Can Diabetics Eat Chicken Wings?

When living with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, it’s normal to wonder if certain foods, like chicken wings, are still on the menu.

The good news is that chicken wings and diabetes make a good match—they can absolutely fit into a diabetes-friendly nutrition plan! But, there are some important details to keep in mind.

Here, you’ll learn how to enjoy chicken wings while keeping your blood sugar levels stable and supporting your overall health goals.

The Basics: Are Chicken Wings Diabetes-Friendly?

Chicken wings themselves are naturally low in carbohydrates, which makes them a great protein choice for managing blood sugar and keeping the appetite satisfied to ward off hunger.

Unlike high carb foods like bread, pasta and noodles, unprocessed chicken wings won’t cause a significant blood sugar spike.

However, the catch is in how chicken wings are prepared. Some traditional wing recipes involve heavy breading, deep frying, and smothering wings in sugary sauces—steps that can turn a healthy low carb food into a potential blood sugar nightmare.

So, let’s break it down to learn how to make chicken wings a healthy and delicious option for you.

Understanding Carbs and Blood Sugar Spikes

Compared to other macronutrients like protein and fat, carbohydrates are the primary nutrient that impacts blood sugar.

When you eat foods with carbs, they’re broken down into glucose, which enters your bloodstream and raises blood sugar levels.

Chicken wings themselves contain zero carbs—most of their calories come from protein and fat.

Nutrition Facts Chicken Wings

A 100-gram serving of plain, skin-on chicken wings has about:

• 26 g protein
• 19.3 g fat
• 0 g carbs

This makes chicken wings a smart choice for a healthy low carb diabetes-friendly diet.

But here’s the catch: heavy breading and sugary sauces add hidden carbs, and it will change the nutrition of your chicken wings.

For example, you might find store-bought chicken wings with a spicy buffalo rub, with around 3g carbs per serving; while a brown sugar BBQ rub may contain 9g carbs per serving.

Then you might find some sweet sauces like honey BBQ or teriyaki that can add and additional 10 grams of carbs or more per serving.

Point being: you need to check the nutrition facts label and choose options with low amounts of total carbohydrates. You can still get tasty options, but you don’t need all those carbs.

And yes, you can eat the skin, and thoroughly enjoy it!

Chicken wings contain mostly monounsaturated heart healthy fat—in fact most meats do, even red meat.

Here’s the approximate fat breakdown for plain, skin-on chicken wings:

Total Fat: Approximately 19.3 grams

• Saturated Fat: 5.4 grams
• Monounsaturated Fat: 7.6 grams
• Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.1 grams

But, you want to avoid deep fried chicken wings. Deep frying adds extra calories from unhealthy fats, which can contribute to weight gain and increase insulin resistance.

Air frying or baking wings gives you the crispy texture you love without the added fat.

Chicken wings are a good quality source of protein and healthy fat, but they don’t need to be high in carbs or deep fried to be enjoyed.

How Many Chicken Wings Can a Diabetic Eat?

As for portions, a general guideline is to stick to about 4-6 wings per meal, paired with non-starchy vegetables or a side salad to balance your plate.

This ensures you’re getting a mix of protein, healthy fats and fiber—all of which work together to stabilize blood sugar levels and keep you feeling full.

Benefits of Eating Chicken Wings for People with Diabetes

Let’s focus on the positives.

Choosing chicken wings as part of your meal can offer some unique benefits for managing diabetes:

1. High-Quality Protein

Protein plays a crucial role in stabilizing blood sugar by slowing the absorption of glucose into your bloodstream.

Protein also helps support hormonal function and aids with muscle repair and maintenance, which is particularly important for overall diabetes health.

2. Healthy Fats (When Cooked Right)

The skin on chicken wings contains natural fats that can help keep you satisfied, reducing the likelihood of over-snacking on high carb foods.

In fact, the skin is mostly monounsaturated fat, which we know is the healthiest type of fat we can eat!

Thank goodness, as the skin is often the most delicious part of crispy wings, right?!

The key with wings is to avoid deep frying as this adds unhealthy fats, which can promote inflammation.

3. Supports Weight Management

Thanks to their protein and fat content, chicken wings can help curb hunger and reduce cravings, making it easier to stick to a diabetes-friendly weight loss plan.

4. Satisfies the Appetite

Protein and healthy fats are highly satisfying to the appetite.

By including chicken wings in your meal, you will stay content for hours. Plus, chicken wings make a great carb free snack as well.

Conclusion

Yes, diabetics can eat chicken wings!

Chicken wings are high in protein and healthy fats, they are satisfying to the appetite, can help stabilize blood sugar, and let’s face it, they are delicious!

Make chicken wings a featuring addition for your dinner or lunch meal, or eat them alone as a snack.

Whichever way you choose to eat chicken wings, you can feel confident that you’re supporting good blood sugar management!