Proper balanced nutrition is one of the most important factors for maintaining health, but unfortunately, few people adhere to the principles of healthy eating until their body starts to fail.
However, if you are at risk for diabetes, following a diet is the only way to avoid developing a serious incurable disease. This method is very effective and seemingly simple and accessible, but in practice, it is very difficult to implement. It is very hard to give up your gastronomic habits, especially if your family is not inclined towards healthy eating, lacks knowledge and experience in using healthy foods, and does not know how to cook tasty and healthy meals. However, it is essential to learn this – the consequences can be too severe if irreversible changes start in the body.
Dietary restrictions depend on the overall health of the person, the presence of comorbidities, and blood sugar levels. Accordingly, there are two levels of dietary restrictions: a diet for the at-risk group and for those diagnosed with prediabetes – a condition where the disease is not yet present, but blood sugar levels are already consistently above normal.
The diet for diagnosed diabetes is a complex method that requires consideration of various indicators – the number of so-called bread units, glycemic indices, caloric intake, and many other parameters. If your body has not yet crossed the disease threshold, it will be sufficient to follow some rules. Let’s talk about this in more detail.
Who Needs a Preventive Diabetes Diet
A preventive diet against diabetes is necessary for those who already have negative changes in blood sugar levels, as well as those who are at risk for diabetes. Let’s remember that risk factors include:
- Age over 45, especially in women;
- Heredity;
- Overweight;
- Physical inactivity;
- Chronic diseases – pancreatitis, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, thyroid diseases;
- Polycystic ovary syndrome;
- Severe stress, chronic depression, sleep disorders.
If you are at risk but your blood sugar levels are still within normal limits, dietary restrictions will not be as strict. The main task in terms of nutrition will be to organize regular balanced meals, avoid overeating, control weight, and minimize the consumption of forbidden foods.
If your blood sugar levels are already starting to rise (prediabetes condition), you will have to restrict yourself more severely, but in both cases, the most important thing will be proper balanced nutrition.
What is proper nutrition?
The basic principles of proper nutrition when at risk of developing diabetes are quite simple and understandable, and they can be recommended to absolutely everyone – both children and adults. It is important to understand that diabetes prevention is not about giving up carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are necessary for the body and should make up no less than 50-60% of the diet. However, you need to be able to choose the “right” carbohydrates and balance the diet, meaning combining foods in such a way that even when consuming high-carbohydrate foods, blood sugar levels rise only slightly.
Let’s look in more detail at what needs to be done.
Reducing Sugar Intake
This is the very first and very important recommendation. Carbohydrates are vital for the body, primarily for the brain. Only one type of sugar circulates in our blood – glucose. The foods we consume contain different types of sugar – glucose, fructose, sucrose, starch. Lactose is found in milk, and maltose – malt sugar – is in grains. These are natural sugars present in foods. All these types of sugars are converted into glucose in our body, but the metabolism of different types of sugar varies, and they affect blood glucose levels differently.
There is the concept of “free sugars” – this includes not only table sugar but also honey, natural fruit syrups, and fruit juice concentrates. Excessive consumption of these products can also raise blood sugar levels. However, controlling their consumption is relatively easy.
However, our diet includes many processed foods. These include various types of baked goods, confectionery, canned goods, sauces and drinks, and meat delicacies. Most products contain added sugar in one form or another. This sugar is called added sugar, and it is very difficult to control. It is food with added sugar that is the main source of excess sugar in our body.
Simple sugars – glucose and fructose – are found in berries, fruits, and vegetables. Some plants contain sucrose (a combination of fructose and glucose). Grapes contain the most glucose, hence the name “grape sugar.” For example, apples contain more fructose.
Fructose does not cause a sharp increase in blood sugar levels, which is why it was long believed that fructose is a healthy substitute for table sugar, and it started being actively added to various industrial products, especially sweet sodas, baked goods, etc. However, it is now established that if too much fructose is consumed, the body converts it into fat deposits. At the same time, fructose from natural fresh fruits does not cause negative effects because it is very difficult to exceed the dosage (it is unlikely someone eats 1.5 kg of strawberries and 3 kg of oranges every day). It is the added fructose or regular sugar, which consists of glucose and fructose, that is dangerous. Sweet soda lovers easily exceed the safe limit. And if soda is consumed with pastries or a sandwich with sausage and white bread, it guarantees exceeding the sugar norm. Sweetened alcoholic drinks are a triple blow to the entire body.
The impact of different foods on blood sugar levels is measured by the glycemic index (GI). The GI indicates how much the blood sugar level will increase after consuming a particular food compared to pure glucose over the same period. Essentially, the GI characterizes the rate of glucose absorption from a specific food. Based on this indicator, foods are categorized as “fast” and “slow” carbohydrates. It is important to understand that this index is purely evaluative and depends on the product’s composition, preparation technology, and the individual metabolism of a specific person. However, it can still be used as a reference.
Note – the GI reflects the rate of sugar entering the blood, not the carbohydrate content of a particular food.
Foods are divided into three categories based on their glycemic index:
- Low GI (1-55)
- Medium GI (56-69)
- High GI (70 and above)
To lower blood sugar levels, it is recommended to replace high-GI foods with low-GI foods under normal conditions. This ensures a smooth glucose supply to the blood and keeps the feeling of fullness for longer.
High-GI foods are relevant for high physical activity when it is necessary to quickly restore blood glucose levels and provide the body with energy.
How to Reduce Sugar Intake?
First of all, we advise everyone – both the at-risk group and prediabetics – to completely exclude foods with added sugar from their diet, such as:
- Sweet carbonated drinks
- Pastries, desserts, cakes, and pastries
- Confectionery products – candies, sweet chocolate, cookies, waffles, etc.
- Sweetened alcoholic drinks (dessert/fortified wines, sherry, liqueurs, mixed drinks with juice and ciders)
- Packaged juices and nectars containing sugar
- Jams, preserves, and marmalades
For those at risk but with blood sugar levels still within the normal range, small amounts of natural products with free sugar (honey, fruit syrups), and cane sugar are permissible.
Excluding Inadmissible Products
There is a group of products that, although not distinctly sweet, still negatively affect metabolism, blood sugar levels, and the pancreas’s function. These should also be excluded. They include:
- Fast food
- Chips, snacks, corn sticks, etc.
- Trans fats (hydrogenated fats) and products containing them
- Store-bought sauces, semi-finished products, canned goods
- Smoked, salted fish
- Sausages, offal, fatty meat
- White bread
High-fat dairy products and sweet dried fruits – candied fruits, dates, raisins, figs – are better limited. Whole-grain or buckwheat flour pasta is much healthier than white flour pasta. If necessary, choose durum wheat pasta and cook it “al dente” – without overcooking. This lowers the glycemic index. Brown rice is also preferable to white rice.
If it is difficult for you to give up ice cream, choose fruit varieties without added sugar. And remember – it’s better to eat ice cream than a bun – ice cream has a lower glycemic index.
White bread can be replaced with other types of bread.
Controlling Unrecommended Products
In addition to prohibited products, there is a group of so-called unrecommended products. These are products that can be included in the diet but with caution and in limited quantities. They include:
- Cheese – due to high caloric content
- Vegetable oils (preferably olive oil, as well as high-quality flaxseed oil, walnut oil, almond oil, pine nut oil)
- Vegetable preserves – due to high salt content
- Some cereals and bread – due to the high glycemic index, primarily semolina, corn, rice porridges, and instant oatmeal
Care should also be taken with some vegetables and fruits that contain a lot of sugar or starch. These vegetables include potatoes and beets. Among fruits – primarily grapes, as well as watermelons, pineapples, persimmons. Bananas should also be avoided, especially overripe ones – they contain significantly more sugar.
Nuts and seeds are very beneficial but also in limited amounts due to their high caloric content.
Increasing the Proportion of Healthy Foods
But not everything is gloomy – there are many products that are not restricted but rather recommended.
These include eggs, lean meat – boiled or steamed, fish – boiled, stewed, steamed, seafood, low-fat dairy products, fermented milk drinks (preferably homemade).
Cereals are recommended to be cooked with water or plant milk. Especially beneficial are buckwheat, barley, coarse oatmeal, wheat, and barley groats. Quinoa is extremely beneficial – it has a low glycemic index and contains many useful substances.
Recommended vegetables include salads and greens, green peas, all types of cabbage, zucchini, eggplants, bell peppers, onions, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, turnips, legumes, etc. If possible, treat yourself to asparagus and artichokes. Mushrooms should definitely be included in your diet.
The choice of recommended fruits is also very large – all citrus fruits, apricots, peaches, apples, pears, cherries, plums, pomegranates, kiwis.
Our forest berries are very beneficial – strawberries, blueberries, lingonberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, cranberries, black, red, and white currants.
Maintaining Water Balance
The harm of dehydration is often discussed for various reasons. In diabetes prevention, it is also very important to drink enough plain clean water. Lack of fluid severely affects the pancreas’s function, hinders insulin production, worsens blood parameters, and impairs nutrient supply to all organs and tissues. The glucose breakdown process in the body also requires sufficient fluid.
Therefore, it is recommended to drink at least 1.5-2 liters of fluid per day. It is important that most of the fluid is plain water, as various juices, tea, coffee, and kvass do not restore water balance as well. Of course, the quality of water is also extremely important. Drink good, clean, quality water.
Controlling Excess Weight
Interestingly, the diet for weight loss and the diet for diabetes have much in common. This indirectly proves that the causes of all metabolic disorders are essentially the same.
For weight loss, it is traditionally recommended to adhere to the general principles of healthy eating:
- Consume foods high in dietary fiber
- Include enough fresh vegetables and fruits in the diet daily
- Reduce meat consumption, exclude fatty meat, reduce or completely exclude processed meat and offal
- Include fresh fish, steamed or stewed, in the diet
- Reduce the amount of salt in the diet
- Exclude or minimize the consumption of refined carbohydrates
- Minimize, or better yet, exclude the consumption of animal fats, trans fats (technologically processed vegetable fats found in margarine, confectionery, mayonnaise, and ready-made sauces, etc.)
- Include foods high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in the diet (olive oil, flaxseed oil, and other vegetable oils, but no more than 2 tablespoons per day in all food)
- Include homemade fermented products in the diet
- Adhere to a regular eating schedule – eat at least 3 times a day, preferably 5-6 times a day in small portions
A Balanced Diet: The Key to Success
Maintaining consistently high blood sugar levels is harmful, but significant fluctuations in blood sugar are equally detrimental. What can be done to avoid dangerous blood sugar spikes?
Combining a Balanced Diet with Lifestyle Choices
Normal blood sugar levels are maintained through a combination of a balanced diet low in harmful products, regular physical exercise, and managing hormones through other means such as adequate sleep and rest, and stress reduction.
The Importance of Healthy Eating
Healthy eating is key to controlling blood sugar levels and preventing diabetes. It is not just about following restrictions and consuming only allowed foods. It is important to balance carbohydrates with proteins, fats, and fiber at each meal.
Consuming sources of protein, fiber, and healthy fats during all your meals can help stabilize blood sugar levels, especially when consuming carbohydrates/sugar (such as starchy vegetables like potatoes, fruits, or whole grains). These nutrients slow down the absorption of sugar into the blood, help control appetite, and are essential for your metabolism and digestion.
Best Foods for Blood Sugar Regulation
Proteins: Wild fish like salmon, grass-fed beef or lamb, fresh dairy products from quality milk (including yogurt, kefir, and cottage cheese), eggs, and free-range poultry.
Healthy Fats: Virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed and hempseed oils, avocados, nuts, and seeds (such as walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, hemp, and flax). Ghee can be used in small amounts.
High-Fiber Foods: Fresh vegetables, salads, and greens, whole pieces of fruit (not juice), sprouted beans or peas, and whole grains. Foods particularly high in fiber include bran, green leafy vegetables, chia seeds, flaxseed, apples, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocados, and sweet potatoes (yams).
Additional Tips
- Apple Cider Vinegar, Cinnamon, Green Tea, Herbal Teas, Spices (Turmeric, Ginger, Black Pepper): These can be excellent additions to a blood sugar-stabilizing diet.
- Cooking Methods: The same food prepared differently can have a different glycemic index. Mashed potatoes have a higher GI than boiled potatoes. However, if potatoes are refrigerated for a day, their GI significantly decreases. This applies to cereals and pasta as well. From a glycemic index perspective, leftovers are better than freshly cooked meals.
Combining Foods for Balanced Meals
Combine foods from different categories at each meal to create a well-rounded and balanced dish. For example, adding bran to porridge, sprinkling it with cinnamon, and adding chia or hemp seeds can significantly lower the glycemic index of the dish. A portion of green salad can reduce the glycemic index of potatoes.
Natural and Artificial Sweeteners
Since it’s difficult to completely give up the sweet taste, using sweeteners can help reduce sugar intake while maintaining the sweet flavor.
Natural Sweeteners: Jerusalem artichoke syrup, date syrup, honey. These can be added to food, such as porridge, but in small portions (no more than one to three teaspoons a day).
Fructose: Suitable for home cooking, but remember that it contains calories. It has a lower glycemic index and absorbs slower than sugar but still raises blood glucose levels. Moderation is key.
Sugar Alcohols: Xylitol, sorbitol, isomalt, maltitol, mannitol, erythritol, lactitol. They contain calories and carbohydrates but do not raise blood glucose levels. However, they may cause side effects like bloating, diarrhea, and nausea.
Stevia: A popular natural sweetener with no specific aftertaste. It contains 17 types of amino acids, vitamins A, B, C, E, K, chlorophyll, and minerals such as iron, silicon, selenium, sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium. Flavonoids in stevia have immune-modulating and antioxidant properties.
Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners like saccharin (E 954), aspartame (E 951), acesulfame K (E 950), cyclamate (E 952), sucralose (E 955), neotame (E 961) should be used under medical advice, as some have contraindications.
Vitamins and Supplements for Prediabetes
For those at risk of prediabetes, it is essential to avoid deficiencies in vitamins, amino acids, and trace elements. Key nutrients include antioxidants (A, B, C, E), vitamin B, magnesium, chromium, and selenium.
Vitamin E: Has been shown to play a significant role in the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Vitamin D and Magnesium: Many people with prediabetes have deficiencies in these nutrients. Vitamin D is vital for insulin sensitivity, and magnesium deficiency is often linked to stress, a contributing factor to prediabetes.
Chromium and Biotin: These also influence tissue sensitivity to insulin.
Given the prevalence of magnesium deficiency and the high levels of stress in modern life, taking well-chosen vitamin and supplement complexes can be crucial for diabetes prevention. Consult your doctor to select the most suitable vitamin complexes for you.
References
- EASD/ESC Recommendations for Diabetes, Prediabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases, 2014.
- Amlaev K.R. “Diabetes as a Problem of Medical Prevention.” Journal “Doctor”. 2021; 32 (3): 9–14.
- Bondar I.A., Klementov V.V. “Antioxidants in the Treatment and Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus.” Diabetes Mellitus, 1 2001.
- Gorelova J.Yu., Koldobenko A.N., Alexandrovsky S.B., Mosov A.V., and Kizenko O.A. “Properties and Uses of Natural Sweetener Stevioside.” Pediatric Pharmacology, vol. 2, no. S, 2005, pp. 62.
- Karonova T.L., Grineva E.N., Mikheeva E.P. et al. “Vitamin D Levels and Their Relationship with Fat Tissue Amount and Adipocytokine Content in Women of Reproductive Age.” Problems of Endocrinology. 2012; 6: 19–24.
- Karonova T.L., Shmonina I.A., Andreeva A.T. et al. “Vitamin D Deficiency: Cause or Consequence of Obesity?” Consilium Medicum. 2016; 18 (4): 49–52.
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