Healthy snack ideas: Making your life better one munch at a time

Snacks usually have a bad reputation as they can contribute to a significant amount of weight gain and health issues. Ideally, a snack, like any other form of meal, is important. A quick bite between meals can offer you with an instant boost of energy. However, you must carefully gauge your dietary choices. The following article will help you gain a better idea about importance of healthy snacks in daily life.

Why are healthy snacks important?

• Maintains the essential blood sugar balance – Healthy snacks can keep your blood glucose level stable. This is especially important for individuals who are tackling conditions such as diabetes. Intake of healthy snacks may also prevent insulin resistance, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, high cholesterol, and blood pressure problems.
• Stops the tendency to overeat – Overeating can often be a result of not eating for long durations. Having a small but healthy snack every now and then will reduce this possibility. This will also increase your body’s overall metabolism rate. Also a lot of food at one time can spike the sugar levels in the body, so like mentioned earlier healthy snacking can allow diabetic patients to exercise a better control on their sugar fluctuations.
• Daily nutritional share – With the help of healthy snacks your body gets its fair share of nutrients every day. This will prove to be extremely beneficial for your health in the long run.

What makes a snack healthy?
When you are having a snack it is important to understand its nutritious value. While you are making a healthy snack, here are some things that you should keep in mind.

• Select ingredients that are high in nutrients and low in fat or sugar. For example, instead of picking French fries with cheese, pick strawberries with hazelnut-chocolate dip.
• Your healthy snack ideas should include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and an acceptable amount of dairy products.
• If you happen to fancy sweet snacks, then picks foods with natural sugars.
• Fresh fruit extract and homemade smoothies are a healthier choice than packaged juices. This because they include refined sugars or corn syrup in their recipe which can do more harm than good.
• The size of your snack should be appropriate, i.e., it should perfectly fill your stomach but shouldn’t be heavy.

What are some of the ingredients that should be included in a healthy snack?
Usually fresh fruits and vegetables are major elements for several healthy snack ideas. They are vibrant, flavorful, and packed with essential nutrients. The following is a list of fruits and vegetables that are frequently used in healthy snack ideas.

• Banana
• Strawberry
• Apples
• Celery
• Carrot
• Asparagus
• Kale
• Orange
• Cherry
• Avocado
• Cucumber

Apart from these you can also include whole grains, nuts, yogurt, cheese, natural sweeteners, crackers, etc., in your healthy snack ideas.

What are some healthy snack ideas?
Here are some of the healthy snack ideas that you can easily try at home. These are meant for both children and adults. The recipes mentioned can also be included in your weight loss regime.

• Crunchy veggie spring rolls
• Roasted chickpeas
• Hummus with hardboiled egg whites
• Banana and almond smoothie
• Oatmeal raisin cookies
• Mashed avocados infused with some lemon juice and salt
• Celery sticks with hummus or cream cheese
• Oatmeal and peanut butter bar with honey
• Microwave popcorn
• Crispy pita bread with parmesan dip

What should one keep in mind while buying healthy snacks?
Instead of preparing, if you are buying a healthy snack, then you should be mindful about certain aspects such as

• The size of the snack
• The list of ingredients mentioned on the label (this is especially crucial if you are allergic to some food elements)
• Freshness of the product