People with diabetes can eat junk food, provided they monitor their calorie intake and dose their medication accurately. Junk food should never make up the bulk of your diet, even if the food choices fit your calorie needs. Junk food isn't filling and may leave you feeling hungry. This can be problematic for fat loss.
Avoiding junk food
For people with diabetes, it's important to limit sugars and fats found in junk food. This helps keep your weight and blood sugar levels under control. The ADA recommends limiting these foods because they usually take the place of other more nutritious foods in your body.
Junk food also causes high blood sugar levels similar to those experienced by people with type 2 diabetes. As people with diabetes are already at a higher risk of kidney disease, diets containing a lot of junk foods can be especially problematic.
Contrary to common belief, you can enjoy chips as a snack, even if you have diabetes. While you'll still need to keep an eye on sodium and be carb-conscious, you don't have to ban the foods you love from your diet.
Research has linked a high fast food intake with poor dietary habits. Many health and wellness professionals recommend limiting the number of times anyone, including people with diabetes, eats fast food. It is best to keep visits rare, no more than once to twice a month, for best health. Keep it small.
Fried Chicken Restaurants
In general, poultry is a smart choice while following a diabetes-friendly diet—except when it's breaded or dipped in flour and fried. This version adds not just carbs but saturated fat and calories as well to menu items at restaurants like KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) and Popeyes.
French fries are a food you may want to steer clear of, especially if you have diabetes. Potatoes themselves are relatively high in carbs. One medium potato contains 34.8 grams of carbs, 2.4 of which come from fiber ( 53 ).
“Instead, we want to keep meals and snacks on the small to moderate size and eat more frequently throughout the day – about every two to three hours. This prevents us from getting overly hungry and overeating.”
There's a myth about chocolate and diabetes. But you can eat chocolate, just in moderation and not too often. Try not to eat a lot in one go as it affects your blood sugar levels. If you snack on chocolate regularly it may start to increase your cholesterol levels and make it more difficult to manage your weight.
How often can a people with diabetes have a cheat meal? “Cheating once a week for normalcy is acceptable. However, cheating every other day can become an issue”, Shilpa added.
A skipped meal alters the balance between food intake and insulin production, and can cause your blood sugar levels to eventually drop. “For diabetic people dependent on insulin or blood sugar–lowering medication, skipping meals can be more dangerous because it can lead to low blood sugar,” says Pearson.
And takeaways could raise blood glucose (sugar) levels because they have added sugars or refined carbs. But they also make blood sugars harder to manage if you treat your diabetes with insulin. This is because the high carb and fat content makes it difficult to know what the impact will be on your levels.
Pizza may actually be a good choice for people with type 2 diabetes; just be sure to order the thin-crust type and top it with vegetables rather than high-fat meats and extra cheese. It's also a good idea to watch portion sizes.
As a general rule, try to minimize any long gaps during the day without fuel, Sheth says, noting that 5 to 6 hours between meals is the absolute max most people with diabetes should push it. Some people may even need to eat every 3 to 4 hours for optimal blood sugar management, adds Phelps.
If you have diabetes, following a nutrient-dense diet is essential for optimal health and blood sugar management. However, this doesn't mean you have to give up pizza. Instead, enjoy a slice or two of your favorite pizza occasionally as part of a balanced diet.
Having diabetes does not mean that you must stop eating snacks. It does mean that you should know what a snack does to your blood sugar. You also need to know what healthy snacks are so you can choose a snack that will not raise your blood sugar or make you gain weight. Ask your provider about what snacks you can eat.
Some people fast for several days or even weeks at a time -- for example, for religious reasons. But not eating for more than 24 hours when you have diabetes can be dangerous.
The dawn phenomenon is an early-morning rise in blood sugar, also called blood glucose, in people with diabetes. The dawn phenomenon leads to high levels of blood sugar, a condition called hyperglycemia. It usually happens between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.
Potatoes are a versatile and delicious vegetable that can be enjoyed by everyone, including people with diabetes. However, because of their high carb content, you should limit portion sizes, always eat the skin, and choose low GI varieties, such as Carisma and Nicola.
High in fiber and protein, beans are digested slowly in your body, making them great for managing blood glucose levels in a type 2 diabetes diet.
In case you didn't get the memo: Yes, those of us with diabetes CAN eat ice cream. Even though some outside the diabetes community don't think so, and they try to convince us we can't or shouldn't, the fact remains that an ice cream sundae or vanilla waffle cone every once in a while isn't going to kill us.
If you're eating Chinese food, chances are there's going to be rice on your plate. And if that rice is white, be prepared for a major blood sugar spike. White rice is so troublesome that one study found that for each serving a person ate per day, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes jumped by 11%.
People with type 2 diabetes should limit or avoid high-fat cuts of meat, such as regular ground beef, bologna, hot dogs, sausage, bacon, and ribs, because like full-fat dairy, they're high in saturated fats, explains Kimberlain.
Aside from breakfast - Yes, you can enjoy a genuine Subway sandwich if you have diabetes. You'll need to forego the white bread and instead pick the 9-grain wheat bread. Subway creates this delicious bread completely from whole wheat. If you pick a mini whole wheat sandwich, then you are looking at 27 carbs.