Diet is the most important aspect when it comes to handling a person’s diabetes. Diet ensures that they are getting the correct amount of carbohydrates and their disease isn’t getting further out of control. However, eating as a diabetic can be difficult. Diabetics need to watch the amount of carbohydrates or sugars they take in. With the way that processed food permeates our diet these days, it can be difficult to find proper food. 

That being said, eating well as a diabetic doesn’t need to be something difficult. There are plenty of delicious and nutritious snacks and recipes that can keep diabetics feeling happy. The trick for most diabetics is to find a few great meals and snacks that you love. That way, when a craving hits, you can instead choose one of your go to options. 

Quick and Easy Snacks

Snacks are too often unhealthy and loaded with sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. None of these are particularly useful to a diabetic. To be fair, they are all quite harmful. Therefore, healthier quick snack options should be preferred. These kinds of snacks should be items that require almost no preparation so they can just quickly fulfill the need for a little extra sustenance. Some good options for diabetic snacks include: 

• Hard Boiled Eggs - High levels of protein make these a great choice. 
• Almonds - Packed with protein, a handful of almonds is a popular choice of female office workers on a diet and diabetics alike! 
• Berries - Berries have some of the lowest levels of natural sugars and taste delicious. 
• Cut Vegetables With Hummus - Hummus gives some kick to veggies that can sometimes lack flavor on their own. 
• Avocado - Whether eaten on its own, or turned into guacamole, avocado is excellent for diabetics. 
• Apples - A medium sized apple is usually a perfect snack size level of sugar for diabetics. 
• Beef Jerky - While atrocious for sodium content, beef jerky does provide high levels of protein and low sugars! 
• Cottage Cheese
• Popcorn - Just don’t add too much butter or salt and this will be a surprisingly healthy snack that can help replace items like chips. 

Examples of a Diabetic Recipe

Diabetic recipes tend to aim for things that are low in carbs. Each serving should be low, which will allow people to determine just how much they need. The example below substitutes what is otherwise a very high carb/sugar meal for one which is much better and in moderation. 

Beef & Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients

• 2 Zucchini
• 16 oz. Extra lean ground beef
• 4 ½ oz Onion
• 3 Tomatoes
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• 1 Serrano chili
• 5 ½ oz Mushrooms
• ½ Cube chicken bouillon soup base
• ½ cup Shredded mozzarella (low fat is better, but use what you have)
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Basil
• Salt
• Pepper

Cut the zucchini into ½ inch slices. This is easiest done with a julienne style peeler. Sprinkle them with salt, and then let that absorb into the zucchini for 10 minutes. After that, broil them in the oven for 3 minutes. When they are done, place them on some paper towels and get out as much moisture as possible. Boil the tomatoes until the skin is ready to be peeled off. Pour cold water on them to stop the cooking process, then peel off the skin. Chop up the onions, serrano, garlic, mushrooms and the freshly peeled tomatoes. Prepare a skillet with some oil or cooking spray and then fry the onion, serrano and garlic together for about a minute. After that, put the mushrooms and tomatoes in, then saute for around 3-5 minutes. Once that’s finished, set the vegetables aside. Use the same skillet to cook the beef to include all of that extra flavor. Add in the paprika and make sure the beef is fully browned. Place the vegetables back in along with the bouillon and all remaining spices. Simmer these together for 25 minutes on low so that the flavors can mix together. While this is happening, preheat the oven to 375 F. Have a small baking tray ready and line it with parchment. About ⅓ of the zucchini needs to be used to make a bottom later. Place ⅓ of the meat and vegetable sauce on top of that, then zucchini, then meat, with a final layer of each on top. Place the cheese on top and then bake the entire thing for 35 minutes. From there, let it sit for 10 minutes, then enjoy an incredibly healthy version of lasagna!