Diabetes is all about what you eat. There are many diabetic foods to avoid. If you eat these foods you are only adding fuel to the diabetes fire. It’s crucial to know exactly which foods you must stay away from. Some of the foods I will talk about I’m sure you are aware of that are not good for you and there may be some surprises that you thought were good, but are not. I will provide you with a Diabetic Foods to Avoid List:
Which Foods Must you Stay Away from with Diabetes?
It’s important to know what diabetes can do to you because some of the consequences such as kidney disease, heart disease, amputations, and blindness are NOT what you want to happen to you EVER.
Whether you are type 2 diabetic or pre-diabetic, it doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world, unless you don’t change your eating and exercise habits and if you procrastinate it will just make matters worse. So get moving!
Do you know why your intake of carbohydrates is so important? Well the macronutrients that provide energy for you are protein, carbs, and fat. Now, the one that has the most effect on your blood glucose levels are the carbs. They get broken down into sugar and absorbed into your bloodstream.
The carbs contain fiber and sugar. Fiber will not raise your blood sugar because it is not digested and absorbed the exact same way that other carbohydrates are by your body.
You need fiber and not carbs to help you control and maintain your blood sugar levels and your overall diabetes. High levels of sugar are going to do damage to your organs, your body’s blood vessels and nerves as well. Start thinking LOW CARBS!
13 Foods You Must Avoid
1. White Bread, Rice, and Pasta
Any foods that are white such as bagels, breads, and foods that are refined flour foods have been proven to raise blood glucose levels in folks with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. There were studies done with bagels with high carbs and the bagels showed a decline in the brain function and mental capacities in addition to raising blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes.
Processed foods such as these do not contain much fiber which would help slow sugar absorption into your bloodstream. You are much better replacing white bread with whole grain or bread that is high fiber. This can help to lower blood glucose levels substantially. You will also help with lowering your blood pressure and cholesterol too.
2. Dried Fruit
It’s known that fruit is always good for you but even fruit contains sugar. But still you can have fruit within reason especially if you stick with a small apple or fresh berries because they are lower on the Glycemic index level. These are a better choice for you.
The problem with dried fruit however, is that when it is “dried” the fruit now has much less water in it and that means that the nutrients that it contains such as potassium and vitamin C are now of a higher concentration and the bad news is that sugar content is higher too.
You can compare one single cup of grapes which has only 27 grams of carbs as opposed to over 100 grams of carbs for raisins! That is a lot more sugar than the grapes.
The bottom line here with fruit is that you want to include it in your diet because it is very healthy for you. Stick to the fruits that are lower on the Glycemic index level. But also avoid any dried fruits when you have diabetes. Dried fruits are not a healthy choice for diabetics.
3. French Fries
Now if you’re like me, you love French fries! Not anymore! These are the worst for you! Do you really want to spike your blood sugar? This is a way to do it for sure.
Potatoes alone are high on the GI chart because they contain 37 carbs and out of them only 4 are from fiber which is what you really want but not with fries.
Want to make it worse? Then go and peel the potatoes and fry them in vegetable oil and that will really do a number on your blood sugar levels. But that’s not even the worst of it. When you deep fry these foods they result in the production of toxic compounds. These are responsible for raising your risk of disease and stimulating inflammation.
4. Soda
This is one of the top culprits in the bad food for diabetics category. Sodas are linked to bigger waistlines and weight gain and they are at the top of my list of things to avoid like the plague. They are especially responsible for adding to diabetes because of how much sugar they contain. One 12 oz can of Coke has a whopping 39 grams of sugar!
I remember when I found out many years ago after drinking Coke all the time that this same 12 oz can actually contained TEN teaspoons of sugar! WOW! I never drank soda again, but diet sodas are not good either so stay away from them altogether. Sports drinks and teas are no better. They ALL have tons of sugar.
5. Candy
My weakness is chocolate. It is now a food of the past. Dark chocolate is good for you, but only in small amounts. Chocolate and other candy is loaded with sugar which explains why kids go haywire and nutso when they are high on candy, LOL!
The bottom line with candy is that it has so much sugar that is just about the worst food on the list to stay away from. And that means ALL candy!
6. Sugary Cereals
There are cereals that may be good for you, but the sugary ones certainly are not. This processed food has a very high content of sugar and I guess when you’re a kid growing up you don’t care. You want what you want.
But as an adult with diabetes you must absolutely stay away from any sugary cereals. And if are going to have cereal, read the labels first. Stick with steel-cut oatmeal, wheat bran, oat bran and others like it.
Watch the Video Below About the Worst Foods for Diabetes
7. Flavored Coffee
I’m not a coffee drinker but I do know that a regular cup of black coffee without sugar may be okay for a pre-diabetic. The problem arises when you go to a coffee shop and order these Mochas and Frappuccinos. These guys are loaded with excess sugar, whipped cream, syrups, and anything else that will skyrocket your blood glucose numbers immediately!
8. Trans Fats Foods
Trans fats are extremely unhealthy. Trans fats may not be exactly related to raising blood glucose levels, they do increase insulin resistance, inflammation, abdominal fat, the lowering of HDL good cholesterol levels, and damaging the functions of your arteries.
This is vital to diabetics because you are at a higher risk for a heart attack. Any label reading “partially hydrogenated” is something to avoid for sure! Some of these include baked goods, muffins, peanut butter, frozen dinners, and margarines. Say NO to trans fats!
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9. Fruit Juices
While fruit juice might taste great and seem to be healthy, it’s not. It basically has the same affects on your blood glucose as any drinks with sugar or sodas. Fruit juice that is unsweetened can have more sugar than the sodas or sports drinks. These fruit juices are loaded with fructose which is the sugar that fuels obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease. Cross fruit juice off the list if you’ve been having it.
10. Fast Food
Do I really have to tell you that fast food is absolutely no good for you? I hate to pick out McDonald’s, but since the biggest I’ll just say that research was done and found that by eating there or any other fast food place more than 2 times a week resulted in insulin resistance at 2 times the rate of those who didn’t stop at a fast food place.
It’s a well known fact that insulin resistance raises the chances of pre-diabetes and developing type 2 diabetes. Keep driving past McDonald’s. Do not stop. You’ll be doing yourself a world of good by doing so.
11. Yogurt with Fruit
Flavored yogurts are made from low-fat milk or non-fat milk which are packed with sugars and carbohydrates. Frozen yogurts are no bargain either with even more sugar than ice cream. Yogurt with fruit has 47 grams of sugar in one cup. Almost all of the calories come from sugar. If you’re going to have yogurt, stick with the plain yogurt! It’s a much safer option.
12. Salt Products
You’re better off with less sodium when you have diabetes. It is linked to hypertension, heart disease, and high cholesterol. Snacks such as pretzels and potato chips are just two examples. Use common sense again by reading the labels of a product before you buy it. If you’re a diabetic then do not have more than 1,500 mg of salt daily.
13. Fatty Meats
These are just not healthy for you and are associated with type 2 diabetes. The fatty meats contain a large amount of saturated fat that is responsible for sparking inflammation in your body. Saturated fat will raise your cholesterol levels and of course that raises your risk for heart attack.
You should be choosing lean meat such as turkey, pork tenderloin, fish, and chicken that is skinless. Avoid hamburgers, hot dogs, bacon, spare ribs, bologna, and others that are similar.
In Conclusion
This is just a list of the worst diabetic foods to avoid. There are many others but this gives you an idea of the worst offenders for a diabetic to stay away from. Diabetes is tough enough to deal with and as long as you do everything you can to control it, you can live a fairly normal life. You don’t have to suffer if you do what you have to do.
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Hi, I have read your article because I am concerned for my mother in law who has had type 2 diabetes for as long as I have known her.
Whilst she tests herself regularly, just recently we have noticed that she is having more and more problems and has had several hospital visits.
It is hard to discuss her diet when you have no real clue. After reading your post the biggest indicators for me are her huge intake of bread… she’s Greek and Greeks do bread. The dried fruits are also an issue.
Thank you for the post, maybe I can now start a conversation with her about her diet.
Karen
Hey Karen,
With diabetes we are all guilty of eating the wrong foods.
There are the healthy foods that are so good for us and the tempting bad foods that we give in to that bring on diabetes.
I have a weakness for the breads too as your mother-in-law does.
But it just becomes time when we have no choice but to give up those bad foods if we want to defeat diabetes.
Thank you!
Cheers!
~Rob
Such an insightful article.
I’m an ER nurse and I see every day the complications of diabetes. I firmly believe nutrition plays a huge role in preventing diabetic complications. I truly wish there was a way for us to help them prevent them. But it seems like the taste of these foods is surpassing the fear of developing, for example, kidney disease or heart disease.
Any idea to help us raise awareness?
That would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Didi
Hey Didi,
I have so much respect for nurses especially in the department you work in!
It’s horrible that so many folks have type 2 diabetes and eat the foods that are no good.
And you’re correct. Maybe if they didn’t taste so good and we knew what the complications were we could resist the temptations.
As far as raising awareness goes, I believe this article and many others would help others. I think that social media is a great place to start getting people to take notice more!
Thanks Didi!
Cheers!
~Rob
I have a couple of friends who are diabetic, so I know a little bit about it. Recently it has become a concern for my husband–doctors say he’s maybe a pre-diabetic. However, he has never liked vegetables (except potatoes) and now he is on warfarin, so he can have nothing with vitamin K. That means most vegetables are off-limits. So frustrating!
We eat lots of carrots and as much fruit as I can work in. Also, I do most of our baking so I can substitute zero calorie sweeteners for sugar. I really appreciate the warning about dried fruits, as I’ve been relying on them to add nutrients to my baked goods. I’ll have to look at other sources. Thank you!
Greetings Kathleen 🙂
Diabetes is just so common and unwanted in this day and age. We all have to take better care of ourselves.
I used to be like your husband because I also never liked vegetables but now I love them and they are so healthy for us.
There are too many unhealthy foods available and it’s time we stop choosing them as part of our diets.
I’m glad you’re looking into alternates for the bad foods such as the dried fruits.
Good luck and thank you for your comments!
~Rob 🙂
Found this affiliate and glad I came here to read this article. I am surprised to see that diet soda was on the list though. As that is what I do drink a lot of. Guess I will be doing my best to quit now even though I don’t know why it is on the list. Keep up the good work. I am working on my website so far don’t have one.
Hey Carl, I too drank diet soda for so long until I realized it’s no better for you than regular soda. So with diabetes too I made the decision to stop and will not go back. It’s important to avoid these toxic foods and drinks.Thanks for your input 🙂
What a great article!
I must confess I was surprised with some foods. One of them was the dried fruit. I never thought sugar was so high in this type of fruit.
Can you create an article about gestational diabetes? My wife had it when she was pregnant of our second child and it’s really hard to deal with because of all the fear on transmitting diabetes for the baby.
Thank you.
Hey Rui, Thanks so much 🙂 There are a lot of foods that are higher in sugar that might have people wondering. Dried fruit just happens to be one of the many. But fruit itself is fine as long as you know the glycemic index of the fruit. For instance, berries are the best fruit for diabetics because they have the lowest glycemic index of the fruits.
As far as gestational diabetes, I may indeed have an article forthcoming. Stay tuned! Thanks for your insight! 🙂
~Rob