What Food Companies Don’t Want You to Know: Diet Foods Can Still Harm Diabetics
This includes diet sodas, packaged cakes and cereals, and certain types of yogurt labeled as "diet."
A study recently published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics warns that some ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can still cause prolonged blood sugar spikes in patients with type 2 diabetes. These include diet sodas, packaged cakes and cereals, and certain types of yogurt labeled as "diet" or "sugar-free."
In the experiment, 273 volunteers with type 2 diabetes followed different diets over a 24-hour period, and their blood was tested for HbA1C, a marker that reflects long-term blood sugar levels. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin (USA) found that the more grams of UPFs consumed by participants in a day, the worse their blood sugar control became.
A diet consisting of just 10% UPFs was associated with an average increase of 0.28% in HbA1C levels. On the other hand, increasing the intake of fresh or minimally processed foods by just 10% was linked to an average reduction of 0.30% in HbA1C. To maintain HbA1C levels below 7%—a good level for diabetes management—patients should limit their daily intake of UPFs to no more than 18% of their total food consumption.