Hi, I'm Earl. Product Manager at What Makes a Healthy Snack?
A while ago, one of my friends asked me a healthy snack would be. I could have recommended a simple Google search that could have produced a plethora of articles touting a confounding amount of unique snacks. However, as a health enthusiast, I eagerly responded with some simple guidelines for a healthy snack.
In the above picture are snacks I bought from the grocery in order to stock up for a one-week stay in New York with my mom. As you can see, I focus heavily on protein and fats for my snacks—carbs are easy to come by.
Despite what the above picture may show, I believe in natural, wholesome snacks—meaning fruits. I believe that fruits or vegetables paired with some supplementary protein and fat make the perfect snack. My reasoning is that a perfect snack is made of a balance between carbs, protein, and fats. Carbs will provide energy to power you through the day. Fats will stave off hunger. Protein will help you feel full.
Since my mom already has a refrigerator full of fruits, vegetables, breads, and whatnot, I focused on buying only protein and fat-based snacks.
I got almonds because nuts are loaded with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These healthy fats can actually help break down fats in the body and promote heart health. In addition, they have some protein and fiber!
Hummus also contains a dearth of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. The thick paste-like sauce is actually mashed chickpeas with oil and other seasonings.
As always, I got Greek yogurt. I am a huge fan of Greek yogurt because it is incredibly high on protein and low on everything else. Plus, yogurt has a large amount of calcium. Also, yogurt provides a blank canvas for me to create delicious concoctions with! Yogurt goes well with fruits, honey, granola, cereal, etc.
Fiber-loaded crackers for more fiber! Although, fruits provide more than enough fiber.
