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About type 2 diabetes
Diabetes is a condition in which your blood glucose (sugar) level becomes too high.
Blood glucose levels are controlled by the hormone insulin.
Insulin moves glucose out of your blood, into your muscles, where it can be used for energy.
Type 2 diabetes occurs because your insulin is not working properly or you do not produce enough insulin.
What happens if your glucose level is high
A high glucose level can cause you to feel thirsty, tired or pass urine frequently (especially at night). It can also cause recurrent infections.
If your glucose level is high over a long period of time, it increases the risk of developing diabetes complications. These complications can include heart disease and stroke.
How to control your glucose level
Taking care of your diet and keeping active is key to controlling your glucose level. It reduces the risk of diabetes related health problems in the future.
You may also need tablets or insulin injections to manage blood glucose levels. But being careful with what you eat and drink will always be important.
Take care of your diet
Being overweight is often the reason your insulin does not work well. Losing weight will help your insulin work better. Losing just 5% of your weight can make a big difference.
If you are overweight, losing a significant amount of weight, especially soon after diagnosis of diabetes, can put diabetes into remission. This does not mean you will be ‘cured’, but you may avoid or delay any medication being required for your diabetes.
Try to keep active
You can improve your blood glucose level by being active and by avoiding long periods of sitting still..
Increasing your muscle strength will help your insulin to work more effectively at all times.
How much activity you need
Try to get slightly out of breath by being active for 150 minutes (2.5 hours) each week. You can spread this across 5 or more days each week.
Try to do something every day, for example walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, gardening or housework.
Remember: any form of movement helps!
A healthy diet for diabetes
You can help control your glucose level if you choose the right food and drink, in the right amounts.
Your diet should be well balanced and provide all the nutrients your body requires for health.
A well balanced diet includes carbohydrates, protein, vegetables and salad.
Try to plate your meals as follows:
Use the drop-down menus below to find out about:
- carbohydrate
- protein
- vegetables and salad
- snacks
Important
Talk to your healthcare professional if you take medication for your diabetes. They may need to change your dosage before you reduce the amount of carbohydrate in your diet.
Do not follow an ultra low carbohydrate diet if you take Dapagliflozin, Empagliflozin or Canagliflozin tablets for your diabetes.
When you eat or drink, your carbohydrates digest into glucose, which your body uses for energy. If you consume too much carbohydrate, it will be stored as fat.
- Make sure you choose the right type of carbohydrate.
- Make sure you choose the right amount of carbohydrate.
- Try to space your carbohydrate intake evenly across the day.
Which foods contain carbohydrate?
Starchy food
- Starchy food will give you energy and many important nutrients for health. Wherever possible, try to choose the wholegrain version of starchy food.
- Your best choice is starchy foods that are digested most slowly (also known as ‘low glyncaemic index’). These foods are shown in the grey column in the table below.
| Starchy foods | Starchy foods that digest slowly |
| Breakfast cereals, for example Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, bran flakes. (Avoid sugar and honey coated cereals) | Porridge oats, no added sugar muesli, Special K, Fruit & Fibre, All Bran |
| Bread (all types) | Rye bread, wholegrain seeded bread, pitta |
| Crispbreads, crackers | Ryvita, oatcakes |
| Chapattis, naan |
Bulgur wheat, quinoa |
| Grains: couscous, polenta | |
| Pasta, noodles | Egg noodles |
| Rice | Wholegrain basmati rice |
| Potatoes | Sweet potato, new (salad) potatoes |
| Plantain, green banana | Yam, cassava |
Sugars
- The diet for diabetes does not need to be completely free of sugar. It needs to be low in added sugar and sugary foods.
- If you want an occasional sweet treat, it is best to include this as part of a meal. To compensate for the sweet treat, you can reduce the amount of starchy food that you eat in the meal. This will reduce the impact that the sweet treat has on your blood glucose level.
- Many savoury foods contain small amounts of sugar, but can be included in your diet. These include baked beans and ketchup. Often there are reduced sugar versions that you can buy (always read the labelling carefully).
- Many sweets and drinks which are labelled as ‘sugar free’ contain artificial sweeteners. You can eat these because they do not raise blood glucose levels.
- Be careful if the sweetener is xylitol, mannitol, sorbitol. These types of sugar alcohol are often found in ‘sugar free’ sweets and can have a laxative effect if you eat a large amount.
The following table gives more information about sugary foods and offers some alternative suggestions.
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| Artificial sweeteners such as Truvia, Canderel, Hermesetas, Sweetex, Splenda | Sugar, glucose, fructose, honey, syrups, jaggury, gur |
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Water: still or sparkling ‘No sugar’ drinks labelled as ‘diet’, ‘no added sugar’ or ‘slimline’ Some ‘lite’ or ‘light’ drinks (always check the label) |
Energy drinks eg Lucozade, Red Bull, Monster Ordinary fizzy drinks eg cola, lemonade, tonic water Ordinary fruit squash, Ribena |
| Highlights, Options, cocoa | Hot chocolate, Ovaltine, Horlicks |
| Fruit tinned in juice (drained) | Fruit tinned in syrup |
| Cut down on these | Possible alternatives |
| Jam, marmalade | Reduced sugar varieties, or use just a scrape |
| Sweet pickles and chutneys | Vinegar pickles, or use sparingly |
| Sweets, chocolates, desserts and puddings, Indian sweetmeats, baklava | Sugar free jelly, reduced sugar milk pudding or custard, occasional small portion of plain ice cream |
| Sweet yoghurts and fromage frais | ‘Diet’ or ‘No added sugar’ fruit yohurt (less than 100kcals per pot). Low fat plain or Greek yogurt |
| Biscuits and cakes | See Snacks drop-down menu below |
Fruit
- Fruit contains many nutrients which help maintain health. It is a good idea to include some in your diet.
- All fruit and products made from fruit (eg fruit juice) contain sugars. Eating too much at once will raise your blood glucose level.
- Avoid pure unsweetened fruit juices or fruit smoothies. These contain ‘free sugars’ which have a much greater effect on blood glucose levels.
- Dried fruit is also rich in sugar so avoid it or only eat a small amount.
- Limit fruit to approximately a ‘handful sized’ portion at a time.
- Only eat 2 to 3 portions, spaced over the day.
What a portion of fruit looks like
Each of the following = 1 portion
- 1 bowl (150g) berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries etc)
- 1 medium fruit (apple, pear, orange etc)
- 1 small banana or 1 grapefruit
- 2 small fruits (plums, kiwi, clementines etc)
- Small handful grapes (10 large or 15 small)
- Small slice of melon, watermelon or mango, or 2 rings pineapple
Foods that contain protein
- Protein is found in large amounts in meat, fish, cheese, eggs, beans, pulses, tofu, soya, Quorn, milk and nuts.
- Try to include a variety of protein foods regularly in your diet. This is essential for health and protein. It also helps to fill you up and stop you feeling hungry.
- If you eat meat, choose lean cuts and limit the amount of red and processed meat products you choose.
- Where possible include 2 portions of oily fish each week. Oily fish includes mackerel, salmon and sardines. These contain omega 3 fats and can help protect the heart.
- Try to use some vegetarian ‘protein’ sources in place of meat regularly in your diet. Vegetarian protein includes beans, lentils, soya and Quorn.
Dairy milk and yogurt
- Dairy milk and yogurt provide carbohydrate as well as valuable protein and important nutrients for bone health.
- Include some in your diet but choose reduced fat versions and plain or ‘no added sugar’ fruit yogurts.
- Do not drink more than one cup ( 250ml) at any one time as it may raise your glucose level.
Beans, lentils, pulses
- These foods contain some carbohydrate but they are slowly digested and have a limited effect on blood glucose level.
- They contain soluble fibre which can help to improve your blood cholesterol level. They are also a healthy source of protein.
- These are an essential part of a healthy diet. They are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are also rich in soluble fibre which can help to control your blood glucose.
- They also help to fill you up and stop you feeling hungry.
- Eating a good amount of vegetables and salads can help to control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
- Include vegetables and salad foods whenever possible. Try to use them to make up a large part of your lunch and evening meals.
Try to avoid snacking between meals, especially on foods rich in carbohydrate which will raise your glucose level.
Try these lower carbohydrate snack ideas if you feel the need to eat between meals:
- Vegetable sticks (carrot or cucumber or celery). Eat these with or without tomato salsa or cottage cheese or reduced fat hummus. You can also eat them with a slight smear of peanut butter
- 3 to 4 tablespoons of low fat Greek yogurt with berries or seeds
- 2 rye crispbreads or 2 oatcakes with some low fat hummus or low fat cream cheese or tomato salsa
- A small handful of fruit
- A few olives or cherry tomatoes
- A small eggcup full of unsalted nuts (6 to 8 unsalted almonds or walnuts)
- A small pot of ‘no added sugar’ fruit yogurt
- A hardboiled egg.
Cholesterol and blood pressure
There are other reasons to eat healthily if you have type 2 diabetes.
- If you have diabetes, we will need to monitor your cholesterol levels and blood pressure regularly.
- Healthy eating helps maintain good cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels.
Saturated fat
- If your diet contains a lot of saturated fat, this can raise your cholesterol levels. This is a risk for heart disease.
- You can help control your cholesterol by reducing your saturated fat intake and replacing it with unsaturated fats.
- You can also reduce cholesterol levels by eating a good amount of vegetables, beans, lentils and some fruit.
- Fats and oils are highly fattening. If you are trying to lose weight, try to limit your intake of all types of fats and oils.
Use the drop-down menu for information on which sources of fat to avoid.
This table gives guidance on sources of saturated and unsaturated fats.
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 Try to avoid these sources of saturated fats |
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Cooking methods
Here are some useful tips on healthy ways to cook food.
- When cooking, limit the amount of food you fry.
- If you do fry food, use a maximum of 1 teaspoon of oil per person in any dish.
- It is healthier to air fry, grill, boil, poach, dry roast or microwave your food.
- Choose vegetable oil (rapeseed) or sunflower oil for frying rather than olive oil.
This table offers guidance on high fat foods to avoid, and alternatives you can choose.
| Limit your consumption | These are a better choice |
| Pies, pork pies, salami, pate, sausages, scotch egg, burgers, fish in batter |
Grilled or roast meat with fat removed Chicken and turkey without skin Fish, baked or grilled Use beans or lentils regularly in place of meat |
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Whole milk Full fat or Greek yogurt |
Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk Low fat yoghurt (less than 100kcals per pot) |
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Most cheese (limit to 100g per week) Paneer |
Cottage cheese, Quark, ricotta, reduced fat hard cheese |
| Mayonnaise, salad cream, salad dressingFull fat dressing coleslaw |
Low fat vinaigrette, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar Coleslaw with lower fat ‘yogurt’ dressing |
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Fried chips Crisps (including low fat versions) |
Small portion of thick cut oven chips, boiled potatoes Plain popcorn |
| High-fat prepackaged sandwiches | Reduced fat sandwiches (less than 350kcals per pack) |
| Cream or cheese based sauces, for example carbonara, cauliflower cheese | Tomato based sauces |
| Indian snack foods such as pakora, bhajia,puri, paratha, chevda, sev | Samosa and pakoras that are sprayed lightly with oil and oven baked. Chapattis made without ghee or oil |
| Many fast foods and takeaways | Choose carefully from the menu or only have them occasionally |
Blood pressure
High blood pressure and diabetes can contribute to the risk of damage to your eyes, kidneys and heart.
To help to control blood pressure you can do the following:
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Reduce your salt intake.
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| Eat a good amount of vegetables, salads and some fruit. |
| Limit your alcohol consumption. |
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Keep as active as you can. |
Alcohol
It is important to be aware of your alcohol intake if you have type 2 diabetes.
- A safe level of intake is no more than 14 units* per week for both men and women.
- Space out your intake over at least 3 days of the week.
- Alcohol is high in calories. Reduce your alcohol if you are trying to lose weight.
- Cocktails often contain a large amount of sugar. Avoid them or only have them as an occasional treat.
- If you drink spirits, use a ‘diet’ or ‘slimline’ mixer.
| 1 unit of alcohol = | Half a pint average strength beer or Half a medium glass of average strength wine or 1 single measure of spirits (25 mls) |
Alcohol and hypos (hypos = low blood glucose)
If you take insulin or certain diabetes tablets (eg gliclazide) alcohol can make a ‘hypo’ more likely. The hypo may be more serious and difficult to treat because alcohol will stop your liver releasing glucose.
Important
- Never drink on an empty stomach.
- If you are drinking over a long period, make sure you eat something which contains carbohydrate.
- Always have a starchy snack before bed (eg a small bowl of cereal or slice of toast).
- At all times, carry identification with you that says you have diabetes.
- Make sure your friends and family know what to do if you experience a hypo.
More information
Sign up to the Diabetes UK Learning Zone to learn how to manage all aspects of your diabetes.
The Carbs and Cals book offers guidance on the carbohydrate and calorie content of food and drink
Information on heart health from the British Heart Foundation
Information on lowering your cholesterol from Heart UK
Information on cutting alcohol intake from Drink Aware
My fitness pal phone app to monitor food and drink intake (also available for Apple)
Carbs and cals phone app to monitor food and drink intake (also available for Android)
Guidance on diabetes and exercise
Information from MyNutriWeb on a healthy South Asian diet
Information from MyNutriWeb on a healthy African and Caribbean diet
Contact information
Kingston Hospital Dietetic Department, Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm