Go ahead and eat those McDonald’s chicken nuggets … but say NO to the sauce!

diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce

Thanks to goddam diabetes, fast food is more or less off the menu. Nearly everything they sell at McDonald’s and Burger King is terrible for the glucose!

But chicken nuggets are pretty harmless, right? I mean, I’ve tested a lot of KFC, and fried chicken doesn’t seem too bad in the glucose department. So McDonald’s chicken nuggets, properly known as Chicken McNuggets, should be fine … right?!

diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce
666, the Number of the Beast (the Beast is the sauce, btw … *foreshadowing*)

McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets Test #1: Sweet & Sour sauce

Blood sugar reading before eating: 106

This reading of 106 was basically right after I got home from work on a Friday.

Blood sugar reading after eating: 160

This reading was about an hour after I finished my McDonald’s chicken nuggets with Sweet & Sour sauce.

So we got an increase of 54 mg/dL. From SIX CHICKEN NUGGETS. More specifically, SIX CHICKEN NUGGETS WITH SWEET ‘n SOUR SAUCE.

Sorry for yelling.

diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce

McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets Test #2: Sweet Chili sauce

Blood sugar reading before eating: 102

This reading of 102 was when I woke up on a Sunday afternoon.

Blood sugar reading after eating: 168

This reading was about an hour after I finished my McDonald’s chicken nuggets and Sweet Chili sauce.

I don’t know if they offer Sweet Chili sauce in American McDonald’s locations, but trust me: You’re not missing much.

For some reason, Koreans love this “sweet chili” shit. I’ve seen people asking for it at Subway, and I’m always thinking to myself, why in sam hell would you put that crap on a sandwich.

Anyway, one lil’ cup of McDonald’s Sweet Chili sauce, along with six McNuggets, raised my glucose by 66 mg/dL.

I’m NOT lovin’ it.

diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce

McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets Test #3: no sauce

Blood sugar reading before eating: 134

This reading of 134 was Sunday night, hours after Test #2. Since I was skipping the sauce, I went with a little salt instead.

Blood sugar reading after eating: 147

This reading was about an hour after I finished my McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

(cue smug I-told-you-so voice)
AH-HAH! Six McNuggets, NO SAUCE, and the glucose increase is a measly 13 mg/dL. That’s basically nothing.


All right, so let’s review:

+54: 6 McNuggets with Sweet ‘n Sour sauce
+66: 6 McNuggets with Sweet Chili sauce
+13: 6 McNuggets with NO SAUCE AT ALL

I think it’s pretty clear that McDonald’s chicken nuggets themselves are just fine to eat! It’s that goddam sauce that’ll git you.

So the next time you’re with a group of non-diabetics (those sugar-eating bastards!) and you somehow wind up at McDonald’s … or Burger King, or wherever … eat those chicken nuggets. But lose the sauce!

It sucks, but this is the hand that we’ve been dealt. Damn you, ‘beetus!

P.S. I actually ate 12 McNuggets (with two Sweet ‘n Sour sauces) before doing these three tests. Unfortunately, disorganized me lost the damn results! I thought I’d written them down in my phone.

Anyway, based on what we got here from SIX McNuggets, the 12 McNugget results were every bit as bad as you’d expect. Just multiply the glucose increase by two, and that’s what I got from 12 nuggets. Do not try this at home!

diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce
Good on McDonald’s for providing nutrition info on their sauces (top to bottom: Sweet ‘n Sour, Sweet Chili, Cajun *which they didn’t have when I went*). Too bad that nutrition info is mostly useless for diabetics. This chart, which was on display near the cash registers, shows calories and sodium, but not carbs or sugars.
diabetes mcdonald's mcnuggets chicken nuggets sauce is bad sweet n sour chili sauce
McNugget nutrition info (the rows that say 64g/95g/159g). Not very useful, but we already know that McNuggets are pretty harmless without the sauce.