Are Triscuits OK for Diabetes?

Can I eat Triscuits? Are they one of the best crackers for diabetes? That is a logical question from a patient and it has a logical answer once we work through the nutrition information important to diabetes management. Watch and see.
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The topic today came from one of our viewers and it’s a great question. Can I eat Triscuits? And wow, I hadn’t focused on the cracker aisle at the grocery store in a while. There are dozens of varieties of Triscuits since they first came to market.
Let’s take a look at what we are looking for in a cracker to start and then we will take a look at this specific brand of cracker. When I’m asked if “I can eat this or that”, I begin my decision-making process by looking at the nutrition facts panel on the box of crackers.
For people with diabetes, the key areas we will look at are… serving size; total grams of carbohydrate; grams of dietary fiber; total grams of fat; saturated fat and milligrams of sodium. It also can be beneficial to look at the grams of protein but generally we wouldn’t expect crackers to be a high protein food. So, serving size, total carb, fiber, fat, saturated fat, and sodium are the key areas to start your search for best cracker choice. While you are looking at the nutrition facts panel, scroll down to the ingredient list-you will want to see the first ingredient listed as whole grain or whole wheat. Why? This is because these terms indicate that the whole grain kernel with it’s three parts (bran, germ, and endosperm) is being used. Whole grain has been shown to be beneficial with heart health, blood sugar management and weight management. And remember… The ingredients are listed in order of most to least, so you want to see whole grain or whole wheat listed first.
Ok, let’s take a look at the Triscuit nutrition. I reviewed the line of flavor varieties, and they fall into the same range give or take a gram or milligram here and there. The serving size is 6 crackers, 20-21 grams of carbohydrate, 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of fat, no saturated fat which is wonderful news because we want to keep our saturated fat low and check it out…some crackers do contain saturated fat. The sodium content in these crackers is generally 115 mg-130 mg which is fine for a person with diabetes. There is a low sodium version called “hint of salt” that takes the sodium per serving to 50 milligrams. So if you are trying to keep your sodium low, the “hint of salt” may be a better choice for you. There also is a reduced fat variety with 2.5 grams of fat vs the 4 grams and 110 calories. Here again, it depends on your personal health history if you need to go lower in grams of fat or total calories with your food choices.
To answer the original question… can I eat Triscuits if I have diabetes? The answer is yes, now that you know the nutrition information, you can have 6 crackers for 20-21 grams of carb to fit into your meal plan. Please let me know if there are other products you are curious about in the comments section below. Thanks for watching, until next time, cheers to your health.