Healthy Snack Recipes

Snacks are basically defined as drinks or foods that one may consume between meals. This habit of eating often between meals can be healthy if one has healthy snack foods or low calorie snacks that are low in fat, salt and sugar but high in dietary fiber. In fact nowadays there are plenty of easy to prepare low calorie snack recipes or healthy snack recipes easily available which can be availed of to prepare homemade snacks that are healthy and also satiating. Snacking, especially on healthy foods are beneficial for those who otherwise have a small appetite as these snacks can help meet their nutritional requirements. Additionally those who also have an active lifestyle on the professional front may also require snacking often rather than only depend on their meals to meet their nutritional requirements. One of the healthy snack ideas is to eat food that is rich in fiber which helps one feels full longer and also benefits the digestive system keeping it active and toned.

While planning on preparing snacks from healthy snacks recipes one should try and limit the intake of snacks to not more than three per day. Additionally one should also try and include foods from at least two to four of the food groups as per the balanced diet pyramid while snacking and these may include fresh fruits, raw vegetables, seeds, nuts, cereal etc. Similarly the intake if carbonated water and fruit juice should decreased whereas the intake of whole fruits and fresh drinking water should be increased as they provide the body with the necessary vitamins and nutrients and also keep one hydrated. Healthy snack foods include berries, bananas, pretzels, unsalted nuts, soy milk, baked tortilla chips, low fat granola bar, angel food cake, low fat yogurt, sherbet etc. One should realize that choosing a healthy snack to be consumed while snacking is just as important as deciding what should go into a healthy meal.

Healthy snack recipes tend to help one prepare healthy snacks that add nutrients and fiber to ones daily diet without the added burden of unwanted calories. Additionally healthy snack foods also help in preventing the individual from overeating during mealtime and provide him with an energy boost during the day. While deciding on healthy snack foods one should try and determine which are the times during the day when they are most likely to snack and then accordingly add a healthy snack food to their daily diet plan which will correspond to this snacking time. This sort of planned snacking on healthy snacks enables the individual to avoid overeating and also empty calorie snacking. Additionally by not skipping meals, there is a lesser possibility of the individual snacking on high calorie foods. Some healthy snack foods are grapes, nonfat cottage cheese, sliced chicken breast, protein bars, broccoli florets etc. Snacking is not always a bad thing especially if it involves healthy snack foods as it helps in binge control and thereby actually results in the individual consuming fewer calories in the day. Additionally snacking on healthy foods also lets the blood sugar levels be maintained at healthy levels. Ideally health snack foods are those that include plenty of nutrient dense foods such as unprocessed foods which are excellent snacks as they help in fuelling the body throughout the day and thereby provide the individual with the necessary energy to perform during the day. Hence one should strictly avoid ready to eat common snack foods such as potato chips, candy bars or cookies as they only supply one with empty calories that do not have any nutritional value and instead lead to accumulation of fat in the body and also adversely affect the insulin levels.

Submitted on January 16, 2014