Your blood sugar levels are directly related to the foods you eat. When you eat foods rich in carbohydrates (including sugar), your blood sugar may rise.
If your blood sugar levels remain consistently high, you may put yourself at risk of health conditions like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
One way to select foods that won’t raise your blood sugar levels is by paying attention to their glycemic index, a ranking of foods based on their effects on your blood sugar levels. The higher the glycemic index (GI) ranking of one food, the more it affects your blood sugar levels.
According to WebMD, GI rankings help you get a better idea of how your body will process the sugar in that food, regardless of their calorie and even carbohydrate content.
According to Harvard Health “Foods low on the glycemic index (GI) scale tend to release glucose slowly and steadily. Foods high on the glycemic index release glucose rapidly.”
Foods are classified as:
- Low GI: 55 or less.
- Medium GI: 56 – 59
- High GI: 70 or higher.
Foods with a low GI have little effect on your blood sugar levels because they release the glucose more slowly in your body.
In many cases, even people who are trying to improve their diet often drop their guard with snacks. Luckily, there are plenty of snacks that won’t affect your blood sugar levels to keep you satisfied and focused between meals.
When you have type 2 diabetes, it can be difficult to find healthy snacks that won’t mess up your blood sugar or complicate your carb counts. Fortunately, there are some tasty and healthy options. Whether your looking for something to keep with you at work for when you get snacky or you’re wondering what things you can nibble on from a party spread, consider these 9 healthy snacks for people with type 2 diabetes.
1| Nuts, Seeds and Nut Butter
Nuts and seeds, provided they were prepared right, are a delicious and nutritious no-carb snack that travels well in a resealable plastic bag or container.
Nuts and seeds are full of protein and healthy fats that your body can use to rebuild cells to keep your body healthy. They also contain vitamins and minerals that can be hard to find in other places.
Watch out though, as some nuts come sweetened through methods like honey roasting. This can add extra carbs and sugars.
True, nuts do contain a few carbs, but their high fiber content helps these carbs get absorbed more slowly in your digestive system. Specifically, cashews have the highest amounts of carbs with 9 g of carbs per ounce.
In fact, a 2011 study from the University of Toronto suggests a daily portion of 2 ounces of nuts helps people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels and lower their bad cholesterol levels.
To prevent these snacks from raising your blood sugar and increasing your weight – nuts are calorie packed, keep your portions small and go for natural, unsweetened nuts.
2| Blueberries and blackberries
Unlike other fruits, berries won’t have a large impact on your blood sugar levels. While they do have some sugar content, it’s absorbed more slowly in your body. Berries aren’t just rich in fiber; they are also packed with anthocyanins, a pigment that helps slow digestion by inhibiting the release of certain digestive enzymes.
With a GI of 5, combine them with other low GI foods like unsweetened Greek yogurt, or freeze them for a quick breakfast or snack.
3| Oats
Oats can be a great ally in controlling blood sugar levels, as long as they are consumed properly. They’re rich in fiber, and help protect the heart and circulatory system in patients with diabetes.
Prepare your steel cut oats with low-fat milk or water and add berries or nuts for a filling snack that won’t give you a blood sugar spike. And do avoid instant oatmeal, dried fruit, and cream.
4| Hummus
If you’re looking for a savory snack, hummus is the perfect option. With a GI rank of 6, it hardly affects your blood sugar levels.
Hummus is made out chickpeas, olive oil, and tahini – a sesame seed paste, all of which are beneficial for people with diabetes. Specifically, eating more legumes may help control glucose levels in the blood and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
5| Natural yogurt
With a GI rank of 33, unsweetened, natural Greek yogurt helps maintain adequate blood sugar levels, as well as providing good doses of protein. Also, yogurt with live and active cultures can help maintain your digestive system healthy.
For a healthy snack or breakfast with little impact on your blood sugar levels, avoid yogurt with toppings and flavors, and make sure to check the nutrition facts for any hidden sugars.
As you can see, you don’t have to go without snacks to keep your glucose levels in control. Keep in mind these 5 healthy snacks the next time you’re craving for a bite to eat after lunch.
6| Hardboiled Eggs
Hardboiled eggs are another protein-rich snack that doesn’t pack any carbs or sugars. To make them, just put them in a pot of boiling water for ten minutes, and then let them cool. To cut down on mess if you’re travelling, take the shells off at home before you package them to go. Put a little salt on them too if you like salty things.
Be careful though. Eggs need to be kept cold. See if you can get them into a refrigerator once you get where you’re going, or keep them in an insulated bag with an icepack.
7| Vegetable Sticks
Vegetables are another no-cab, no-sugar snack that you can feel good about. Depending on the vegetable, these offer all kinds of healthy vitamins and minerals. They also offer dietary fiber, which is hard to find in foods that don’t bring carbs along for the ride.
Carrot sticks, snap peas, broccoli and cauliflower are only a few options that taste good and won’t get too funky if you can’t manage to keep them cold. Keeping vegetables cold isn’t as important as keeping eggs cold but they’ll retain that crunch and snap better if you are able to keep them chilly.
You may be tempted to add some salad dressing as well, but these are also full of carbs and sugars. If you have to dip them, try to do so in a yogurt with no sugar added, or in a soft cheese like cottage cheese, which is also free from carbs and sugars.
8| Cheese
Cheeses are another no-carb, no sugar snack. They’re not the best thing for you on this list, though. They do provide calcium, protein, and things that can help you stay regular. They also have lots of fat — the kind that’s not so good for you.
If you have to get your cheese fix with cubes or sticks of string cheese, that’s fine from time to time, but a healthier option for this snack might be to have a little cheese with your hardboiled egg or vegetable sticks.
9| Meats
Most meats have no carbs or sugars and are full of protein. Lunch meats usually come in easily resealable containers that keep them safe longer in your fridge at home or a community fridge at work. A lot of stores will also have meat snacks that don’t need to be kept cold at all, but these are usually loaded with salt and other preservatives, so read the label before you pick one up, and save these items for emergencies.
Sometimes it can seem like everything has carbs, and that’s more or less true of things that we usually think of as snack foods. Look a little closer at some labels, however, and there are quite a few tasty, good-for-you items out there with little or no carbs and sugars.
