August 25, 2017
Healthy Snacks
This article is about snacks and their many benefits.
First, they help you eat more good nutrients. When eating a healthy snack, you get a greater consumption of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fibre, etc. It’s a good way to make sure you provide your body the nutrients it needs for proper functioning.
Second, when eating a healthy snack, you can get to the next meal with feeling reasonable hunger. By splitting the meals of the day in 5 or 6 small meals, you keep your metabolic rate more active, you stay more alert and feel less drowsiness after a meal ensuring constant energy release throughout the day.
Thirdly, your snack must contain proteins and fibres and fewer empty calories in order to support you throughout the day. In addition, these elements are important to avoid end of day cravings, and balance blood sugar levels throughout the day.
If you already eat snacks or plan to because of their benefits, make sure that they contain:
- A minimum of 2 g of fibre that can be found in chia, flax, hemp, wheat germ, whole grain, avocados, etc.
- A minimum of 2 g of protein that can be found in flax, chia, hemp, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs and many others.
- A source of healthy fat such as vegetable oils, flax, avocados, chia, hemp, coconut and more.
- The least refined sugar as possible. Perfectly sweetened with natural sugar such as applesauce or another fruit of your choice, dates, bananas, honey, agave syrup, maple syrup and other.
It may seem difficult to meet all of these criteria at first, but with a little practice, you will find that healthy snacks are easy to find and you will be able to add diversity in time.
Here are some healthy snack ideas that you can adapt according to your taste.
- Oatmeal – almond milk – chia – cinnamon – maple syrup. Let stand 30 minutes or overnight.
- Yogurt – ground flaxseed – blueberries
- Nuts – fruit
- Cottage cheese – fruit
- Hard-boiled egg – raw vegetables
- Avocado – cracker – fruit
- Humus – vegetables of your choice
- Creamy Green Hemp Seed Smoothie
I hope that these ideas have inspired you to add healthy snacks to your menu.
