Juicebox Podcast: Type 1 Diabetes

Episode #1740 Bolus 4 – Potato Chips

Host: Scott Benner
Guest: Jenny Smith
Date: January 17, 2026

Overview

This episode continues the Bolus 4 series, where Scott and Jenny discuss practical strategies for bolusing insulin for specific foods—with today’s focus on Lay’s classic potato chips. The conversation is light and accessible, centering on real-life challenges, snack food temptations, and step-by-step considerations for people with diabetes striving to live well and “be bold with insulin.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing the Meal Bolt Approach

• Every Bolus 4 episode uses the “Meal Bolt” roadmap—a structured way to think through mealtime insulin dosing.
• Although the roadmap isn’t always followed point-by-point, it frames every discussion.

Meal Bolt Steps:

• Measure the meal: assess carbs, protein, fat.
• Evaluate yourself: check blood sugar, activity, stress, etc.
• Add base units: calculate using your insulin-to-carb ratio.
• Layer a correction: adjust for out-of-range blood sugars.
• Build bolus shape: decide if you need a standard or extended (combo/square wave) bolus.
• Offset timing: consider pre-bolusing or delayed dosing.
• Look at CGM: review data for future tweaks.
• Tweak for next time: analyze what worked/what didn’t for future improvements.
  [14:27]

2. Potato Chips: Nutritional Breakdown

• Today's focus is on Lay’s Classic Potato Chips (yellow bag, thin, no ridges).
• Nutrition per serving (15 chips):
  • Total fat: 10g (1.5g saturated)
  • Carbs: 15g (1g fiber)
  • Sodium: 170mg
  • Key insight: Roughly 1g carb per chip—a “rule of thumb” if you lack a label.
  • Tortilla chips: denser, 2-3g carb per chip.
    [03:29]

Jenny: “In general, a potato chip is about a gram of carb per chip, no matter what brand... For tortilla chips, sometimes 2 or 3 grams.”
[03:36]

3. The “Portion Creep” Challenge

• Realistically, few people eat only 15 chips—serving sizes are often exceeded, especially with open bags or party settings.
• Acknowledges the difficulty in resisting more chips, referencing the Pringles catchphrase: “Once you pop, you can’t stop.”
  [04:23]

Scott: “What’s the biggest problem with chips? It’s that you don’t eat 15 chips, right?”
[04:06]

Pro tip: Watch for “blind bolusing”—guessing at numbers like 45 carbs because it "looks about right," instead of counting.

Scott: “Arden’s give up number is 45…Yesterday and I thought, this is not 45, this is probably more.”
[12:16]

4. Impact of Fat and Pre-Bolus Importance

• Potato chips are quite fatty—over 50% of calories from fat. Fat slows digestion and leads to a more drawn-out glucose rise.
• Fat can “stabilize” the glucose rise, but may cause lingering post-meal highs.

Activity Considerations:

• Chips might buffer glucose if you’re active, but usually chips are eaten in sedentary settings.
• If you’re going to be active, chips may prevent lows to some degree, but not recommended as a sports snack.
  [08:20]

Jenny: “That’s more than 50% [of calories] coming from fat, which means they’re going to be more, let’s call it, stabilizing.”
[08:20]

5. Pre-Bolusing is Crucial

• Chips digest quickly due to their processed nature—glucose hits fast. Without pre-bolusing, expect an early spike, then lingering high due to fat.
• Pre-bolus if at all possible for better post-snack control.

Scott: “You don’t pre-bolus a potato chip, it’s going to grab you pretty quickly and you’re going to be fighting with it then for hours afterwards.”
[09:25]

Jenny: “The more processed something is…we’re not talking about this being a baked potato…We’re talking about something that’s like processed potato flakes maybe. Yes, it started out as a potato at some point…and now we have something that’s a chip.”
[10:02]

6. Honesty in Carbohydrate Counting

• It’s tempting to underestimate or “round” carb estimates with snacks.
• Visual guesstimates (like “about 45g of chips”) often lead to insulin errors.
• Recommendation: Be honest and try to count/estimate as accurately as possible.

Scott: “I know people are like, ‘look, I don’t count my carbs, but like, you gotta guess, you gotta guess, right?’”
[12:16]

7. Potato Chips & Bolusing in the Real World

• Activity, time of day, and personal insulin sensitivity all matter when bolusing for chips.
• Each eating context is unique: party, sitting at home, picnic, pairing with other food or drink (like beer).
• Layer in corrections if starting above target BG. For example, if at 150 mg/dL before eating, add the correction alongside your food bolus.
• Watch for delayed BG response due to both the rapid carb absorption and the sustaining effect of fat.
• Use CGM data to tweak strategy next time.
  [09:24; 11:40]

8. Personal Anecdotes & Fun Moments

• Scott shares a story about finally eating salsa and tomato (something he’d previously never tried), debuting his personal adventure into “new food” territory—on a tortilla chip, of course!
  [05:18]

• Shared laughter around favorite chip brands, with Jenny mentioning Boulder brand (made with avocado oil) as her recent choice, praising them for good crunch and substance.

Jenny: “I did. They…crunched and they had like substance to them. So yes, avocado oil or...olive oil as well.”
[13:42]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Scott: “You process the potato. That makes it more difficult for your body to process. You add a bunch of oil, it slows down your digestion, makes it even more difficult again.”
  [11:17]

• Jenny (on chip portioning): “It’s very easy to keep grabbing.”
  [04:49]

• Scott (on BG curve missteps): “That bolus missed by four units, I think. And that’s a fairly significant amount.”
  [12:16]

• Jenny: “I am not encouraging people to eat Lay’s chips to be stable in exercise!”
  [08:26]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Introduction & Meal Bolt explained | | 02:37 | Focusing on Lay’s Classic Potato Chips | | 03:29 | Carbs per chip & label-free estimation | | 04:06 | Realistic serving sizes, portion control | | 07:39 | Fat’s stabilizing effect, calories from fat | | 09:13 | Chips & activity; sedentary v. active contexts | | 09:25 | Pre-bolus importance for chips | | 10:02 | Processed foods & glycemic impact | | 11:40 | Challenges with “blind bolusing” and snacking | | 13:06 | Potato chip preferences (Boulder brand story) | | 14:27 | Reiteration of Meal Bolt steps |

Tone and Style

Conversational, relatable, and practical. Scott and Jenny blend real-world diabetes challenges with humor and empathy, providing listeners with honest, actionable tips and a few good laughs along the way.

For more, visit JuiceboxPodcast.com/meal-bolt.