Knowing which foods to avoid with diabetes is only half the equation. The other half — the part most guides skip — is knowing what to replace them with. A swap-based approach works better than a restriction-based one because you are not left staring at an empty plate wondering what is left to eat.
Every item below follows the same format: what to cut, why it is a problem, and what to eat instead.
Sweetened Beverages to Water and Unsweetened Drinks
Avoid: Regular soda, fruit juice, sweet tea, lemonade, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee drinks.
Why: Liquid sugar has no fiber to slow absorption. A 12 oz glass of apple juice delivers 28g of sugar that hits your bloodstream almost immediately.
Swap: Water (still or sparkling), unsweetened iced tea, black coffee, or water infused with cucumber and lemon for flavor.
White Bread to Whole Grain Bread
Avoid: White bread, bagels, flour tortillas, and white hamburger buns.
Why: White flour has a GI of 75 and very little fiber (less than 1g per slice). Two slices of white bread spike blood sugar almost as fast as table sugar.
Swap: 100% whole grain bread with at least 3g of fiber per slice. Check the ingredient list — "wheat flour" is not the same as "whole wheat flour." The first ingredient should say "whole" explicitly. Ezekiel bread (sprouted grain) has a GI around 36.
Candy and Sweets to Dark Chocolate and Berries
Avoid: Candy bars, gummy candies, hard candies, and milk chocolate.
Why: These are concentrated sugar with minimal fat, fiber, or protein to slow digestion. A handful of gummy bears (17 pieces) has 22g of sugar and a GI above 70.
Swap: Dark chocolate with 70% cacao or higher. One ounce of 85% dark chocolate has about 5g of sugar (compared to 24g in a milk chocolate bar) and a GI of roughly 23. Fresh strawberries have a GI of 41 and only 7g of sugar per cup.
Fruit Juice to Whole Fruit
Avoid: Orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, and smoothies with juice bases.
Why: Juicing removes the fiber that slows sugar absorption. A medium orange has 12g of sugar and 3g of fiber. A 12 oz glass of orange juice has 33g of sugar and 0g of fiber.
Swap: Eat the whole fruit instead. Apples (GI 36), pears (GI 38), and berries (GI 25-53 depending on type) are all good options.
Flavored Yogurt to Plain Greek Yogurt
Avoid: Fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt, flavored yogurt, and drinkable yogurt.
Why: A 6 oz container of Yoplait Original Strawberry has 19g of sugar. Drinkable yogurts can have 25-30g of sugar per bottle.
Swap: Plain Greek yogurt (nonfat or full-fat). A 5.3 oz serving has about 6g of natural sugar and 15g of protein — the protein helps blunt any blood sugar response. Add fresh berries and a sprinkle of cinnamon for flavor.
Processed Cereals to Oatmeal or Eggs
Avoid: Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Honey Nut Cheerios, and most boxed cereals. Even "heart healthy" cereals like Raisin Bran have 17g of sugar per serving.
Why: Most cereals are refined grains with added sugar, GI values between 70 and 85, and people regularly eat 1.5-2x the listed serving size.
Swap: Steel-cut or rolled oats (GI 55, not instant) with nuts and berries. Or skip cereal entirely and eat two eggs with vegetables — zero carbs, 12g of protein, and essentially no glycemic impact.
Fried Snacks to Nuts and Seeds
Avoid: Potato chips, corn chips, pretzels, and cheese puffs.
Why: Pretzels have a GI of 83. Potato chips sit around 56, but the portion size issue makes them worse in practice — most people eat 2-3 servings in a sitting, totaling 45-60g of carbs.
Swap: A one-ounce serving of walnuts (GI 15, 4g protein, 2g net carbs), pecans, or pumpkin seeds. For something crunchy and savory, try roasted edamame (about 8g of carbs per 1/3 cup with 11g of protein).
White Rice and Pasta to Lower-GI Alternatives
Avoid: White rice (GI 73) and regular white pasta (GI 65-75).
Why: A typical restaurant serving of white rice is 1.5-2 cups, which is 60-90g of carbs with almost no fiber.
Swap: Cauliflower rice has about 5g of carbs per cup compared to 45g for white rice. For pasta, chickpea pasta has 32g of carbs per serving (vs. 42g for regular) but with 13g of protein and 5g of fiber, which significantly lowers the glycemic load.
For a detailed list of the biggest blood sugar offenders, see our companion article on the worst foods for diabetics. And for snack ideas that actively help stabilize blood sugar, check out our guide to diabetic friendly snacks.
Make Smarter Choices When Eating Out
Next time you're eating out, DinePick can flag foods to avoid with diabetes and suggest better alternatives on any menu — join the waitlist to try it first.