What are the key components of the prediabetes diet?
There is no specific diet for prediabetes, but there are some important modifications you can make to your diet. These include:
- Eat more whole fruit and vegetables, especially the non-starchy variety like green leaves, broccoli and asparagus. Other useful inclusions are those rich in a compound called nitrate, these include celery, rhubarb and beetroot – including these may help reduce blood pressure and improve circulatory health.
- Make wholegrains your staple, such as jumbo oats, barley, rye, wholewheat flour, wholegrain rice, especially basmati or wild rice.
- Choose lean sources of protein. These help keep you full and reduce the urge to snack – examples include chicken breast, fish and seafood, legumes, unsalted nuts and seeds.
- Include some dairy such as yogurt and cheese, or fortified plant-based alternatives.
- Minimise refined ‘white’ carbs, sugar, sweetened drinks and starchy veg like potatoes.
- Minimise red and processed meats, aiming to keep within guideline amounts.
- Minimise the saturated and trans fats in your diet, focusing instead on the heart-healthy fats in oily fish, nuts and seeds, as well as fruit like olives and avocado.
Don’t forget:
- Wise-up on portions – it may be useful to weigh out your pasta and rice until you can gauge the appropriate quantity for a serving.
- Cook clever – avoid over-cooking foods like rice and pasta, instead create more ‘resistant starch’ by cooking, cooling and thoroughly reheating carbs such as rice, pasta and potatoes.
- Plate up perfectly – fill half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables, a quarter with lean protein and the final quarter with wholegrains.
This was copied from the BBC good food diet