Healthy Eating: Snacks

Snack Attack! What snack do you reach for most often? Salty chips? Sweets? Chocolate? I used to be a Chocolate Entenmann’s Donut gal, (TMI, I know) but now I’m a yogurt or nuts and raisins gal. In keeping with the theory of ‘fueling with high octane’, I wanted to address snacking in this month’s blog, because some of us probably snack and graze more often than eating a fully balanced meal. Whether we are working late, sitting at out desk, on the go and no time to catch a meal, or just pure lazy, snacking right can be an important element to maintaining your healthy nutritional intake.

It’s recommended that your snacks are in the range of 100 calories. Agreed, that would be hard to do accomplish, but not unachievable. Keep that in mind, there are still a lot of choices available. While I’m running around town, and I throw a yogurt into my bag (the Fage 0% Fat Free is great), or pick up a packet of nuts and raisins from the newsstand (they are not too bad!). Although these might be more than 100 calories, I know that the health benefits are superior then picking up the bag of pretzels or a Twix bar. Healthy snacking would be best if it had a component of protein too. Other choices: peanut butter and celery, hummus and carrots, edamame or natural fruit & nut bars, granola and of course, fresh fruit (or dried but without all of the sugar) is always a good choice. Edamame is a great source of soy protein, fiber and amino acids. It’s easy to make and can be found in most freezer sections of your local grocery store. Natural peanut butter is better than regular Skippy, but if you’re at least having peanut butter, it’s better than a bag of salty chips.

Healthy snacking takes just a small amount of planning too. Keep a container of nuts and raisins at your desk if you work long hours or stock the fridge at work with your favorite healthy snack. When traveling, try to pack some nutrition instead of eating at the airport fast food spots. (That is unless you are in Italy, when all food is fair game).

It’s also cool to create your own snacks. A friend of mine loves to make her own hummus in her food processor, and I just learned from another NY Flyer that her homemade black bean hummus is all the rage. Last week’s NY Times Dining section featured Bill Yosses, (the White House Pastry Chef) recipe for homemade fruit and oat bars, as Michele Obama is directing the White House chefs to create healthy meals and desserts. The recipe looks speedy and simple. I’ll include these recipes in the next newsletter.

If you’ve got to have that donut, then enjoy it and move on! Don’t fuss too much, as long as you can assess your current snacking behavior, and try to amend it to more healthier choices your efforts should have a positive effect. In general, if you think, “nuts, fruit, protein, fiber” you’re off to a good start.

And remember, “Eat Incredible to be Incredible”! (I heard this on an advertisement from the American Egg Board this morning, and loved it!) - Anne H.