The Ultimate Gluten Free and Dairy Free Snack Guide + How to Snack to Balance Blood Sugar
In my opinion, snacking has become somewhat demonized by the health industry and most in the diet industry write it off completely. Think about it, do you ever feel guilty for snacking? Where did that come from? It could be because most traditional snacks in the Standard American Diet are highly processed foods full of sugar, food dyes, and chemical additives.
Snacking can be mindless and full of empty calories OR nutritious, balanced, and used to balance blood sugar regulation.
If you picture your blood sugar cycles throughout the day like a fire it would look something like this: when we eat, we fuel that fire. If we go too long without eating the fire will dwindle down and possibly go completely out. Eating an imbalance of macronutrients can also cause the fire to dwindle or extinguish. Protein and fat are the logs of the fire, meaning they provide longer lasting fuel and energy.
Carbohydrates are the kindling that give us that quick burst of flames. We want to eat a combination of all three macronutrients to have a steady, slow-burning fire throughout the day. This will prevent sharp spikes and drops in blood sugar that leave us either too hyped up or hangry and reaching for the nearest form of sugar.
Don’t forget that when blood sugar is too high or too low, the body perceives it as stress. When under stress, the adrenal glands pump out cortisol and adrenaline. If blood sugar is too high, the muscle tissues and liver are signaled to store blood sugar. Any remaining blood sugar is stored in fat tissue. When blood sugar is too low, the liver and muscle tissues are signaled to release stored glycogen to be recirculated as blood sugar. If the glycogen stores run out, the liver begins to break down tissue (amino acids) to be converted into new glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.
So, how can we snack to ensure that we are properly fueling the fire of our blood sugar? The answer is food combining. A source of protein, carbohydrate, and fat should all be present in a snack.
Carbohydrate = quickest to digest, easy energy
Protein = slower to digest, provides bulk to a snack (most of us struggle to eat enough protein throughout the day, so a few snacks containing protein can help with that!)
Fat = slowest to digest, helps us feel full for longer, slows the digestion of carbohydrates when paired together
Snacks can be sugar bombs, but they most certainly don’t have to be! Here’s how I snack without sugar
Check out my Ultimate Gluten Free, Dairy Free Snack List (6 pages of snack ideas!)
When in doubt stick to whole foods.
Convenient foods like guacamole from Chipotle with carrots, or a hummus and veggie plate at Tazikis or your favorite greek place.
Create a snack basket for your pantry with easy grab and go items. Stock it with snacks like jerky, nut butter packets, dried fruit, individual packets of nuts, and protein bars or collagen bars.
Interested in learning more about balancing blood sugar? Stay tuned for my upcoming course where we will deep dive into all things blood sugar! In the meantime, download The Ultimate Gluten Free, Dairy Free Snack list here.
