Healthy snacks prevent your blood sugar from dropping dangerously below normal levels. When eaten two to three hours between meals, snacks effectively keep your blood sugar on an even keel. Planned snacking reduces the likelihood you will binge on not-so-healthy foods at a fast-food restaurant or at the vending machine. Healthy snacks can have as many calories as a meal, so you must be conscientious about your total daily caloric intake, including your snacks.
Considerations
Healthy snacks can help you reach your weight loss or performance goals. If you are an endurance runner, you will benefit more from eating carbohydrate-rich snacks, like a homemade bran or wheat muffin, compared to someone who is trying to lose weight. Furthermore, you must still pair your muffin with a healthy source of protein or unsaturated fat like nuts or skim milk, reducing the effect of the muffin on raising your blood sugar too quickly. If your goal is to lose weight, save the complex carbohydrate grains for a meal. Eat a slow-digesting fruit, like an apple, with a ½ oz. or 14 pieces of unsalted nuts.
Cold Weather
Colder months of the year make it convenient to keep your snacks in the car along with several bottles of water. This is especially helpful if you spend a good part of your day driving. Healthy snacks that are ready to eat and within an arm's reach can mean you will frequently eat better instead of pulling into the many drive-thru eateries you pass along the way. Some meal replacement or energy bars have excellent ingredients and hold up well in a cold car. Measure a ¼ cup unsalted almonds or walnuts into several sandwich bags to go with a bar. Keep your car snacks in a lunch box or freezer resealable plastic bag. Almonds are rich in monounsaturated fat while walnuts pack plenty of omega-3 fats. These fats reduce your bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol, according to a 2007 article by registered dietitian Janet Brill, Ph.D., published in the "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal."
Performance Snack
A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a healthy snack, especially if you want to increase your performance. Spread 1 tbsp. natural peanut butter and 1 tbsp. all-fruit spread between two slices of whole wheat or whole grain bread. Natural peanut butter is made using only peanuts and a small amount of salt. All-fruit spreads are sweetened with fruit and fruit juices. This snack has a total of 285 calories and 55 percent of the calories are from carbs, 15 percent from protein and 30 percent of the calories are from fat.
Weight Loss Snack
If you are trying to lose weight, eat 3 oz. or a ½ cup of baby carrots, one stick of low-fat mozzarella cheese, and a small clementine. This trio has about 150 calories, of which 49 percent of the calories are from carbohydrates, 16 percent from protein and 35 percent of the calories are from fat.
References
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal'; Carbohydrates; Dixie Thompson, Ph.D.; November/December 2008
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
- "The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts"; NutriBase; 2001
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