Evening Snacks That Won't Spike Your Sugar

Evening snacks are where most diabetes plans quietly come apart — the gap between a late lunch and a late Indian dinner is long, and whatever is in the house at 5 pm tends to win.

Indian glycaemic index research gives a clear steer on what to keep in the house. Of twelve traditional foods measured, the two lowest were both pulse dishes: white chickpea sundal at 24.1 and white peas sundal at 29.8. The highest of the whole set was wheat flakes chivda at 72.5 — a snack most people file under healthy.

• Roasted chana or boiled chana sundal — the lowest-GI option measured, and it keeps for days
• A bowl of curd, plain, with nothing stirred into it
• Sprouts with onion, tomato and lemon
• A handful of peanuts or almonds, counted out rather than eaten from the packet
• Cucumber, carrot or guava with chaat masala
• A boiled egg, if you eat them

The pattern is protein, fibre or both, in a portion you decided on before you were hungry. There is more on snacking and late dinners in our Knowledge Base.