Eating snacks between regular meals prevents you from eating too much or making poor choices. If you are not careful, they can also use up a good portion of your daily caloric allowance. By choosing snacks that are healthy, you can boost your nutrition while keeping the calorie count down.
Fresh Vegetables and Hummus
Eating fresh vegetables gives you a snack loaded with antioxidants while being low in calories. Vegetables also contain little to no fat and many are packed with fiber to help keep you feeling satisfied between meals. The dietary fiber in vegetables is not only healthy, but can also aid you in lowering your cholesterol. To keep your vegetables from getting boring, dip them in hummus. Hummus is made out of chickpeas and is free of saturated fat. It also comes in a variety of flavors, so you can mix up the taste without losing the benefits.
Fresh Fruit
Fresh fruit makes a healthy snack choice because you can easily grab it on your way out the door or slice it up and use it with other foods. Because fresh fruit is all natural, you never have to worry about added sugar and most varieties are low in fat while being high in fiber and vitamin C. Classic fruits for snacks include apples, cantaloupe, grapes, watermelon, strawberries and oranges. Eat the fruit whole or combine your favorite fruits in a large bowl to make a fruit salad you can snack on for several days.
Greek Yogurt
The typical yogurt from the supermarket, especially the brands that feature fruit at the bottom of the cups, may be loaded with sugar and have a texture you may not enjoy. Nonfat Greek yogurt has a fluffy texture and contains no fat. One serving of Greek yogurt contains around 80 calories, giving you some wiggle room to add flavor. Adding some honey, dates or chopped apricots add sweetness without loading it up with additional calories. Greek yogurt also gives you a protein and calcium boost.
Nuts
Nuts are rich in protein, selenium, vitamin E and fiber. Because they are high in fat, many people do not consider nuts a healthy snack. The truth is, the fats in nuts are mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated, which are good fats that can help lower your cholesterol. Because nuts are high in calories, only have 1 to 2 oz. each day. Some good nut choices include almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans and peanuts.
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