(Carrick Pharmacy News) There’s nothing wrong with snacking. But if you do it wrong, it can harm your health.
Fortunately, the flip side of that is true, too. With these five healthy snacking tips, you can make your snacking habit into a positive for your health.
Read on for five quick healthy snacking tips.
1. Portion Ahead of Time
If snacking is a regular part of your day, you can control the amount of extra calories you take in by portioning out your snacks ahead of time.
Use small plastic containers or bags to create healthy portions of your favorite snacks, and limit yourself to just one portion per snack.
2. Avoid Mindless Eating
When you’re eating mindlessly, such as when you’re in front of the TV, you can easily take down a whole bag of chips without even realizing it. That’s not a healthy portion, and snacking mindlessly isn’t healthy in general.
The best way to avoid mindless snacking? By consciously eating your snacks at the kitchen table without any distractions from televisions, computers or smartphones.
3. Choose High-Fiber Snacks
The specific foods you choose to snack on make a huge difference on the health impact of your snacking habits. To help your snacks pack a healthy digestive punch and keep your blood sugar from shooting through the roof, prioritize snacks that are high in fiber.
The effect of going after high-fiber snack foods is that you will find that fruits, vegetables and whole grains — classic healthy foods — tend to have the highest amounts of fiber.
4. Go for High Protein
This tip is similar to the high-fiber tip above. High-protein foods are less likely to be packed with sugar, and sugar is one of the biggest health downsides to snacking.
Lean meats like turkey and canned, dried or smoked fish make great high-protein snacks. Also, peanut butter and cheese can go great with fruits and vegetables in small amounts and pack a healthy protein punch.
5. Put the Healthy Stuff Front and Center
Sometimes, we reach for a snack without even thinking about it — whatever was closest to us is what we grab. In other words, if you put your healthiest snacks at eye level in your cabinets or in a similarly easy-to-reach area, you may be more likely to eat the healthy snacks when snack time rolls around.
If you are concerned about your eating habits or are considering making a drastic dietary change, speak with your health care provider.
