Diabetes interferes with the ability to process blood sugar, also known as blood glucose.
Currently, nearly 11% of people in the United States have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. And 35% of adults in the country have prediabetes, according to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Having a healthy, balanced diet can help many people manage diabetes symptoms and reduce the risk of complications. A person may wonder what foods to avoid with diabetes.
Different foods provide each of the main macronutrients that give us energy: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. There are more and less healthy types of each of these foods.
Below, we explore which foods a person who has, or has a risk of, diabetes may want to limit or avoid. We also offer some suggestions for crafting a healthy diabetes diet plan.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy. This macronutrient also has the most influence on a person’s blood sugar, or blood glucose.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that people with diabetes get about halfTrusted Source of their daily calories from carbohydrates. Having the same amount of carbohydrates in each meal can help keep blood sugar levels stable.
What is most important, however, is eating the right kind of carbohydrates.
Carbs to avoid
There are three main types of carbohydrates in food: starch, sugar, and fiber. Starches and sugars pose the biggest problems for people with diabetes because the body breaks these down into glucose.
