What you should all have in your glovebox

One of the great things about living in the city is not needing a car to get around. However courtesy of streetcar or cheap rentals most of us can drive if we want to and often will to get out of London or to make the dreaded trip to IKEA!

For those of you who have your own car it's a good idea to keep some essentials in the glove box; insurance details, Tom Tom, babywipes and cheesy cd collection. In addition it's a very good idea to have some snacks stashed away as it's very common to experience a blood sugar low when driving.

This is partly because driving can be stressful causing blood sugar fluctuations, but also due to the length of the journeys necessary to escape the big smoke (it's not unusual to need to eat every 3 hours). If you get hungry and don't have food to hand your blood sugar levels may drop sharply causing a loss of concentration and increased likelihood of a car accident.

Obviously there are some constraints to what you can store in the car for snack emergencies. Firstly it needs to be durable (so vegetable crudites are out) and secondly it needs to be easy to eat in a car (small nuts and seeds don't work at all and rice cakes cause an awful mess). Given these restrictions here are my favourite glove box supplies:

Healthy snack bars: wallaby, laar or fruitus bars (available in health stores including Holland and Barrett), can all be eaten one handed without crumb production!

For a serious blood sugar low: 9 bars, tasty seed and nut bars but with some added refined sugar. I don't eat these regularly, but for a serious blood sugar low these get your blood sugar back and concentration levels back to normal in double time and seem to keep me full for quite a while after - choose the ones without carob topping for minimum mess.

Bounce balls: Nut and whey based protein balls. Much easier than trying to eat nuts and help keep you full, but not much carbohydrate so combine with another snack.

Gluten-free pretzels: not as healthy as some of the other options as made with refined flour, but they are good if you want something savoury being healthier and less messy than crisps or doritos. Oatcakes are a healthier option, but you will need to get the dust buster out when you get home to clear up the crumbs!

Make sure you also have a sealed or freshly filled bottle of water in the car, to keep you hydrated if you get stuck in traffic, and if you do find yourself peckish with nothing in the glove box then stop at the first service station you see. Food options have improved quite a bit so it's easier to find a healthy drive time snack, especially at the increasing number of M+S food stores I've seen at petrol stations.
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