Health Topic

Diabetic Diet

If you have diabetes, healthy eating helps keep your blood sugar in your target range. Learn how you can still have great tasting food with diabetes.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Diabetic meal plan

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Diabetic Diet

If you have diabetes, your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from foods you eat. The cells of your body need glucose for energy. A hormone called insulin helps glucose get into your cells.

With type 1 diabetes, your body doesn't make insulin. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn't make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in your blood and causes high blood glucose levels.

Prediabetes means that your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes. If you have prediabetes, you are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

The glucose in your blood comes from certain foods called carbohydrates, or "carbs." Foods that are high in carbs include candy and sweets, sodas, breads, tortillas, and white rice. The more carbs you eat, the higher your blood glucose level will be. Some, but not all people with diabetes, may need to count the amount of carbs eaten in drinks and meals.

Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, making the right food choices is an important way to keep your blood glucose at a level that is healthy for you. When you control your blood glucose, you lower your chance of having serious health problems from diabetes, such as vision loss and heart problems.

And if you have prediabetes or are at risk for diabetes, eating foods that keep your blood glucose levels healthy may help prevent type 2 diabetes later on.

There isn't a specific diet or meal plan that works for everybody. Your health care provider may have you see a registered dietician (RD) or a diabetes educator who can help design the best eating plan for you. The plan will consider:

  • Any medicines that you take
  • Your weight
  • Any other health conditions you have
  • Your lifestyle and tastes
  • Your goals

All eating plans for diabetes have a few things in common, including eating the right foods in the right amounts at the right times.

Eating the right foods for diabetes means eating a variety of healthy foods from all the food groups:

  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Whole grains, such as whole wheat, brown rice, barley, quinoa, and oats
  • Proteins, such as lean meats, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, lentils, and tofu
  • Nonfat or low-fat dairy, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese

To keep your blood glucose under control, you may need to cut back on certain foods and drinks. This doesn't mean that you can never enjoy them. But you should have them less often or in smaller amounts.

The foods and drinks you should limit include:

  • High-carb foods and drinks, such as: Sugary foods, such as candy, cookies, cake, ice cream, sweetened cereals, and canned fruits with added sugar
  • Drinks with added sugars, such as juice, regular soda, and regular sports or energy drinks
  • White rice, tortillas, breads, and pasta - especially those made with white flour
  • Starchy vegetables, such as white potatoes, corn, and peas

If you have diabetes, it's important to eat the right amount of food every day. Your eating plan will include how much to eat, and help you choose the types of food for each meal or snack. If you take insulin, you may need to learn how to count carbs to help you know how much insulin to take.

Eating at the right times is also important. You will want to plan for regular, balanced meals to avoid blood glucose levels that are too high or too low for you. Eating about the same amount of carbs at each meal can be helpful.

Your eating plan will also teach you how to stick with your plan at home and when you eat out.

Eating healthy to control your blood glucose does take some effort. But the reward is a chance to live your healthiest life with diabetes.

It sits within Endocrine System, Food and Nutrition and Diabetes Mellitus.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Diabetic Diet

151 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Diet, Diabetic. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Diabetic Diet, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.