Diabetes can be riddled with frightening highs and lows that come on strong and fast. The common remedy for scary lows is to grab a juice box that is likely stashed in your bag and gulp it down with full force until your blood sugar stabilizes. This trick may work at getting your glucose levels back in a safe range, but a lot of these quick sugar hits do nothing to serve you nutritionally.
Just because you are trying to get your blood sugar back on track quickly, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make use of the food you are consuming, right?
Here are 6 healthy snacks that you can bring with you to get you out of those scary lows—fast—and also pump you with beneficial vitamins and minerals.
#1. 1 Cup of Red Grapes
This fruit offers 23 grams of sugar per cup, which is a hefty dose to treat dangerous lows. Red grapes contain resveratrol, an antioxidant compound suggested to wield the solution against certain diseases like cancer and heart disease. Since people with diabetes are at greater risk of heart disease and other killer threats, snacking on grapes could provide some health benefits. Other antioxidants found in grapes can act as a shield to defend your brain against rapid cognitive decline—another possible complication of diabetes—as well as to fight against autoimmune diseases, one of which is diabetes.
#2. 2 Raw Honey Packs
Raw honey is an absolute jewel, and it’s amazing more people aren’t eating it. The raw form of honey is full of antioxidants, particularly in polyphenols, compounds that offer a sturdy shelter against debilitating diseases. It is also surprisingly helpful at reducing the risk of diabetes by helping to stabilize glucose levels. You can buy raw honey in packets at your local health food store, each one likely to contain 10 grams of sugar.
#3. 1 Small Box of Raisins
Raisins are easy to keep on hand because they don’t perish as quickly as fresh fruits. They are loaded with B-vitamins and potassium, making them an excellent source of sustained energy. One small box packs 30 grams of sugar, so portion carefully according to your need.
#4. 1 Large Banana
Bananas are nature’s perfect snack. The sugar quickly boosts your energy while the fiber ensures a steady flow of energy. Brimming with potassium, banana is also a great snack for post-exercise recovery. One large banana contains about 12 grams of sugar.
#5. 1 Cup of Raw Orange Juice
Freshly squeezed orange juice provides all the sugar that you need plus the vitamins and minerals that they are known for (think of it as a fluid form of a multivitamin pill). One cup of OJ contains roughly 21 grams of sugar.
#6. 1 Medjool Date
My favorite snack of all time is the medjool date. A single date contains 16 grams of sugar tucked into a caramel, gooey bite of deliciousness. It is loaded with B-vitamins that play a role in mood regulation and red blood cell development. It is also a source of potassium and copper, two mineral known to support heart health. Keep a bag of medjool dates with you and snack on one when you feel the telltale signs of hypoglycemia hit you.
Diabetes is a lot of work; at least this much is true. But that doesn’t mean that you have to be a slave to it in every waking moment. Hypoglycemia comes on fast and strong and makes you adhere to the rules of your disease, but why not try to make this frantic episode into a yummy experience that can supercharge your health in the process?
[expand title=”References“]
Honey Pax. URL Link. Accessed February 22, 2017.
Diabetes.co.uk. URL Link. Accessed February 22, 2017.
American Diabetes Association. URL Link. Accessed February 22, 2017.
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