Diabetics generally should limit or avoid traditional fried potato chips due to high unhealthy fats, sodium, and carbohydrates that can spike blood sugar, but occasional small portions of baked or healthier alternatives (like veggie chips, popcorn, or nuts) might be okay, as long as they're mindful of overall carb intake, portion sizes, and read nutrition labels for sodium, fat, and carb content.
Potatoes are rich in starch, a carbohydrate that breaks down quickly in the body and raises blood sugar levels. Potato chips are a high-GI snack with a value of 70. Eating potato chips might spike up glucose levels in the body, which can be prevented by replacing your chips with a better veggie option.
The fiber in the crackers and the protein in cheese can help keep blood sugar in check.
Fat slows down the absorption of carbs into the blood stream, which means dishes such as pizza, curry and fried fish and chips may take hours to affect your blood glucose levels. This can mean that when you administer your bolus insulin, it may have finished working before all the carbohydrate has been absorbed.
You'll want to stay away from foods that are highly processed or have lots of added salt or sugar. That includes junk foods like potato chips, cheese puffs, candy, and cookies. You don't have to banish these foods from your diet. But when you do eat them, keep the portions very small.
The healthiest potato chips are generally those with minimal ingredients (potato, oil, salt), cooked in healthier oils like avocado or olive oil, and offer options like baked or air-fried versions with less fat, while non-potato alternatives like veggie or chickpea chips can also be better choices, focusing on whole foods and fiber. Brands like Boulder Canyon, Siete, and Jackson's offer cleaner ingredient lists, but portion control remains key for any chip.
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Sun Chips are sometimes given a health halo because they're made with whole grains as opposed to potatoes. Starches digest faster than grains, so Sun Chips, which are made with corn, wheat, rice flour and oat flour, may not give you as much of a blood sugar spike.
Examples of the worst foods for diabetics include:
Snacks to avoid
Generally speaking, if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you should avoid high-fat, high-salt foods. These include: Crisps.
Plain types, such as rich tea, digestives, Hob Nobs, fig rolls, garibaldi, ginger nuts, marie biscuits, rice cakes, breadsticks, oatcakes and rye crackers. No added sugar squash, diet fizzy drinks or slimline drinks. Sugar-free flavoured waters. Cocoa made with low fat milk and sweetener.
Studies show that eating eggs can help lower HbA1c and fasting blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Tip: For variety, alternate how you prepare eggs—try them scrambled, poached, fried, or cook a delicious omelette packed with all your favourite vegetables.
Too much sodium and fat can lead to heart disease, which diabetic people are already at a higher risk for. While people with diabetes can enjoy bacon or ham for breakfast, it's best to enjoy these processed meats in moderation.
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Foods to try instead
1 small glass (150ml) of pure fruit juice or smoothie a day. 1 to 2 plain biscuits such as Rich Tea, Oatcakes, Ginger or Garibaldi. A small serving of low fat milk puddings such as rice pudding, semolina or low fat custard. 1 scone/ crumpet/ small currant teacake or 1 small slice of malt loaf.
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Someone on a food+chips diet might indeed have too much salt and may need to regulate how much they eat. Especially a type 2 diabetic who not only makes more insulin than a normal person for the same intake of chips, but makes it for hours longer.
Fruits to avoid with diabetes
While you don't need to avoid these high glycemic fruits, you should limit or eat them in moderation: Bananas. Mangoes. Pineapple.
Though a breakfast favorite, sausage is a flavor-filled, processed meat that isn't ideal in a healthy, diabetes-friendly breakfast. Diabetes increases your risk for heart disease, so when you eat sausage regularly, your risk for cardiovascular disease increases even more.
Cardiologists generally advise avoiding processed meats, sugary drinks and sweets, and foods high in trans fats and sodium, like most fried foods and salty snacks, because they raise bad cholesterol, blood pressure, and inflammation, significantly increasing heart disease risk. Focusing on whole foods and limiting these culprits is key for heart health.
While there are myths that state those with diabetes should not consume dairy, these products, including cheese, can actually be beneficial when consumed in moderate amounts. Cheese, in particular, can actually be great at helping to manage blood sugar levels because of its low glycemic index.
Consider this advice: opt for non-seed, non inflammatory oil brands, like Boulder Canyon Brand Avocado oil, Siete, Vandy (fried in 100% Beef Tallow), Jackson's sweet potato chips, Trader Joe's potato chips cooked in olive oil, and Thrive Market potato chips cooked in coconut oil.