Ultra-processed foods and diabetes: What you need to know

"Bet you can't eat just one!"

If you've ever heard that jingle, you're probably imagining the crispy crunch of potato chips right now. The mere thought might conjure up memories of the salty taste and crinkly sound of the packaging.

There's a reason we crave snack foods like potato chips so intensely. They're part of a category of foods called ultra-processed foods, and they're literally engineered to make us want more. If you live with diabetes, these foods can make your daily management a little trickier. Here's what to know and how to approach these foods as part of your regular diet.

What are ultra-processed foods?

As EduChange outlined, food scientists use a system called NOVA to classify foods into four categories, based on the amount of processing the food undergoes before it hits your supermarket's shelves. Here's a quick run-down on how the NOVA system works:

• Category 1 includes fresh or frozen whole foods, such as natural meats or vegetables.
• Category 2 is made up of single-ingredient fats, oils, and sugars that might be used in homes or restaurants to season food, like cooking oil or table sugar.
• Category 3 contains manufactured products that have added fats, oils, or sugars. Think canned vegetables, fruit packed in syrup, and salted nuts.
• Category 4 is where ultra-processed foods are found. These foods are made of bits and pieces of substances that have been extracted from food or created in labs — but not from whole foods themselves. They may contain only a small amount of natural foods or no natural foods at all. Some examples include chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, and instant soup.

What's the harm in eating ultra-processed foods?

Ultra-processed foods are usually very tasty because of their high fat, sugar, and salt content. Despite the health claims on some of the packaging, these foods are largely a vehicle for corporations to create profit — not to improve health.

These processed foods contain little nutrition except what vitamins and minerals might be added back during manufacturing. Regular consumption of these foods is a fast track to poor health. Highly processed foods don't usually contain much protein or fiber, both of which can send your body a signal that says, "I've had enough to eat."

With highly refined foods like candy or chips, you never get that "I'm full" signal, so you keep craving more. And the more sugar and fat you eat, the more difficult it may be to manage your glucose levels.

Because of all the added sugars and fats, there are more calories packed into smaller portions of food, so you don't have to eat a large volume of food to take in a large amount of energy. If your body doesn't use all those calories after eating, the excess energy gets stored as fat.

How do highly processed foods affect people with diabetes?

First, they trick your eyes: Imagine holding two apple-flavored fruit leathers in one hand, and a real apple in the other. The real apple will provide fewer calories and more fiber than the fruit leathers, even if it does have one more gram of carbohydrate. That's ultra-processing at work.

The apple will be digested more slowly because of its fiber content, decreasing the chance that your blood sugar will spike. The fruit leathers have no fiber to serve as a natural braking system in your gut, so they'll be digested quickly, and your blood sugar is likely going to rise quickly too. If you're living with diabetes, eating highly processed foods may mean that you need a higher dose of bolus (mealtime) insulin to cover the blood sugar increase.

How to shop for (and eat) foods with less processing

A good way to reduce your chance of experiencing side effects due to highly processed foods is purchasing — and eating — foods as "close to the farm" as possible. This means eating foods that are as close to their natural state as you can get them. An apple is close to the farm. An apple pie is farther away, and an apple-flavored fruit leather is about as far away from the farm as you might imagine.

Inside your supermarket, fresh produce, seafood, and meats as well as the dairy case are almost always located on the outer edge of the store. If you want to avoid foods with highly refined ingredients, stick to the perimeter of your grocery store. Make a dash to the inner aisles for things like whole-grain flour, brown rice, and whole-grain bread or pasta when you need to, and by all means, avoid the endcaps. That's where supermarkets tend to place highly processed convenience items at bargain prices. The price may be low, but the cost to your health is high.

When reading the nutrition facts label, look for foods with fewer than five ingredients, and avoid ingredients you can't pronounce. These long words may indicate the presence of ingredients like stabilizers and emulsifiers.

If you want to start eating fewer ultra-processed foods, try making the easiest changes first. For example, consider swapping chips for a healthier snack like fruit or veggies and hummus. If you eat chicken nuggets on a weekly basis, buy a rotisserie chicken at your local supermarket this week instead. Switch from frozen vegetables in butter and cream sauce to plain frozen vegetables.

Of course, it can be difficult to avoid processed foods completely, especially when managing diabetes on a daily basis. Here are a few options for ready-made snack alternatives with less processing:

• Thrive Market offers home delivery of organic brands and offers a variety of low-carb options.
• Farmbox Direct will ship fresh, in-season produce direct to your door.
• Hungryroot will ship groceries free of partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, as well as artificial sweeteners, colors, and preservatives, straight to your home.

You don't have to overhaul your diet completely to get better nutrition. Make one change and stick with it until it feels comfortable, and then make another change. Your body (and your blood sugar) will thank you!

Curious to learn of other healthy changes that can benefit your daily diabetes management? Explore the library of articles on Health Insights to discover more pointers around living with the condition.