1. Healthy Snacks
Snacks by definition are foods usually smaller in portion size than the traditional mail
meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner. These are consumed in between meals to tide
one over until the next main meal.
The concept of “six-meal eating” or consuming smaller amounts of food more
frequently than traditional three square meals is considerably grounded on healthy
snacking.
A global billion-dollar industry, snacks are available in a variety of packaged and
processed form with flavors ranging from sweet to spicy, sour to salty. Debates
abound as to the benefits of consuming too much processed food. The term junk
food is used to describe items that contain empty calories primarily from refined
sugar and fat with negligible protein and nutrients like heavily salted fried items or
fast food. Some manufacturers in their quest for a wider market coverage offer
healthier versions by using less salt, more natural ingredients, baking not frying and a
lot more.
For more reassurance as to the nutrition you give your loved ones, why not prepare
your own snacks and meals at home? The key is to keep things simple and delicious.
Examples are simple treats like high-fiber cereals, cookies using wheat flour with dried
fruit and nuts, avocado dip served on crudites or crackers. Allocate as much time as
practicable. If you have five minutes, chop up a bowl of fresh fruit and top with
yoghurt. If you have an hour or so, bake a batch of cookies or a cake.
An epitome of a healthy snack would be trail mixes, a combination of dried fruits,
nuts, grains and seeds with the addition of other ingredients like chocolate bits,
pretzels and chips. The later are innovations made by snack manufacturers to make
the product more appealing and affordable. It was coined such as it was originally
meant to be taken during hikes due to its light weight, ease of storage and energy
boosting qualities derived from the carbohydrates content of the starchy
components and good fats from the nuts.
Make your own power trail mix by using super food like dried blueberries and goji
berries, raw nuts (soaked and dehydrated preferably). Or keep it simple by just using
one or a couple of ingredients.
A very simple snack that has high amounts of dietary fiber are roasted almonds
flavored with your favorite spice. Eat this in moderation because even though it’s
very nutritious, it still has a considerable amount of fat and calories.
When preparing healthy snacks, an important factor to consider is to use wholesome
nutritious ingredients and prepare in a way that maximizes their qualities.
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