25 Healthy Low Glycemic Snack Ideas

Eating healthy meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. But healthy low GI snacks are very important too because they may help you to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the day, curb your hunger between meals, and prevent you from eating too much at mealtime. So, make sure to plan your snacks just as carefully as you plan your meals.

How to Prepare Low Glycemic Snacks:

For a healthy low glycemic index snack, combine a good source of low glycemic carbohydrates with a good source of healthy protein.

Here are a few good sources of low glycemic carbohydrates for you to choose from:

• raw or lightly steamed veggies such as tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, turnip, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, or cauliflower;
• fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, cantaloupe, watermelon, pineapple, or banana (if you are sensitive to fruits, skip them and go with the veggies);
• fresh or frozen berries such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.;
• dried fruits and berries such as dried blueberries, cherries or prunes  (just make sure to use a small amount);
• quinoa, spelt or flax seed crackers.

Here are a few good sources of protein for you to choose from:

• unsalted, non-roasted, preferably pre-soaked nuts, such as almonds, pecans, cashews, or walnuts;
• unsalted, non-roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds;
• cashew, almond, sunflower or pumpkin seed butters (just make sure the nut butter you buy doesn’t contain any additives. Check the ingredients list, it should only have one ingredient);
• chickpea and black bean based dips and spreads such as hummus or black bean spread;
• soft cheeses such as plain cottage cheese, feta and goat cheese, plain yogurt;
• unsweetened chia pudding;
• hard boiled eggs.

Below you will find a few examples of some tasty combinations for your snacks. I hope this list will inspire you to start including healthy snacks into your daily diet.

Low Glycemic Snack Ideas:

• 1 fruit with a handful of nuts;
• 1 cup Edamame (soybeans from pod), to avoid GMO soy always buy organic;
• ½ cup cottage cheese with ½ cup chopped fruit (optional – 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract);
• 1/3 cup dried apricots with a handful of almonds;
• 1 sliced apple with 2 tablespoons peanut butter;
• 1 cup raw veggies with 3 tablespoons hummus;
• 1 hard boiled egg and 1 cup chopped raw veggies;
• ½ cup cottage cheese with herbs or salsa and 1 cup chopped raw veggies;
• 1 cup fresh fruit salad with ¼ cup sunflower seeds;
• ½ cup grapes with 1 sliced peach and ½ cup plain no sugar added yogurt;
• 1 sliced pear with 2 tablespoons soft goat cheese;
• 1 hard-boiled egg with 1 tomato or 1/3 English cucumber and some sea salt;
• 1 cup berries with ½ cup cottage cheese or Greek yogurt;
• 1 hard-boiled egg with 1 cup lightly steamed broccoli and/or cauliflower;
• 1 cup grapes with 2 tablespoons soft goat cheese;
• 1 Iceberg lettuce wedge (about 1/3 of the lettuce) with ½ cup cherry tomatoes and 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese;
• 1 cup sliced veggies with ¼ cup black bean dip;
• 1 sliced apple sprinkled with ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup plain yogurt;
• 1 cup berries with ¼ cup sunflower seeds;
• 1 cup sliced fruits with 2 tablespoons nut butter;
• ½ cup grapes with a handful of quinoa or flaxseed crackers and 2 tablespoons soft goat cheese;
• 1/4 cup canned tuna or salmon with 4 spelt crackers and a handful of cherry tomatoes;
• 1 cup lentil soup;
• 1/2 unsweetened chia pudding with 1/2 cup of berries or sliced fruits;
• 1/2 cup yogurt with 1/2 cup berries and 2 tablespoons sugar free granola.

As you can see, it’s quite easy to include healthy low glycemic snacks in your daily menu. You just have to plan ahead so that once the hunger strikes you don’t have to grab a chocolate bar or go look for the nearest vending machine.