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| A prediabetes diagnosis means your blood sugar levels are higher than average but not high enough to qualify as diabetes. This condition is common: An estimated 30% of Americans meet the criteria.
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| By making changes to your diet, it’s possible to reverse prediabetes and prevent it from progressing to diabetes. Below, Lindsay Mahar, a registered dietitian at Healthline, explains how.
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Hope this helps!
Ginger Wojcik
Newsletter Editor, Healthline |
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Written by Ginger Wojcik
April 24, 2025 • 3 min read |
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| Q: |
What foods do I need to avoid if I have prediabetes? |
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| A: |
No food is entirely off-limits when you live with prediabetes, but it’s a good idea to limit added sugars and refined carbs, which can spike blood glucose levels and don’t add much, if any, nutritional value. Some examples of foods to limit are:
- sweetened beverages, such as fruit juice, soda, and sweet tea
- sugary treats, including pastries, cookies, sweet breads, and candy
- white bread, bagels, and crackers
- added sugars such as honey and agave
When you live with prediabetes, the main goal is to follow a diet that doesn’t elevate your blood glucose (sugar) levels. That said, any food that contains carbohydrates — sugar, fiber, or starch — can raise your levels. Does that mean you need to eliminate all carbs? Nope! Our bodies function best with a balanced diet, which includes carbs.
To minimize the impact carbs have on blood glucose, opt for complex carbs such as whole grains, legumes, and whole fruits while being mindful of portion size. Complex carbs contain fiber and are digested more slowly than simple carbs, leading to a more gradual rise in blood glucose.
While there’s no specific diet for diabetes or prediabetes, some additional guidelines may help simplify healthy eating. The Diabetes Plate method for meal planning recommends filling:
- 1/2 of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, such as leafy greens, beets, broccoli, and cauliflower
- 1/4 of your plate with lean protein, such as fish and poultry
- 1/4 of your plate with complex carbs, such as starchy vegetables, whole grains, and fruit
You can use this model to manage both prediabetes and diabetes. It’s also remarkably similar to MyPlate, which provides dietary guidelines for the general public.
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| Lindsay Mahar, Registered Dietitian
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| Want to learn more about food, diets, cooking, or some other nutrition subject? Let us know at nutritionedition@healthline.com and we'll look into it for you! (Heads up, we may use your response in an upcoming newsletter.)
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| Expert-approved |
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| Join Our Type 2 Diabetes Newsletter! |
| Get our twice-weekly newsletter for expert guidance on managing your diet, staying on top of your blood sugar levels, and better understanding type 2 diabetes. |
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| Every product we recommend has gone through either Healthline’s or Optum Now’s vetting processes. If you buy through links on this page, we may receive a small commission or other tangible benefit. Healthline has sole editorial control over this newsletter. Potential uses for the products listed here are not health claims made by the manufacturers. Healthline and Optum Now are owned by RVO Health. |
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| What we’re digesting |
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