The best meats for diabetics are lean proteins like skinless chicken/turkey breast, fish (especially oily fish), and lean cuts of beef/pork (trimmed of fat), as they are low in saturated fat, while limiting processed meats (bacon, hot dogs) and fatty cuts to manage heart health and blood sugar. Plant-based options like beans, lentils, tofu, and tempeh are also excellent, high-protein alternatives.
Very Lean Meat Choices (0-1g fat/ounce and 35 calories)
Dinner ideas when you have diabetes
Examples of the worst foods for diabetics include:
Protein – Poor protein choices for diabetes would include foods rich in fat such as fried meats, higher-fat cuts of meat, such as ribs, pork bacon, regular cheeses, poultry with skin, deep-fried fish or tofu.
Impact on Blood Sugar Levels
Grilled or baked chicken paired with steamed broccoli or a quinoa salad can be a satisfying,diabetes-friendly meal. Avoid frying chicken in large amounts of oil or using sugary marinades, as these can add unnecessary fats and carbs, causing blood sugar spikes.
Potatoes that are boiled, baked, or mashed can be a part of a diabetic-friendly diet. Research shows that eating French fries often raises type 2 diabetes risk—but other forms of potatoes don't. Baking, boiling, or mashing potatoes avoids the adverse health effects of deep frying.
Fruits to avoid with diabetes
While you don't need to avoid these high glycemic fruits, you should limit or eat them in moderation: Bananas. Mangoes. Pineapple.
Though a breakfast favorite, sausage is a flavor-filled, processed meat that isn't ideal in a healthy, diabetes-friendly breakfast. Diabetes increases your risk for heart disease, so when you eat sausage regularly, your risk for cardiovascular disease increases even more.
Choose wholemeal, wholegrain, brown or high fibre white bread. Try to include at least 3 servings throughout the day. Aim to include these foods with 2 of your meals daily.
Fried Chicken Restaurants
In general, poultry is a smart choice while following a diabetes-friendly diet—except when it's breaded or dipped in flour and fried. This version adds not just carbs but saturated fat and calories as well to menu items at restaurants like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Popeyes.
Fat slows down the absorption of carbs into the blood stream, which means dishes such as pizza, curry and fried fish and chips may take hours to affect your blood glucose levels. This can mean that when you administer your bolus insulin, it may have finished working before all the carbohydrate has been absorbed.
The American Diabetes Association recommends eating fish twice a week. Choose baked or grilled fish, not fried.
If you have diabetes, you may be curious about whether you can eat ham. Ham is naturally very low in carbohydrates, which means it won't raise your blood sugar. But that doesn't mean it's a recommended part of a diabetes-friendly diet, because ham may have more salt and saturated fat than your doctor wants you to eat.
According to the diabetes association, starchy vegetables, like potatoes, are perfectly okay to include in a healthy diabetes diet. Being a complex carbohydrate, starch generally takes longer to break down in the body than simple sugars like sucrose.
Cut down on fried and fatty foods
Use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. Choose lower-fat varieties of cheese and limit portion size. Instead of butter choose a reduced fat olive based spread and use sparingly. Limit crisps, biscuits, cream, pastries, pies, sausage rolls and 'takeaway' meals.
Too much sodium and fat can lead to heart disease, which diabetic people are already at a higher risk for. While people with diabetes can enjoy bacon or ham for breakfast, it's best to enjoy these processed meats in moderation.
Plain types, such as rich tea, digestives, Hob Nobs, fig rolls, garibaldi, ginger nuts, marie biscuits, rice cakes, breadsticks, oatcakes and rye crackers. No added sugar squash, diet fizzy drinks or slimline drinks. Sugar-free flavoured waters. Cocoa made with low fat milk and sweetener.
Eating apple does not significantly affect blood glucose level. Apples contain sugar, but most of the sugar in apples is fructose. Fructose, which is found in fruits, has a very small effect on blood glucose. Additionally, apples contain fiber - which slows down the digestion and absorption of sugar.
Avoid nuts that are coated in sugar or salt, which can negatively affect your blood pressure, Dobbins says. Chocolate-covered peanuts, in particular, are high in carbs and not the best option when you have diabetes, Dobbins says.
People with diabetes should avoid eating highly refined, low-fiber carbohydrates, such as white toast, packaged muffins, French toast and pancakes. You should also limit consuming carbohydrates without a source of protein or fat.
The American Diabetes Association recommends filling half your plate with non-starchy vegetables at meals, such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans, squash and mushrooms.
Avoid Fried Foods Like French Fries and Chicken Nuggets
Too much fat in your diet can lead to weight gain, she adds, which can worsen type 2 diabetes. Weight gain also increases your risk of heart disease, a risk that's already elevated when you have diabetes, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).