Processed meats
In addition to being unhealthy, consuming processed meat can elevate cholesterol levels in the blood. High cholesterol levels increase the risk for people with type 2 diabetes of developing arteriosclerosis and other heart disease.
6- Bakery
Baked goods like pizza and cakes are made mainly of refined carbs. Also, they contain unhealthy fats that can raise the level of bad cholesterol.
In addition to containing high calories, which makes eating them regularly increases the problem of insulin resistance.
Pre-diabetes food to eat
There are some ideal foods for pre-diabetes which include:
- Fish, meat, and other sources of protein: Choose lean meats such as fish, turkey, chicken, eggs, legumes, and beans.
By removing the meat fat or removing the skin from the chicken, include 2-3 servings per day of these foods.
- Fruits and vegetables: Choose to have at least 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables.
- Wholegrain Bread, cereals, and other starchy foods: Choose wholegrain bread and cereals made with bran or oats. These choices make perfect ideas as pre-diabetic breakfast.
- Brown rice and durum wheat or whole-grain pasta.
- Choose new potatoes instead of old ones, you can try using sweet potatoes for a change.
- Semi-skimmed milk and dairy products: Try to include at least 3 servings per day to ensure adequate calcium intake.
How food is related to diabetes
As we mentioned before, genetics is one factor that increases the risk of developing diabetes. However, lifestyle plays an important role in the disease’s development, as excess body fat and lack of physical activity are potential risk factors.
Nevertheless, in pre-diabetics, sugar from food builds up in the blood, causing high sugar levels as insulin does not easily transport it into cells because of high insulin resistance.
The major problem is around diets rich in refined carbohydrates. Refined carbs are stripped from most fibers, which digest quickly, causing blood sugar spikes.
How to avoid sugar spikes that makes you gain weight.
With most people with diabetes, the body has difficulty lowering blood sugar levels after meals without medications like metformin and other diabetic treatments.
When a person eats more calories than his body needs, it stores in the body as fats, which can make you gain weight, especially around the abdomen.
Check out Type 2 diabetes foods to eat and avoid
However, belly fat is an alarm that you have high insulin resistance, which explains weight gain in many people with diabetes.
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Can prediabetes be reversed?
Yes, you can reverse prediabetes by following a healthy diet and lifestyle, however, to do that consider the following tips:
- Reduce unhealthy fats in your diet.
- Decrease added salt and salty foods.
- Include oily fish at least one or two servings weekly, for example, salmon, tuna, herring, and mackerel.
- Replace soft drinks with sugar-free drinks.
- Try to lose some weight if you are overweight or obese. To know your status, check BMI Calculator.
- Limit the amount of sugary foods.
- You may eat foods rich in carbohydrates, however, make sure it has a low glycemic index.
- Replace saturated fats and trans fats with healthy monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil.
- Have at least five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily.
Is keto good for prediabetes?
Yes, the ketogenic diet limits sugar and carbohydrates intake to a minimal amount daily, which helps control blood sugar.
However, you must consult your doctor or health care professional before starting the keto diet, as it might put you at risk of hypoglycemia.