What's a good snack to have when you have diabetes II?

My dad has type II diabetes, and he's been having problems finding good snacks that he can keep in his car (like granola bars...). From what I understand, it needs to have lots of protein and very little or no sugar (2ish grams or less). Protein bars are great, except they have lots of sugar in them. Any ideas?

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that he absolutely cannot have Malitol. Splenda is okay.

sardines sounds awesome, or any of those small fish snacks.

as for snacks tho...lol...i bet one of those cookies u can find in natural values section (organics) would be real good.

or granola bars in those sections.

u cannot get him to have those sugary ones....but i bet u can still find less sugary ones that still have a decent taste. just go to your local superstore or grocery store, and ask someone...or ask a doctor and he or she may lay out a whole list of options...

ask around....there are many who have the condition, and many people who know people who have it...so they have some experience...they may not open their mouths about it yet, so u gotta ask.

foods that have aritificial sugars in them

My sister's Type 1, and she has to limit carbs, which is essentiall what limits sugars. So anything low-carb would hopefully be low-sugar.

One thing would be those string-cheese snacks. Cheese and meat have virtually no carbs, which shouldn't affect his sugar level much.

I don't know how well that'll keep in a car, but it's virtually carb-free.

The best snack is nuts, but there are a variety or things that he can have.

My dad has a whole container of different snacks, all low sugar, low fat, and all low carb. They are all under 100 calories too. My mom loads the container with packaged crackers, animal crackers, peanuts or cashews, cereals, etc. for him. Sometimes she packages up larger boxes into small servings that fit his diet. One of his favs are those horrible orange crackers and peanut butter.

He knows that if he needs a snack, he can grab anything in there and not through off his sugar. When they go anywhere more than 60 miles in the car, mom tosses a variety into a softsided cooler, tosses in a banana or two and some water and diet Pepsi to make sure that if he needs something, it's available.

He also has many small meals throughout the day because it keeps his sugar under control better.

As for using snacks that have fake sugar - have him check with his nutritionist. There have been a number of studies lately that show that the brain and the body can't be tricked into thinking that it's satisfied by the fake stuff. Dad's doctor has always cautioned him to limit how much of the fake stuff he eats.

I am a diabetic for 14 months, so I am still new at this. But, I found a lot of things that are snackable and fun. Like most I have found lightly salted or not salted nuts. But, interestingly sardines are very low in carbs, as are vienna sausage. OK some things are low carb, but a challenge.Rasins don't workl well.

What I am suggesting is a trip to the grocery store and read the nutrition facts on everything you consider or not a snackable item. I think you will be surprised what qualifies.

Don't to forget to count calories as well.

Best Wishes.