The right diet to help manage diabetes is one that keeps blood sugar levels steady and improves how your body responds to insulin, the hormone that allows glucose to move from the bloodstream into your cells. There is no single diet that works for everyone with diabetes, and the best approach depends on your lifestyle, preferences, and the type of diabetes you have.
Read on to learn which foods can help manage diabetes, which foods to limit or avoid, how to plan balanced meals, and how eating well can also support diabetes prevention.
Three key takeaways
Diet plays a major role in managing blood sugar levels, but making healthier food choices can still include the occasional treat.
Different types of diabetes may benefit from different dietary approaches. Work with your GP and dietitian to develop a plan that works for you.
Consistent, balanced eating and smart planning is often more effective than placing strict rules on yourself. You need some flexibility to adapt to the demands of daily life.
What is a diabetes-friendly diet?
A diabetes-friendly diet is one that helps you control your blood sugar levels and weight. If you have diabetes, eating healthy foods can help you avoid long-term complications. And if you have prediabetes, a diabetes-friendly diet can prevent type 2 diabetes altogether.
Eating for diabetes involves:
Eating more slow-burning, high-fibre carbs while limiting added sugars and sugary foods
Choosing foods and cooking oils with heart-healthy, monounsaturated fats and limiting those with saturated fats
Choosing more fruit, veg, beans, and lentils
Picking more lean proteins
Eating less than 6 grams of salt a day
Only drinking alcohol in moderation
Not skipping meals, which is especially important for avoiding blood sugar crashes, or hypos, with type 1 diabetes
It’s not a special diet, doesn’t involve “diabetic” foods, and isn’t only for people with diabetes. Anyone can benefit from a diabetes-friendly diet.
How does food affect blood sugar levels?
Food affects blood sugar by determining how quickly glucose enters your bloodstream after eating. Foods high in carbohydrates raise blood sugar levels, while protein, fat, and fibre slow digestion and help keep blood sugar more stable. Portion size and food combinations also influence how high and how fast blood sugar rises.
Managing diabetes involves controlling both the amount and type of carbohydrates you eat. Carbohydrates, often called carbs, are broken down into glucose, which the body uses for energy and raises blood sugar levels.
Types of carbohydrates
There are 2 main types of carbohydrates found in food and drink.
Starchy carbohydrates These are broken down more slowly and include:
Bread
Pasta
Potatoes
Rice
Noodles
Cereals
Sugars These are broken down more quickly and include:
Table sugar added to food and drinks
Added sugars listed on food labels, often ending in “-ose”
Natural sugars in fruit, known as fructose
Natural sugars in some dairy foods, known as lactose
Why carbohydrates matter for blood sugar
Glucose is not harmful. Your body and brain need it to function, and carbohydrate-containing foods provide essential energy. However, different carbohydrates affect blood sugar in different ways.
Many starchy carbohydrates are digested more slowly than sugary foods, but not all. How they’re cooked and portion size also affect blood sugar. This slower digesting leads to steadier rises in blood sugar, which are generally easier to manage for people with diabetes.
Although fruit contains sugar, it is processed differently from added sugars found in foods like cakes, biscuits, and chocolate. Fruit also provides fibre, vitamins, and minerals, helping you feel full without causing sharp blood sugar spikes. Portion size still matters — aim for standard fruit portions rather than unlimited amounts.
Portion size and blood sugar control
Portion size plays an important role in blood sugar control. Larger portions often mean more calories, carbohydrates, fat, sugar, and salt, which can make blood sugar levels and weight harder to manage.
Simple tools such as your hands or everyday household items can help you estimate portion sizes without needing to weigh food.
Understanding the glycaemic index (GI)
The glycaemic index, or GI, measures how quickly a food raises blood sugar on a scale from 0 to 100:
Low GI: up to 55
Medium GI:56 to 69
High GI:70 to 100
Low-GI foods raise blood sugar more slowly than high-GI foods. However, GI applies to individual foods, and eating foods together can change how a whole meal affects blood sugar.
How meals affect blood sugar
Protein, fat, and fibre slow digestion, which can reduce the overall blood sugar impact of a meal. For this reason, balanced meals that combine carbohydrates with protein and fibre can help improve blood sugar control.
Low-GI eating patterns may be particularly helpful for people with type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes. There is less evidence that GI-based diets provide the same benefits for people with type 1 diabetes.
How does diet affect insulin?
Diet affects insulin by changing how often and how sharply blood sugar rises after eating. Frequent blood sugar spikes increase the amount of insulin your body needs to keep levels under control.
Insulin is a hormone that signals your cells to take glucose out of the bloodstream and use it for energy. Diets high in sugary or refined carbohydrates cause blood sugar to rise quickly, which increases the demand for insulin and can make blood sugar harder to manage over time.
What is insulin resistance, and how does diet help?
Insulin resistance happens when the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin, meaning more insulin is needed to manage the same amount of carbohydrate. This is common in people with type 2 diabetes and can also affect those who use injected insulin.
People with type 1 diabetes and some people with type 2 diabetes need insulin as part of their treatment. When insulin resistance is present, higher insulin doses may be needed, which can increase hunger and contribute to weight gain.
Diet can help improve insulin resistance. Limiting overall carbohydrate intake and choosing slower-digesting carbohydrates can reduce blood sugar spikes and lower insulin requirements. For some people with type 2 diabetes, this may mean better blood sugar control and, in some cases, a reduced need for insulin or other medications, under medical guidance.
What can people with diabetes eat?
People with diabetes should stick to a healthy, balanced diet with controlled portion sizes. But a diabetes diet shouldn’t feel like you’re missing out. Your friends and family should also be able to enjoy the foods in a diabetes diet.
A mixture of five portions of fruit and veg daily. These can be fresh, frozen, or tinned.
High-fibre carbohydrates, like bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and cereals. Be sure to choose wholemeal, wholegrain, brown, or high-fibre white bread.
Lean proteins, like meat, fish, eggs, and beans. Aim for one or two weekly portions of oily fish like salmon or sardines.
Foods with heart-healthy fats, like unsalted nuts, seeds, avocados, and certain oils like olive oil, sunflower oil, or rapeseed oil
At least three servings of dairy daily, including milk, unsweetened yoghurts, and cheese.
Lower-sugar snacks, containing less than 5 g sugar per serving. This might include unsalted nuts and seeds.
You also don’t have to completely cut out sugar and sweet foods. You can eat small amounts of sweets, chocolates, and cakes, but keep them in moderation.
You can also still enjoy celebrations or meals out. Your GP will be looking at long-term blood sugar control, and the occasional high blood sugar reading won’t send your overall treatment off track. However, some people with diabetes will need to check with their GP how much they’ll need adjust their medication dose for that meal.
Foods to limit or avoid with diabetes
Some freedom is welcome on a diabetes diet, but limiting some foods is vital for blood sugar control and reducing your risk of complications. You’ll need to limit the following:
Ultra-processed foods, as these are often high in salt, instead flavouring whole foods with spices and herbs
Foods high in saturated fats, like butter, margarine, and fatty meats. Swap these for lean meats and lower-fat yoghurt, cheese, and spreads, as well as semi-skimmed or skimmed milk.
Sugar and sugary foods. You can still eat some, but cutting back on sweet snacks or foods with added sugar can help you control blood sugar. Swapping out full-sugar drinks for sugar-free, diet, or no-added-sugar drinks and squashes might help.
Refined carbs. Not all carbs are created equal. The carbs in white bread, white rice, and white pasta, made from flour that’s had the nutritious parts of the grain removed, raise blood sugar quickly. Replaced refined products with wholegrain ones can support blood sugar control.
Alcoholic drinks. You don’t need to cut it out completely, but men and women should stick to a maximum of 2 daily units. Also, avoid drinking on an empty stomach, as this can increase your risk of a hypo if you take some diabetes medications.
Work with your GP and a dietitian to build a plan that helps your blood sugar without forcing you to completely sacrifice the foods you love.
Diabetes food list: everyday foods to include
Having a variety of foods available can help you choose diabetes-safe portions and make simple, delicious swaps. Below, we’ve included foods you can stock up on and prepare to support eating with diabetes.
Fruit and vegetables
Fresh: Seasonal produce, as it’s often cheaper and nutrient-rich
Frozen: Berries and mixed veg
Tinned: Choose varieties in water or natural juice, and avoid those in salt water or syrup
Starchy carbohydrates
Grains: Wholegrain, granary, or rye bread, porridge oats, muesli with no added sugar
Pasta and rice: Wholewheat pasta, brown or basmati rice
Flavourings, herbs, and spices: Onions, dried herbs, spices, and black pepper
Base ingredients: Tinned tomatoes, tinned tuna, reduced-salt baked beans
Oils: Olive, sunflower, or rapeseed oil, or a cooking oil spray
Porridge oats: Use this in classic porridge, overnight oats, or a topping for fruit crumbles
Drinks
Sugar-free fruit squash
Diet or zero-sugar versions of soft drinks
Non-alcoholic versions of your favourite tipple
Do different types of diabetes need different diets?
People with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and prediabetes might have different things to think about food-wise, but sticking to a healthy, nutritious diet and limiting really sugary foods is important for all three.
Diet for type 1 diabetes
There are no forbidden foods with type 1 diabetes, but what matters most is matching what you eat with the insulin you take. Most insulin regimens and insulin pumps allow more flexibility, meaning you do not have to follow a rigid or restrictive diet.
That said, a balanced, nutritious diet is important for overall health, just as it is for anyone else. Eating a wide range of foods from all the main food groups supports energy levels and long-term wellbeing. Avoiding sugary drinks when you feel very thirsty, which can be a symptom of high blood sugar, can also help prevent sharp blood sugar spikes.
Carbohydrates play a key role in type 1 diabetes management. Eating carbohydrate-containing foods with meals helps prevent low blood sugar episodes, also known as hypos. Taking insulin without eating enough carbohydrates can cause blood sugar levels to drop too low.
Carbohydrate counting can help you understand how much carbohydrate you are eating and how to adjust your insulin dose to match. Learning to carb count often gives people with type 1 diabetes more flexibility and choice around what and when they eat. Speak to your GP or diabetes care team about accessing education or support with carbohydrate counting.
Diet for type 2 diabetes
A diet for type 2 diabetes focuses on controlling blood sugar, supporting a healthy weight, and reducing the risk of complications such as heart disease, stroke, and some cancers. Compared with type 1 diabetes, dietary choices play a larger role in managing type 2 diabetes.
You do not need to completely avoid sugar. Instead, the goal is to choose healthier foods most of the time and keep sugary or highly processed foods as occasional treats. For example, swapping sugary drinks for water or diet alternatives, choosing wholegrain bread instead of white, and building meals around vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats can all help keep blood sugar more stable. Hypos can also happen in Type 2 diabetics if you are on certain types of medication, so don’t cut out carbohydrates completely.
If you have overweight or obesity, losing even a small amount of weight can make a big difference. Weight loss can improve blood sugar control, lower cholesterol, and reduce blood pressure. For some people, significant and sustained weight loss can even lead to type 2 diabetes going into remission.
Your healthcare team can refer you to a dietitian for personalised support. A dietitian can help you create a meal plan that fits your lifestyle, preferences, and cultural food choices, making it easier to stick with long term.
Diet for prediabetes
Prediabetes means you have high blood sugar, but it hasn’t yet reached the stage of type 2 diabetes. This means you can reverse prediabetes by making healthy food choices and other lifestyle changes, like getting more exercise. Diet choices during prediabetes can prevent type 2 diabetes by helping you improve blood sugar control and manage weight.
The diet changes for prediabetes look a lot like those for type 2 diabetes. Eat more fruit and veg, whole grains, and unsweetened dairy and fewer sugar-sweetened drinks, fatty, processed meats, refined carbs, and high-carb foods like potatoes.
Making small, sustainable changes to prevent type 2 diabetes long-term is better than trying to switch up your whole diet in one go if you find out you have prediabetes. This makes it easier to stick to.
“If you’ve been told you’re prediabetic, try and give it a positive spin, and think of it as your body giving you a heads-up. This is your chance to take control before things become harder to manage.
“Not only that, but the changes you make to your diet now often help with way more than blood sugar, like giving you more energy and better sleep.
“And remember, you don't have to overhaul everything overnight! Swapping sugary cereals for porridge, choosing brown rice instead of white, or snacking on fruit instead of biscuits - these simple swaps add up.”
Ian Budd, Prescribing Pharmacist at C4U
Planning meals with diabetes
Meal planning can help you control your portions and buy foods that support your overall blood sugar control plan. This can help you stick to it (and save you time and money in the process).
In fact, research found that a group following a set meal plan controlled their blood sugar better, got more energy from protein than from carbs, and had better readings for cholesterol, body fat, and waist circumference than a group that didn’t get one.
Planning meals involves understanding your ideal portion sizes and deciding which foods to include. You’ll need to put together a balanced plate (and Diabetes UK offers portion control plates to help). This means that your plate should roughly be:
One-quarter protein, such as meat or fish.
One-quarter carbs, like potatoes, rice, or pasta.
One-half salad or vegetables.
If you find this hard to manage, weigh out the food before serving.
However, it’s totally natural that you might be busy during the week. Get a big shop done at the weekend to make sure your cupboard is full of the ingredients you need, and batch-cook during less-busy times so you know you’ve got meals set up for the week ahead.
Your meal plans should also be flexible. If you’re not keen on one day’s meals or snacks, swap them out for foods of a similar calorie count.
What is the best diet for diabetes?
Everyone’s diabetes, body, and lifestyle vary, so no one diet is the best for everyone with diabetes. However, some diet plans and eating patterns have shown success in helping people with diabetes manage blood glucose and weight.
These include:
Low-carb diet: This aims to limit carb intake to 130g while still providing all necessary nutrients. It can help manage blood glucose, body weight, and heart health in the short term. However, evidence suggests that it’s not helpful for people with type 1.
Mediterranean diet: This is based on eating patterns in the Mediterranean region, focusing on plant foods, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats, while limiting processed foods, red meat, and alcohol. The Mediterranean diet can help reduce the risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol and support weight loss.
Very low-calorie diets: These involve replacing meals with specialised nutritional shakes for 12 weeks, then transitioning to meals providing 800-1,200 calories per day. This type of diet supports short-term weight loss to put type 2 diabetes into remission. This must be done with clinical supervision.
However, other people may try a low-calorie diet without formula products, fasting for certain periods of the day (known as intermittent fasting), or trying a low-fat diet to lose weight. But there’s no one-size-fits-all diabetes diet. Work out the best approach for you with your healthcare team.
How diet can help prevent type 2 diabetes
Eating a diabetes-friendly diet can sometimes reduce your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Losing excess weight if you have overweight or obesity, staying active, and eating a healthy diet can help make your body better at using or making insulin, improving blood sugar control.
In fact, around half of all people with a high type 2 diabetes risk can prevent or delay the condition through healthy eating and other lifestyle measures. Avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol consumption can also support good long-term blood sugar control.
Building new habits can be tricky. But making small, sustainable changes, practising them daily, and getting support from others can make a huge difference. Ask your GP about which services in your area can support weight loss and exercise to prevent diabetes.
Frequently asked questions about diabetes diets
What diet should I be on if I have diabetes?
There’s no specific diabetes diet, as everyone’s different. Speak to a dietitian about what’s best for you and your blood sugar levels.
What foods should people with diabetes avoid?
You don’t need to avoid any food completely – the occasional treat in moderation is fine. But consume sugary snacks and drinks, processed foods, red meat, refined carbs, and alcohol in small portions.
Can people with diabetes eat carbohydrates?
Yes. Slow-digesting, high-fibre carbohydrates are great for gut health and filling you up. But it’s best to limit certain carbohydrates, like high-GI ones that the body turns into blood sugar quickly. People with type 1 need to count carbs to work out how to adjust their medication between meals.
Is there a specific diabetic meal plan I should follow?
No. If you need to lose weight, people try low-carb, low-calorie, or Mediterranean diets with some success. Planning meals can help you stick to your treatment plan, but there’s plenty of flexibility in what that can look like for you.
What is the best diet for type 2 diabetes?
The best diet is one that includes plenty of fruit, veg, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats while limiting sugary snacks and drinks, processed food, red meat, and alcohol.
Can diet prevent type 2 diabetes?
Yes. Around half of all high-risk people can prevent or delay diabetes by following a healthy diet along with getting more exercise and losing weight (if they have overweight or obesity).
A final summary from our clinician
“When you have diabetes or want to prevent it, making healthy changes can feel daunting. But you do not have to do it all at once, and you do not have to take it on alone. Plus, people think that you need to cut out all of the treats that bring you joy, but you don’t – just eat less of them, less often.
“There’s no single diet that works for everyone. You can work with your GP and a dietitian to develop a tailored meal plan that fills you up, suits your lifestyle, tastes great, and keeps your blood sugar under control.”
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