My husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. We controlled it through diet. Back then (late 2000s) the only way we could monitor his blood glucose was by poking his finger to get blood samples. We would test his bg before meals and then 30 minutes after, to see which foods would spike his glucose. (It was really a surprise when 4 globes of grapes made his bg go up over 100 points.) American Diabetic Association was no help because they were basically pushing more carbs. What did help us was reading a book by Richard Bernstein. At some point, we stopped testing his bg every meal and only did spot testing because we already had a feel for what he could and couldn’t eat.
In a nutshell, we basically did keto diet, even though I didn’t know that diet existed back then. Low carbs (but not zero), high glycemic carbs when necessary, and mostly protein and fat.
Good luck!