Snack foods are important to generate energy between meals. The importance of eating snacks and small meals, reports "Fitness" magazine, is to quicken your metabolism and burn fat more efficiently. Eating smaller meals and snacks are much healthier than a few large meals, preventing indigestion and acid reflux.
Vegetables and Bean Dip with Cooked Quinoa
One option for an energy snack is a healthy bean dip. Instead of oily chips, use vegetables to dip into the bean mixture. Not only does this snack have less fat and fewer calories, it provides essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Cook quinoa and mix a few spoonfuls into your bean dip, which adds amino acids, protein and dietary fiber. Use easy-to-dip vegetables like baby carrots and broccoli and cauliflower florets.
Green Smoothies and Juice
Green smoothies take just a few minutes to make at home. Add spirulina, wheat-grass juice and kale to fruits like a frozen banana, berries and apples. Spirulina is a blue-green algae that contains antioxidants and amino acids. Spirulina and wheat-grass offer the benefits of chlorophyll, which supports your red blood cells. Get creative and try exotic fruits like mango and acai berry, which provide you with additional antioxidants and nutrients. If you are short on time or on the road, you can buy a green smoothie at many grocery and convenience stores.
Dr. Nicholas Perricone, from Oprah.com, suggests drinking wheat-grass juice to reduce inflammation and assist elimination of cancer cells. You can find vitamin and protein powders that contain these greens, or you can juice wheat grass yourself.
Peppers and Hummus
Use a medley of different-colored bell peppers and hot peppers with hummus. You can chop the peppers into the spread or use slices of bell pepper to dip into the hummus. Hummus provides you with protein, because it contains chickpeas and tahini, a paste made from sesame seeds. To add more protein to this snack, add cooked quinoa to the hummus. Hot peppers and bell peppers are both high in vitamins, especially vitamin C -- they contain double the amount of citrus fruit.
Fresh Fruit Salad
Eat a fresh fruit salad for a healthy snack. Steer clear of canned fruit cocktail, which is made with high-fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients and preservatives. Cut your favorite fresh fruits into a bowl, and squeeze on some lemon or lime and a little fresh orange juice. Mix with low-fat plain yogurt for protein.
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