What are Good Snack for Diabetics? How to Choose Snacks When you Have Diabetes

It can be hard to figure out what to eat if you have diabetes. You don't want your blood sugar to be elevated, and you don't want to be hungry. What would be a good snack for diabetics? Read on to learn what types of foods raise blood sugar and how to plan a better snack.

Foods That Will Raise Blood Sugar in Someone with Diabetes

If you have diabetes, carbohydrate foods can raise your blood sugar. Examples of these foods are fruit, bread, pastries, crackers, pretzels, potatoes, rice, corn, and cereals. This does not mean that someone with diabetes can't eat those foods. Instead, snacks can be planned to incorporate other types of foods, such as proteins and fat, along with the carbohydrates. This will help you feel satisfied from eating without having to eat larger portions to carbohydrates to feel full. Additionally, some carbohydrate foods are better for someone with diabetes than other carbohydrate foods. For example, high fiber carbohydrate foods tend to digest slower and raise blood sugar slower.

Planning Good Snacks for Diabetics

Choose More than One Food Group

If the snack is only a carbohydrate food, it is more likely to lead to elevated blood sugar. This is because you will have to eat more of it to feel full, and you are more likely to get hungry again sooner, necessitating another snack. Additionally, combining the carbohydrate with a fat or protein will help slow digestion, leading to a slower rise in blood sugar. Here are some examples of better snack options.

Instead of...	Try...
Pretzels	Pretzels with hummus
Crackers	Crackers with peanut butter
Apple	Apple and a cheese stick
Dry cereal	Cereal with milk
Cookies	Cookies and milk
Tortilla chips	Tortilla chips and guacamole
Dried fruit	Dried fruit and nut mix

Choose Carbohydrates That are Better for Blood Sugar

Besides for combining a carbohydrate food with a fat or protein for a better snack, there are some carbohydrate foods that are better for those with diabetes. Carbohydrate foods that are high in fiber tend to lead to a slower rise in blood sugar than low fiber carbohydrates. This is for two reasons: First, when a food contains fiber, digestion is slowed leading to a slower rise in blood sugar. Additionally, high fiber foods take longer to leave the stomach, allowing you to stay feeling full longer, which often can help with reducing the need to snack again afterwards. Here are some examples of better snack options.

Instead of...	Try...
Pretzels	100% whole wheat pretzels
Potato chips	Bean-based chips
Rice-based cereal	Oat-based cereal
Crackers	Whole wheat crackers
Cookies	Whole grain cookie or muffin
Fruit juice	Fruit
Fruit snacks	Dried fruit

Good Snacks for Diabetics

In an ideal world, everything we eat would be chosen intentionally. In reality, we often have to eat in non-ideal circumstances. My patients know that I always say, "the best we can do is the best we can do." That means that whatever the circumstance or environment, we can make a choice from the options in front of use. Sometimes we have more agency over what the options are, and we can optimize those. Other times, we don't. But the takeaway for diabetics is that a good snack is sometimes an ideal snack, and other times it is the best option that we have for now.