Can I Eat Chips With Diabetes?
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Everybody loves chips. Remember, "bet you can't eat just one?" Well, people with diabetes can eat chips AND even more than one. Watch this video for professional guidance.
Table of contents
Can I Eat Chips?
Another big thank you goes out to my viewers for suggesting this topic… can I eat chips? Is there a certain chip I should be eating if I have diabetes? And…What should I be looking for to find the best chip? There certainly are a lot of choices when it comes to chips. Typically, the chips you buy at the grocery store can fill one to two full aisles! So, I’ll choose a couple of varieties of chips as a sampling…potato, corn, or veggie chips and give you an overall assessment.
Let's Do an Assessment of These Chips
- I was specifically asked about the Multigrain Tostitos. Let’s start with that chip. I think the intrigue was that it is labeled multi-grain. When you look at the ingredient list, it contains -corn, buckwheat, and brown rice are the various grains in this chip. Per serving, which is 12 chips, there are 140 calories, 7 grams of fat, 1 g saturated fat (remember we want to keep our saturated fat consumption low each day- less than 5 grams per meal in total), 17 grams of carb, 1 gram of fiber (we can’t really say this is a high fiber food), and 110 mg sodium.
- The Regular Tostitos per serving of 11 chips contain 140 Cals; 7 grams Fat; 1-gram saturated fat;19 grams carb (1 gram fiber). NOTE this is the same grams of fiber as the multigrain Tostitos and 115 mg sodium.
- Baked Cheetos per 34 pieces serving contains 140 Cals; 5 grams fat; 1 gram Sat fat; 20 grams Carb (less than 1 g fiber); and 240 mg Sodium.
- I just randomly chose a potato chip to review so the Kettle Sea Salt Potato Chips which have a serving of 13 chips, contain 150 Cals; 9 grams fat; 1 gram Sat fat; 15 grams carb (2 grams fiber); and 100 mg Sodium.
- Ok, just two more types of chips before we get to the summary…Sun Chips per serving of 14 chips contain 140 Cals: 6 grams Fat; .5 grams Sat fat; 19 grams carb (2 grams fiber); and 170 mg Sodium.
- And the last chip for today is pretzels with 22 pretzels as a serving that contains 120 Cals; 1 gram Fat; 0 grams Sat fat; 24 grams Carb (less than 1 g fiber); and 320 mg Sodium.
The Overall Assessment
Pretzels are the lowest in fat and saturated fat but the highest in sodium - you can look at no added salt pretzels as another option. The Kettle potato chips and Sun chips ranked the highest in fiber, but… 2 grams of fiber is not considered a high fiber food, so I recommend getting your fiber from other food sources like fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains.
All of these chips were around the same number of calories per serving, but… you must remember to focus on the serving size because size definitely matters. I literally count my chips and put the rest of the chip bag away, so I don’t stray from the serving size.
Before I go, I want to leave you with some other options for chips in case the nutrition on these chips doesn’t match your needs. Alternatives that I like to use are balsamic beets - now, the portion won’t be large, but they are so flavorful that you may just need a handful. In comparison, the veggie chips on the market contain 16 grams of carb, 7 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, and 230 mg of sodium per one-ounce serving. That’s certainly not a replacement for eating fresh or frozen vegetables.
Be Sure To Check Out - Diabetes Snacks For a Month
Some of My Favorites
Popcorn is a favorite. I like making my own so that I can control how much fat is in the popped corn, and it’s a cost-saving to pop my own corn. You can add a variety of flavorings by sprinkling cinnamon and a low-calorie sweetener for a caramel corn type of flavor or sprinkling your popcorn with parmesan cheese for a salty flavor that adds a little protein to the popcorn snack.
Another favorite is making Parmesan crisps, so you get that salty flavor in this crunchy snack, but also it’s low in carb along with a source of protein, so it won’t spike BGs.
If you’ve been watching my videos before, you know that I am a believer that all foods can fit into your eating plan. And to answer the question of “can I eat chips?” Certainly, you can. You just need to fit them into your eating plan. Review the food label to pick the best choice for you…think about things like “do you need low sodium due to high blood pressure?” “How much-saturated fat have I had for the day?” and you can also try some of the other chip options discussed today. And my best advice….don’t eat out of the bag and think you’re going to stop with a serving. Check the serving size, remove an appropriate amount, and put the rest out of sight. You’ll be amazed at how effective that strategy can be.
Be Sure To Check Out - What Are the Best Snacks for Diabetes?
Until next time, cheers to your health.
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