Best Gifts for Diabetes: 45 Options for Any Celebration -

Looking for gift ideas for someone who has diabetes? Do you have diabetes and want to gift something to yourself? You’re in the right place.

This article covers gifts for any celebration, like a birthday or Christmas, for people with diabetes. From food recommendations to gift basket ideas and more, these gifts are meant to make diabetes management easier. As a dietitian living with type 1 diabetes, I’ve either used these products myself or someone with diabetes has recommended them to me.

If none of these gifts trip your trigger, scroll to the bottom of this article for gifts anyone with diabetes would find beneficial.

***Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored in any way. If you end up purchasing a product from any of my links in this post, I may earn a small commission through the Amazon Affiliate Program at no extra cost to you.***

List of 45 gifts for diabetes:

Food gifts for diabetes

Give someone with diabetes food goodies that are both delicious and blood sugar friendly. Below are food gifts for diabetes that mostly contain a good balance of carbs, fiber, or protein for stable blood sugars.

Chocolate

Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate Bars: Dark chocolate typically has less carbs per serving than milk chocolate, so this bar is my go-to. I like to have a square with peanut butter as a bedtime snack.

Ghirardelli Squares, Intense Dark Chocolate Midnight Reverie 86% Cacao: This brand also makes a dark chocolate that’s not too sweet and not too bitter. I enjoy the single square servings which can help with portion control if needed.

High protein options

Quest Nutrition Chocolate Chip Protein Cookie: A person with diabetes DOES NOT need to eat desserts that are only labeled as “high protein” or “keto”. Enjoying the real thing and dosing insulin for it is perfectly fine! But, when I do want something with a little more protein in it for better blood sugar and satiety purposes, I love having one of these cookies.

Nuts ‘N More Cinnamon Raisin Almond Butter Spread: This almond butter spread is higher in protein than traditional nut butters and is delicious with apples, on top of a bowl of oatmeal, or on a spoon right from the jar.

Quest Nutrition Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder: This is my favorite protein powder. Protein powder should not be the main source of protein in your diet, but it does help boost the protein content of foods that otherwise would be lacking such as baked goods, fruit smoothies, and cereal. A little more protein in something tends to keep you full and blood sugars more balanced.

Low or no carb options

PRIME Hydration+ Sticks ICE POP: If you like Bomb Pop popsicles, these sugar-free drink packets are for you. So. good.

SkinnyDipped Snack Attack Minis Almond Variety Pack: A variety pack of not-too-sweet almonds is one of my favorite blood sugar friendly on-the-go snacks. Each pack contains around 5 grams of carbs.

Chia Seeds: Chia seeds make the perfect gift. Add them to smoothies, yogurt, cereal, pudding and more for a boost of fiber which is beneficial for blood sugars.

Cookbooks and books for diabetes

It was difficult to pick a few books as there are so many great options for those of us with diabetes. Here are my top picks:

Books

Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes: Your Month-to-Month Guide to Blood Sugar Management: This is the book I used to help manage my type 1 diabetes during both pregnancies. I delivered two healthy babies, and I give a lot of credit to this book for my awesome blood sugars during pregnancy as it gave me information I never even learned as a diabetes educator.

Exercise with Type 1 Diabetes: How to exercise without scary lows or frustrating highs: We can all agree that exercise is good for you, but did you know different types of exercise can make blood sugars high or low? This book walks you through how to have more stable blood sugars before, during, and after whichever activity you choose.

Mommy Beeps: A book for children who love a type 1 diabetic: Since I am a mom living with type 1 diabetes, this book was gifted to me. It’s a great book for introducing type 1 diabetes to kiddos and for teaching them why a loved one “beeps”. My oldest son is two years old, and I use it to explain this complex disease in a fun way.

Cookbooks

The Diabetic Cookbook and Meal Plan for the Newly Diagnosed: A 4-Week Introductory Guide to Manage Type 2 Diabetes: If you or a loved one is newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, please get this book. It walks you through your diagnosis and provides meal plans, recipes, shopping lists and more.

The Plant-Based Diabetes Cookbook: 125+ Nourishing Recipes to Satisfy Every Taste Bud: As someone who comes from a family who doesn’t think a meal is complete without meat, this book took me by surprise. The recipes I’ve tried have been delicious and you don’t even realize the meat is missing. We all need to eat more plants, and this book helps you do just that.

Diabetes kitchen gifts

Spoiler alert, most of these gifts are to make it easier to eat fiber rich foods like veggies and whole grains.

COSORI Air Fryer Pro LE 5-Qt Airfryer: An Airfryer is a great kitchen tool for a person living with diabetes. I believe Airfrying makes vegetables taste 1000% better. I also use it to quickly make proteins such as salmon or chicken.

Mueller Pro-Series All-in-One, 12 Blade Vegetable Chopper: Gift a vegetable chopper to someone living with diabetes so they can quickly and easily add veggies to their recipes. This one even has a spiralizer to make fun veggie “noodles”.

The Original Salbree Microwave Popcorn Popper: Popcorn is a great snack for people with diabetes. I love using this popcorn popper as it doesn’t need oil for popping, and I can make different popcorn flavors.

Olive Oil Sprayer: When I don’t want to dump a bunch of oil on things like veggies for roasting, this sprayer helps evenly coat the food.

Salad Dressing Container To Go: These are great for on-the-go and portioning dressings, sauces, jams, and more.

Salad Dressing Maker: I love this salad dressing maker because it has lines and instructions right on the bottle for you to fill the correct amount of ingredients to make a yummy dressing.

DASH Rapid Egg Cooker: Eggs are a cheap and very nutritious source of protein that people with diabetes should include in their diet. Use this egg cooker to quickly make scrambled, poached, or hard-boiled eggs.

Steamer Basket: I love using this steamer basket to steam my veggies which helps keep more nutrients in them that would otherwise be lost during the boiling or microwaving process.

Gift baskets for diabetes

Are you looking for a unique gift idea for your loved one with diabetes? Try putting together one of these gift baskets!

Baking gift basket

A gift basket full of blood sugar friendly baking essentials such as:

Large Rectangle Granola Bar Silicone Mold: Use this mold to make homemade granola or protein bars.

Square Silicone Mold – Brownie Pans: Perfect for baking brownies into regular or bite size portions for easier carb monitoring.

Mini Muffin & Cupcake Silicone Set: Perfect for baking muffins or cupcakes into bite size portions for easier carb monitoring.

Swerve Confectioners Sugar Substitute: I love using this sugar substitute for making things like icing or frosting. It contains no carbs or sugar as it’s made with erythritol, a sugar alcohol that is less likely to upset your stomach. I used it to make a cream cheese frosting for pumpkin bars, and it was so good!

Almond Flour: Almond flour is found in a lot of recipes such as muffins, pancakes, and waffles to lower their carbs and increase their fiber which is helpful for blood sugars.

Simple Mills Almond Flour Baking Mix Variety Pack: When you want a lower carb baked good, check out these yummy baking mixes.

12 Cups Regular Silicone Cupcake Pan: Use this cupcake pan for easy clean up after baking with the above mixes.

Nutrition education basket

Whether you or a loved one is new or old to diabetes nutrition, this basket will provide tools for measuring and learning carb counting.

TILUCK measuring cups and magnetic measuring spoons set: Measuring cups and spoons are a necessity when first learning portion sizes and counting carbs. You don’t know what a cup of rice looks like until you know.

Food Scale: A food scale is nice to have when measuring things like meat or foods with a confusing serving size on the nutrition label. For example, some bags of chips have a serving size of 1 ounce on the label which makes using a measuring cup difficult.

CalorieKing Calorie, Fat & Carbohydrate Counter Book: For anyone who likes information on paper versus technology, this book is perfect for learning portion sizes and nutrition information for various foods.

Portion Measuring Bowls – Set of 2: These bowls are similar to ones I used during my years of teaching diabetes education classes. They help you see true serving sizes of things like cereal without using a measuring cup.

Reusable Grocery Bags: Not only can you use these bags as your “basket” for the above gifts, but they come in handy when hauling in groceries too.

Low blood sugar treatment basket

When a low blood sugar strikes, we want fast-acting carbs that will quickly bring it back up such as:

Honey Mini Packets

Airheads Candy Mini Bars

Juice Boxes

Mini Cans of Soda

Fruit Snacks

Diabetes at work basket

Yep, diabetes goes to work with you. This basket will make managing diabetes a little more fun while there.

Travel Bag for Supplies: This bag has plenty of pockets for supplies and an insulated compartment for insulin if needed. It also has a shoulder strap for ease of carrying.

Simple Modern 40 oz Tumbler with Handle and Straw Lid: Staying hydrated with diabetes is very important, I recommend this tumbler as it makes it easier and more fun to stay hydrated in the cooler months when water is so hard to drink. It also fits perfectly in a vehicle cupholder.

Insulated Soft Large Adult Lunch Cooler: This lunch cooler is large enough to fit several different food and drink items as it has an upper and lower compartment.

Glass Meal Prep Containers 2 Compartments Portion Control: Add these glass meal prep containers to your lunch cooler.

Gifts for people with insulin pumps

Alcohol Prep Pads: When you have diabetes, you can never have enough of these. You just can’t.

Athletic Shorts with Pockets: When I used an insulin pump with tubing, I loved anything with pockets that I could easily slip my pump into for carrying purposes.

t:Holster Rotating Belt Clip: If someone has a t:slim X2 insulin pump, this is a great accessory for clipping the pump to clothing at different angles with the rotating clip.

“Out-of-the box” gift ideas for people with diabetes

Below are gift ideas that many people may not think of when considering what to gift their loved one with diabetes.

Money

I know the cost of living is high for everyone these days.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat across from patients with diabetes telling me they can’t afford the beneficial medication their doctor prescribed because insurance won’t cover a large enough portion or cover it at all.

Or the hundreds of times I’ve tried to help patients with hypoglycemia unawareness or extremely high blood sugars gain access to a CGM only for it to not be affordable.

I have health insurance and still struggle to pay for my insulin pump supplies and insulin. Everything is expensive, but especially health care.

So, if you really can’t think of something you’d like to give that special someone with diabetes, give money. They’ll appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. I promise!

Support

Even if you don’t fully understand diabetes, you can absolutely still be a great support system for your loved one living with it.

Lend a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on when they’re having a rough diabetes day. Take a few fast-acting carbs with you when you leave the house together, just in case your loved one forgot. Try the new foods or exercise routine your loved one is doing to better her health.

Ask questions in a non-judgmental way about how she takes care of her diabetes. Ask questions in a way that you’re trying to learn more about this disease.

For example, instead of asking, “should you be eating that?” ask, “can you tell me how you estimate the carbs for that? I want to see if my guess is close”.

Encouragement

A lifelong illness can be so draining at times. Between doctor appointments, fights with insurance companies, and just trying to manage the disease day by day–it takes a toll on you.

On days where your loved one is experiencing diabetes burnout, encourage her to engage in an activity she enjoys whether it’s reading a book or taking a nap. Let her know she is not a failure for wanting a “break” from this lifelong disease.

Encourage seeking help from a mental health professional or at least speaking about feelings surrounding diabetes management with her doctor or diabetes educator.

Final Thoughts

I hope this blog post helped you find a gift for that special someone with diabetes. I want to leave you with one final thought.

No matter what the circumstance, always remind your loved ones with diabetes they’re doing a great job and to keep going. That is truly the best gift!

Gift these free resources:

Megan Warnke, RDN, CDCES

Megan is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, and a Certified Insulin Pump Trainer. She has a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Iowa State University. She has had type 1 diabetes since she was 11 years old and has taught diabetes education for many years.