Prediabetes: Can You Prevent Diabetes with Diet?

3. High Carb vs. Low Carb

Low carbohydrate eating patterns have been extensively studied as beneficial for people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, but the results are not straightforward. One analysis compared low-carbohydrate diets (less than 45 percent carbs) to high-carbohydrate diets (more than 45 percent carbs) and found that blood sugar control was best in very low carbohydrate diets (less than 25 percent carbs) but only for the first three and six months.

Another analysis comparing high- and low-carb diets showed that the larger the carbohydrate restriction, the greater the initial blood sugar control, but the results for the groups were similar after one year.