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11 Foods to Avoid With Diabetes
By Franziska Spritzler, RD, CDE
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions among adults and children worldwide.
Prediabetes and uncontrolled diabetes has many serious consequences, including heart disease, kidney
disease, blindness and other complications. has also been linked to these conditions. Importantly, eating
the wrong foods can raise your blood sugar and insulin levels and promote inflammation, which may
increase your risk of disease. Here are 11 foods that people with diabetes or prediabetes should avoid.
Why Does Carb Intake Matter for People With Diabetes?
Of these three, carbs have the greatest effect on your blood sugar by far. This is because they are broken down into
sugar, or glucose, and absorbed into your bloodstream. Carbs include starches, sugar and fibre. However, fibre is
not digested and absorbed by your body in the same way other carbs are, so it does not raise your blood sugar.
When people with diabetes consume too many carbs at a time, their blood sugar levels can rise to dangerously
high levels. Over time, high levels can damage your body’s nerves and blood vessels, which may set the stage for
heart disease, kidney disease and other serious health conditions. Maintaining a low carb intake can help prevent
blood sugar spikes and greatly reduce the risk of diabetes complications.
Therefore, it is important to avoid the foods listed below:
1. Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Sugary beverages are the worst drink
choice for someone with diabetes because they are very high in carbs.
They are loaded with fructose, which is strongly linked to insulin
resistance and diabetes. To help control blood sugar levels and prevent
disease risk, consume water, club soda or unsweetened iced tea instead
of sugary beverages.
Bottom Line: Sodas and sweet drinks are high in carbs, which increase
blood sugar. Also, their high fructose content has been linked to insulin
resistance and an increased risk of obesity, fatty liver and other diseases.
2. Trans Fats: Industrial trans fats are extremely unhealthy. They are found
in margarines, peanut butter, spreads, creamers and frozen dinners.
Food manufacturers often add them to crackers, muffins and other
baked goods to help extend shelf life. Although trans fats don’t directly
raise blood sugar levels, they’ve been linked to increased inflammation,
insulin resistance and belly fat, as well as lower “good” HDL cholesterol
levels and impaired arterial function. Avoid any product that contains
the words “partially hydrogenated” in its ingredient list.
Bottom Line: Trans fats are unsaturated fats that have been chemically
altered to increase their stability. They have been linked to inflammation,
insulin resistance, increased belly fat and heart disease.
3. White Bread, Pasta and Rice: White bread, bagels, rice and pasta and
other refined-flour foods are high-carb. Eating processed foods has
also been shown to significantly increase blood sugar levels in people
with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Gluten-free pastas have also been
shown to raise blood sugar, with rice-based types having the greatest
effect. These processed foods contain little fibre thereby increasing
absorption of sugar into the bloodstream. Replacing white bread with
high-fibre bread has been shown to significantly reduce blood sugar
levels, cholesterol and blood pressure in people with diabetes.
Bottom Line: White bread, pasta and rice are high in carbs yet low in fibre.
This combination can result in high blood sugar levels. Go for high-
fibre, whole foods which may help reduce blood sugar response.