Snacking when you have diabetes
Healthy snacking - diabetes; Low blood sugar - snacking; Hypoglycemia - snacking
A healthy diet includes adding vegetables and fruit every day. Vegetables like broccoli, green beans, leafy greens, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes are low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Many studies have shown that eating plenty of vegetables is extremely healthy. Try to eat about 3 to 5 servings every day. Fruit is also a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You should try to eat about 2 to 3 servings of fruit each day.
Complex carbohydrates are made up of sugar molecules that are strung together in long, complex chains. Complex carbohydrates are found in foods such as peas, beans, whole grains, and vegetables. Both simple and complex carbohydrates are turned to glucose (blood sugar) in the body and are used as energy. Glucose is used in the cells of the body and in the brain. Any unused glucose is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen for use later. Complex carbohydrate foods provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are important to the health of an individual. The majority of carbohydrates should come from complex carbohydrates (starches) and naturally occurring sugars, rather than processed or refined sugars, which do not have the vitamins, minerals, and fiber found in complex carbohydrates. Refined sugars are often called empty calories because they have little to no nutritional value.
Blood Sugar and Food
Food raises your blood sugar the most but stress, certain medicines, and some kinds of exercise can also raise your blood sugar.
The three major nutrients in food are carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
- Your body quickly turns carbohydrates into a sugar called glucose. This raises your blood sugar level. Carbohydrates are found in cereal, bread, pasta, potato, and rice. Fruit and some vegetables like carrots also have carbohydrates.
- Protein and fat can change your blood sugar too, but not as fast.
If you have diabetes, you may need to eat carbohydrate snacks during the day. This will help balance your blood sugar. This is particularly important if you have type 1 diabetes. Some people with type 2 diabetes who take insulin or other medicines that can cause low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) may also benefit from eating snacks during the day.
Planning Ahead
Learning how to count the carbohydrates that you eat (carb counting) helps you plan what to eat. It will also keep your blood sugar under control.
Your health care provider may tell you to eat a snack at certain times of the day, most often at bedtime. This helps keep your blood sugar from getting too low at night. Other times, you may have a snack before or during exercise for the same reason. Ask your provider about the snacks you can and you can't have.
Needing to snack to prevent low blood sugar has become much less common because of new types of insulin that are better at matching the insulin your body needs at specific times.
If you have type 2 diabetes and are taking insulin and often need to snack during the day and are gaining weight, your doses of insulin may be too high and you should talk to your provider about this.
You will also need to ask about what snacks to avoid.
Snacks for a Purpose
Your provider can tell you if you should snack at certain times to keep from having low blood sugar.
This will be based on your:
- Diabetes treatment plan from your provider
- Expected physical activity
- Lifestyle
- Low blood sugar pattern
Most often, your snacks will be easy to digest foods that have 15 to 45 grams of carbohydrates.
Snack foods that have 15 grams (g) of carbohydrates are:
- Half cup (107 g) of canned fruit (without the juice or syrup)
- Half banana
- One medium apple
- One cup (173 g) melon balls
- Two small cookies
- Eight baked potato chips (varies with size of chips)
- Six jelly beans (varies with size of pieces)
Snacks for Enjoyment
Having diabetes does not mean that you must stop eating snacks. It does mean that you should know what a snack does to your blood sugar. You also need to know what healthy snacks are so you can choose a snack that will not raise your blood sugar or make you gain weight. Ask your provider about what snacks you can eat. Also ask if you need to change your treatment (such as taking extra insulin shots) for snacks.
Snacks with no carbohydrates change your blood sugar the least. The healthiest snacks usually do not have many calories.
Read food labels for carbohydrates and calories. You can also use carbohydrate counting apps or books. Over time, it will get easier for you to tell how many carbohydrates are in foods or snacks.
Some low carbohydrate snacks, such as nuts and seeds, are high in calories. Some low carbohydrate snacks are:
- Broccoli
- Cucumber
- Cauliflower
- Celery sticks
- Peanuts (not honey-coated or glazed)
- Sunflower seeds
References
American Diabetes Association website. Carb counting and diabetes.
American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes: Standards of Care in Diabetes-2024 [published correction appears in Diabetes Care. 2024 Feb 05]. Diabetes Care. 2024;47(Suppl 1):S77-S110. PMID: 38078584
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases website. Diabetes Diet, Eating, & Physical Activity.
Version Info
Last reviewed on: 2/28/2024
Reviewed by: Sandeep K. Dhaliwal, MD, board-certified in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Springfield, VA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
