7 biggest myths about food and diabetes

Senior couple cooking together in kitchen

Not sure what to eat to help manage your diabetes? We help you separate fact from fiction.

There’s a lot of misinformation about what to eat when you have diabetes. In fact, if you have diabetes, you’ve probably gotten some tips about managing your meals from the internet or well-meaning friends and family. This includes which foods you should — and shouldn’t — be eating.

While food does play a key role in blood sugar levels, there are a lot of myths that can make it hard to know what to eat. Here’s what you need to know.

Myth #1: You have to follow a “diabetes diet.”

Truth: There’s no one eating plan that can help you manage blood sugar levels.

“There’s really no diabetes diet. There’s just a healthy diet, and all foods fit,” says Rahaf Al Bochi, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, and Mediterranean diets have all been shown to help with diabetes management, according to the American Diabetes Association. But instead of looking for a specific diet to follow, focus on these key aspects of a healthy eating plan:

Include plenty of non-starchy (lower carb) vegetables in your meals. Some good options: broccoli, cauliflower, beans, salad greens, and carrots.
Limit foods with added sugars like soda and desserts.
Swap out refined grains like white bread and rice for whole grains like multigrain bread and brown rice.
Choose whole foods over highly processed foods whenever possible. This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lean protein, whole grains, and beans.

Myth #2: A low-carb diet is the best way to manage blood sugar.

Truth: A low-carb diet isn’t for everyone.

If carbs raise blood sugar, it makes sense that eating fewer of them will keep your blood sugar in a healthy range. So, you may want to reduce your carbohydrate intake relative to what you were eating before. But you don’t have to follow a true “low-carb diet.”

In fact, a very low-carb diet can have some drawbacks. These include:

Low-carb diets are often low in fiber. It’s hard to get the recommended daily amount of fiber when you're eating a very low-carb diet. Fiber is found in higher-carb foods like beans, fruit, and grains. Fiber is important because it can help keep blood sugar levels stable. It can also help lower cholesterol levels and support a healthy gut — both important for overall health.
Low-carb diets may cause blood sugar that’s too low. If you’re taking a glucose-lowering medication while following a very low-carb diet, your blood sugar levels may dip too low (called hypoglycemia). This can cause symptoms like dizziness and irritability. That's why it's always a good idea to talk to your health care provider before trying a new diet or making big changes to your daily food intake. During an in-home health visit, the clinician can also review medications you’re taking to check dosage and any side effects (or cross reactions) you may be having.
Low-carb diets may be hard to stick with. If you enjoy high-carb foods, you may find it challenging to make, and stick with, such a drastic change.

Work with your diabetes care team to determine the right amount of carbs for you to eat each day. A dietitian or diabetes educator can help you plan meals that include your favorite foods while still meeting your carb goals.

Myth #3: You can’t eat fruit.

Truth: Fruit is fine.

Yes, fruit is high in natural sugars and carbohydrates. But it’s also packed with fiber, which slows the absorption of sugar. That means it won’t cause the same spike in blood sugar that a can of soda will.

Fruit is also an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, which are important for your overall health. And when it comes to satisfying a sweet tooth, fruit is a great alternative to sugary desserts and candy.

When you’re eating fruit, it’s important to be mindful of portion sizes. This can minimize the impact on blood sugar. Some ideal portion sizes (which all have about 15 grams of carbs) are:

One small piece of fruit (about the size of a tennis ball), such as a kiwi, orange, or apple
1 cup of berries or chopped fruit
½ banana or larger piece of fruit
½ cup (4 ounces) unsweetened applesauce or other fruit puree without added sugar
2 tablespoons dried fruit

Pairing fruit with fat and protein also slows the rise in blood sugar after eating. You may want to try these combinations:

Pears and cheese
Apples and peanut butter
Dark chocolate–covered strawberries
Cottage cheese and pineapple

Myth #4: “White foods” are off the table.

Truth: All foods can fit in with your eating plan.

You may have been told that when it comes to food, “white” — like white bread, white rice, and white sugar — is an easy way to identify high-carb options you should never eat. But this is too broad a rule to live by. There are plenty of nutritious foods that also happen to be white: chicken, egg whites, white beans, bananas, onions, and garlic, to name a few.

But the truth is, you don’t have to cut out any foods from your diet. Yes, whole-grain bread won’t raise blood sugar as much as white bread will, but that doesn’t mean you can never eat white bread. You may just want to limit it. A dietitian or diabetes educator can help you understand which foods are higher in carbs and how to include them in your diet.

Did you know you can discuss healthy food choices with the clinician during your no-cost in-home health and wellness visit? Call 877-302-3672877-302-3672 or schedule online.

Myth #5: Dessert is off-limits.

Truth: There’s always room for dessert.

You don’t have to swear off all sweets for the rest of your life. Instead, it’s better to find balanced ways to include them in your diet. These strategies may help:

Include dessert when estimating carbs in your meal. This may mean, for example, that you have to pass on the potatoes if you’re planning on having ice cream.
Eat dessert immediately after your meal instead of on its own. The fat, fiber, and protein from your meal will help slow digestion, which in turn will slow down the rate at which blood sugar enters your bloodstream. What this means: You won’t get the spike in blood sugar that you’d get if you ate dessert on its own.
Stick to smaller portion sizes. The less of a sweet treat you’re eating, the less carbs you’ll be getting, and the more stable your blood sugar will be.
Replace sugar in desserts with low-calorie sweeteners. These artificial sweeteners offer sweetness without affecting blood sugar levels.
Take a 10-minute (or longer) walk after a meal. Exercise helps lower blood sugar after a meal.

Myth #6: Sugar-free foods won’t raise your blood sugar.

Truth: Sugar-free foods may still contain carbs that can cause a spike in blood sugar.

Sugar free does not mean carb free. For example, sugar-free cookies may still be made with flour, a source of carbs. The term “sugar free” just means that the sugar in a product has been replaced with an artificial sweetener, which doesn’t raise blood sugar.

That's why it’s a good idea to check the Nutrition Facts panel on sugar-free foods for their "Total Carbohydrate” content before buying. Confused about how to decipher a food label and choose healthier foods for you? A clinician who comes to your home can help as part of an overall health and wellness assessment.

Myth #7: You must count carbs.

Truth: There are simpler strategies for watching your carb intake.

Carb counting is one strategy for planning diabetes–friendly meals, but it’s not the only one. With the help of a dietitian or diabetes educator, you can learn how to eyeball portion sizes of carbohydrate-rich foods and estimate how many carbs are in them.

An easier strategy? The plate method. Use your plate as a guide to balance meals with these strategies:

Fill half your plate with non-starchy (lower carb) vegetables.
Fill one quarter of your plate with lean protein.
Fill one quarter of your plate with carbohydrate-rich foods like grains, beans, starchy (higher carb) vegetables, and fruit.

Limiting carb-rich foods to one-quarter of your plate is an easy way to keep your carbs in check at each meal. No counting, calculating, or measuring required.

Keep in mind that if you’re taking insulin to manage your diabetes, you may need to count carbs more closely — particularly if you take insulin before meals. In this case, you may need to match your insulin dose to the amount of carbs in your meal. Talk to your health care provider or in-home clinician about the best way to do this.

Remember: All foods can be a part of a healthy, diabetes-friendly eating plan. If you need help figuring out what to eat, your health care provider or an in-home health professional can discuss healthy eating strategies with you.

See our sources:
Healthy eating for people with diabetes: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Diabetic diet: MedlinePlus
Nutrition therapy for adults with diabetes or prediabetes: Diabetes Care
The truth about low-carb diets: Tufts University
Types of carbohydrates: American Diabetes Association
Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Healthful eating with diabetes: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
The best fruit choices for diabetes: American Diabetes Association
Common questions about fruits and vegetables: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Diabetic exchange list: Diabetes Education Services
Carbs, protein, and fats — their effect on glucose levels: Joslin Diabetes Center
Diabetes diet, eating, and physical activity: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
The dessert dilemma: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The acute effects of interrupting prolonged sitting time in adults: Sports Medicine
Reading food labels: American Diabetes Association
Carb counting: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention