Who doesn’t love to snack? Snacks taste great, they break up the day, they give you something to look forward to and they energize you. Of course, there are some downsides to some popular snacks, especially for people with diabetes who are trying to make healthy choices. Many easy grab-and-go items, like chips, crackers, energy bars and granola bars are heavily processed and loaded with empty calories. And even seemingly “healthy” items can be culprits. For a snack-centric article, Cleveland Clinic dietitians weighed in on things they never eat, including items like rice cakes, which they described as “a carb with little to no nutrition;” and baked chips, saying that you can eat a lot without feeling full, and that can “increase blood sugar and cause an insulin surge, promoting fat storage.”

So how do you pick healthy snacks? First, try reframing the way you think about them. Don’t consider snacks an indulgence, but an opportunity to add more fresh fruits, vegetables and other energy-boosting nutrients to your daily intake. The American Diabetes Association lists a few suggestions to seek out when it comes to snacking:

  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Lean meats and plant-based sources of protein
  • Items with less added sugar
  • Foods that are less processed

Further, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) says that there are also some red-flag foods that people with diabetes should limit, which include:

  • Fried foods and foods that are high in saturated fat and trans fat
  • Items high in salt (aka sodium)
  • Foods high in sugar, such as baked goods, candy and ice cream
  • Drinks with added sugar, such as soda, juice, energy drinks and sports drinks
  • Alcohol should be limited to one drink a day for women and two for men

With those guidelines in mind, here are some suggestions sourced from experts at the ADA (including ideas from ADA’s Diabetes Food Hub) and the American Heart Association for healthy, on-the-go bites to help you push away those “hangry” feelings and power through any endeavor—and feel good while doing it.

  • Avocado toast, using half an English muffin and 2 tablespoons of mashed avocado
  • 2 cups of popcorn drizzled with 1 teaspoon of olive oil
  • Fresh fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, oranges and grapefruit
  • A wrap made of just turkey and cheese (no bread), topped with greens
  • 3 celery sticks with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter
  • 5 cherry tomatoes or 1 cup of sliced cucumber with 1 tablespoon of ranch dressing
  • A hardboiled egg 
  • A stick of string cheese
  • 1 cup of edamame
  • A sugar-free popsicle
  • A handful of nuts
  • ½ cup of plain low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt, topped with a handful of blueberries and a little cinnamon
  • ½ cup of cottage cheese (top it with fruit if you’re craving something sweet and creamy)
  • 1 small apple with a tablespoon of peanut butter
  • ¼ cup roasted chickpeas
  • ½ cup of baby carrots with two tablespoons of cottage cheese or hummus
  • 1 cheese quesadilla (using a corn tortilla) with salsa
  • 1 cup of soup made with broth (and not creamy), such as tomato or vegetable
  • ½ a sandwich (for example, peanut butter, using 1 slice of whole wheat bread and 1 tablespoon of peanut butter; or turkey, using whole wheat bread, two slices of turkey and mustard)
  • 1/3 of a cup of snack mix made with whole-grain oat cereal, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips

Living with diabetes doesn’t have to mean giving up all the foods you love—you may just need to make adjustments in how much of those foods you eat and how often you eat them, according to NIDDK. Snacks are a great way to sample healthy options from all of the different food groups, and feel good while doing it. To get more advice on how to eat healthier when you have diabetes, make an appointment with your health care provider or speak with a registered dietitian.