We like to keep an eye on carbs around here.  And not for weight-watching reasons. Though we aren’t crazy or restrictive, it just seems a little healthier to have a meal or a snack that doesn’t require a bolus of twelve units of insulin. Today’s Wednesday Tip is Five Healthy Snacks That Are Low- or No-Carb:

1. Nuts!  We have an entire kitchen shelf devoted to nuts.  Almonds, pistachios, peanuts (though they’re a legume, not a nut), walnuts, even macadamias.  Nuts have important vitamin E and fiber and some protein.  Though they’re high in calories, active kids can down them by the handful and parents can feel good that they’re getting a non-processed, beneficial, low-to-no-carb snack.
2. Cheese!  Though cheese is high in fat and calories, it’s also packed with calcium and has protein, both of which are important.  We have a whole drawer in the fridge dedicated to cheese sticks, cheese slices and blocks of the cheddar that I personally love, toasted, on sourdough.
3. Beef jerky can provide your sodium content for about a week, but if you’re twelve, who cares!  Jerky is excellent to keep in backpacks and handbags and even in the car, given its nonperishable qualities. The stuff, too, is pure protein!
4. Edamame.  These quick-to-prepare pea-pod-like snacks are a soy-protein powerhouse.  My Will, a picky picky eater, rejected them at least fifteen times.  Now, though, my three fight over them.  I think half the fun is popping them out of their pods.  We do these as a side-dish a lot for dinner.  The fact that you can keep them tucked away in the freezer and serve them when your kids will eat precious little greens, makes them a healthy staple.
5. Celery.  As kids, we lived on the stuff.  Of course, it was slathered with sugar-loaded, hydrogenated-fat-laden Skippy-brand peanut butter.  Though my T1D kid will have nothing to do with the stalks, my other two like their celery (which I cut up and leave floating in a bowl of water in the fridge, often with a few carrot sticks as well, to be sure they stay crisp and seem easily accessible).  They are especially popular with ranch dressing.  “Delicious” might be a stretch when describing celery, but if a kid wants a crunchy snack that requires no extra insulin, this is a good one to try.

Readers, what are your favorite low- or no-carb snacks?