This Prediabetes Diet Can Lower Blood Sugar, Boost Weight Loss and Reverse Health Risks
A registered dietitian shares three simple ways to get started
Did you know that one out of every three of us has prediabetes? “That’s over 98 million adults in the U.S. and Canada,” reveals certified diabetes educator Helen Tieu, RD. Even more surprising: Many slim and seemingly-healthy people who rely on convenience foods or deal with lots of stress are among the whopping 80 percent of prediabetics totally unaware they have the condition. But whether we realize we have it or not, prediabetes doubles risk of heart problems and quadruples risk of full-blown diabetes. That’s where a prediabetes diet comes in.
With a few little tweaks to your regular eating plan, you can safeguard your overall health in the long term while also preventing, slowing or even reversing prediabetes, says Tieu. Bonus: Most women say a prediabetes diet makes them feel energized and amazing!
What is prediabetes, anyway?
Modern life, with all its processed foods and time spent sitting, tends to send blood sugar soaring and doesn’t keep us active enough to burn the sugar off. Over time, chronic excess blood sugar inflames and damages cells, gradually making it harder and harder for the hormone insulin to get sugar into cells to be burned for energy, according to Columbia University-trained nutrition expert Fred Pescatore, MD. This is called insulin resistance, and it’s the precursor to prediabetes.
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As we struggle to burn blood sugar, much of what we eat ends up as fat, says Dr. Pescatore. That means we tend to pack on pounds and put more stress on our overburdened systems. Usually blood sugar issues get steadily worse. When A1C—a test that measures the average level of blood sugar over a three-month period—reaches 5.7 percent, we officially move from insulin resistance to prediabetes. Anything over 6.4 percent is full-blown type-2 diabetes. (Learn more about how your A1C compares to other people your age here.)
A prediabetes diet for healthy blood sugar
There isn’t a single prediabetes diet plan or set of rules; rather, the prediabetes diet is a method of healthy eating that incorporates the best anti-prediabetes strategies scientists have discovered so far. Here, Tieu helps us break down the basics.
1. Trade ultra-processed foods for whole foods
From Froot Loops to Big Macs, ultra-processed foods (UFPs) typically contain at least five ingredients our grandmothers would never have cooked with, including chemical preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, emulsifiers, dye and artificial flavor. The majority of UPFs contain loads of carbs with little fiber or other nutrients to slow the speed with which they are converted to blood sugar, says Tieu, founder of DietRedefined.com. UPFs are also formulated to stimulate appetite, so we overeat them and make matters worse.
Research published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism in 2024 found that for every 10 percent of our calories that come from UPFs, prediabetes risk increases by 12 percent. Luckily, the reverse is also true: For every 300 calories or so of UPFs you replace with natural foods, your prediabetes risk falls about 12 percent.
To adopt healthier eating habits on a prediabetes diet, “aim for the majority of your diet to come from whole foods like fruit, vegetables, lean protein, legumes, dairy, nuts and seeds,” suggests Tieu. You absolutely don’t have to be perfect. Small changes made consistently can have a huge impact, especially if you’re sneaking in more fiber-rich foods.
2. Try a portion-control trick
Many prediabetics are not significantly overweight, but carrying extra pounds can worsen hormonal issues that lead to insulin resistance and prediabetes. And while hitting your ideal weight can be tough, this is another case where a little progress goes a very long way. A study in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2023 found that participants who lost at least 5 percent of their body weight—that’s 10 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds—saw significant improvements in their prediabetes, and 43 percent fully reversed the condition. Losing just 10 pounds may be all it takes!
Any plan that helps you slim down will have an anti-prediabetes effect. But if you’re looking for an easy way to rein in portion size and shed unwanted pounds, “consider intermittent fasting” as part of a prediabetes diet, suggests Tieu. The idea is simply to eat your meals in a shorter window each day, with an eight-hour window (such as 9 am to 5 pm) being most common. Research suggests we naturally eat less when we eat less often, losing as much weight as portion-control dieters but with less struggle. Plus, going longer between your last meal one day and your first meal the next gives the body more time to burn off blood sugar and heal damaged cells linked to prediabetes.
Proof it works: In 2018, the journal Cell Metabolism published a study that found prediabetics who ate their meals between 9 am and 3 pm each day experienced double the improvement in blood sugar levels and triple the improvement in insulin levels compared to participants eating the exact same food spread out over 12 hours. For women, intermittent fasting is linked to weight loss that’s up to 10 times faster than a traditional diet, per evidence in the journal Nutrition and Healthy Aging.
3. Skip drinks with added sugar
Nothing we consume is more strongly associated with prediabetes than sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). In fact, Tufts University studies link regular consumption of drinks like cola and sweet tea to a 46 percent increased risk of the condition. And while the Tufts study shows artificially-sweetened drinks have a neutral effect on prediabetes risk, there are better choices out there.
Results of a new study presented at the 85th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association show that drinking water instead of soft drinks (including diet soft drinks) not only helps reverse prediabetes, but even helped 90 percent of type-2 diabetics achieve remission. There’s also evidence that coffee slashes diabetes risk by 54 percent and various teas can help too.
To further enhance the benefits of a prediabetes diet, Tieu encourages you to keep active and get plenty of sleep. And you can discover even more easy tips to lower A1C and prediabetes risk here.
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