Healthy Eating for Diabetes or Prediabetes

Eat three meals every day around the same times. If meals are more than 4-5 hours apart, include a small snack.
Reduce sugar and sweets. Use water as your main drink. You can also use other sugar-free drinks. Limit fruit juice to ½ cup (4 oz) per day and milk to 3 cups (24 ounces) per day. Read food label ingredients. or limit foods that list sugar, sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, dextrose, honey, or molasses as one of the first 3 ingredients.
Try to eat about the same amount at each meal. Create a healthy plate as shown below. Choose foods from all food groups in moderate portions at each meal. Fill ½ the plate with vegetables, ¼ plate with starchy foods/grains, ¼ plate with lean protein. You can also include a small serving of fruit and/or milk along with a serving of fats.
Include lean protein food at each meal and snack. Protein foods include: low-fat meat, chicken, fish, low fat cheese, nuts, peanut butter, cottage cheese, and eggs.
Eat smaller portions of carbohydrate foods. Carbohydrate is found in: starches/grains, fruit, milk, yogurt, and sweets. These are foods that raise blood sugar and need to be eaten in smaller amounts. “One serving” of carbohydrate food = 15g carb. Aim for a total of 3-4 servings (45-60g) carb at each meal. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate so you don’t need to look at that separately.
Choose high-fiber foods. Choose fruits, fresh and frozen vegetables, beans and legumes, and whole grains. “High-fiber” means a food with 3 or more grams of dietary fiber per serving.
Eat moderate amounts of oils and fat. Use more vegetable oils (nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado) and fatty fish (salmon, tuna) and less cheese, butter, and fatty meats. Limit fatty meats to once a week or less (lunch meat, bacon, sausage, hot dogs). Bake, broil, steam, boil, or grill foods (no frying) and use nonstick cooking spray for cooking.