Diet for Pre-Diabetics

People with pre-diabetes have blood sugar levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be diabetes. If you are pre-diabetic, you're at risk of developing diabetes and the complications that come with it. Losing weight, exercising and limiting food portion sizes help with pre-diabetes, but you need a diet plan that fits your needs and lifestyle.

Fruits and Vegetables

Include lots of vegetables and fruits in your diet. Choose a variety of colors. Your best choice of vegetables are non-starchy ones like spinach, broccoli, carrots and green beans. Your best choice of fruits include any fresh or frozen fruit. Canned fruit in juice with no added sugar also works. Fruit juice and dried fruit are nutritious, but portion sizes allowed for these foods are very small and may not satisfy your appetite. Choose foods ranked low on the glycemic index. Low glycemic index foods fill you up, take a long time to digest and don't cause blood sugar to rise quickly.

Whole Grains and Legumes

Eat whole grain rather than processed grain products. Whole grains like whole grain bread, barley, brown rice and whole wheat spaghetti are good choices. Eat legumes such as lentils, kidney beans and pinto beans. While some diets suggest avoiding complex carbohydrates that have starch, others suggest you include complex carbs that contain a lot of fiber. Natural foods that aren't mechanically processed are recommended, but highly processed foods that have many things added or taken out should be avoided to prevent rising blood sugar.

Protein

People at risk for diabetes should include a lot of protein in their diets, but many foods high in protein are also high in fat. If you have pre-diabetes, you should eat lean meat that is cut from the loin like pork loin, sirloin and tenderloin. Eat fish two to three times a week and eat skinless turkey and chicken. If you are pre-diabetic, you may not be getting enough zinc in your diet, so eat foods rich in zinc like lamb, sardines, chicken, oysters, pecans and almonds. Eat non-fat dairy products like non-fat yogurt, non-fat cheese and skim milk.

Drinks and Spices

Pre-diabetics should drink a lot of water. Calorie-free drinks with no sugar can work, but avoid the ones with caffeine, because caffeine can raise blood sugar levels. Include spices that help to lower blood sugar. A U.S. Department of Agriculture study at the Human Nutrition Research Center tested 50 herbs and spices and determined cinnamon is the most effective spice for lowering blood sugar, because it regenerates the body's blood sugar control mechanism. Adding 6 grams of cinnamon to your food each day can lower blood sugar. Cumin oil can regenerate the liver and pancreas. Allspice is a germicide that effectively lowers blood sugar to moderate levels. Sage lowers blood sugar and keeps it low.