Nutrition: Snack Attack! Take Action!

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Snack Attack! Take Action!

Daily Bread

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.
Ephesians 5:1

Why are snacks important?

A nutritious snack will keep you healthy and give you the energy boost you need to meet a challenging schedule. It’s easy to find half your daily nutrition has been replaced with empty snack calories. A planned snack also can prevent overeating.

Snack self-assessment:

Do you reach for anything close at hand to eat when you are stressed out?
Have you memorized the vending machine selection numbers at work?
Do you spend two or more hours ferrying children to and from school and after-school activities?
Do you have a heavy class load with no time to sit and eat a meal?
Have you eaten three or more “empty calorie” snacks, such as cake, a candy bar or soft drink this week?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of the questions above, you may want to try the Snack Attack strategy to give your daily nutrition a boost.

What are nutritious snacks?
The most nutritious snacks are:

Low in saturated and trans fat and cholesterol
Low in processed sugar
Fiber-rich

Fiber helps lower blood cholesterol levels, helps you feel fuller faster and helps keep your blood sugar on an even keel. Because foods with fiber will help keep your appetite satisfied longer, you won’t feel hungry as soon.

Snack Attack Strategy—Plan Ahead
If you find it easy to make good choices at meal time, but have a harder time with in-between meal snacks, the following tips will help you make more healthful choices. Choose one strategy to try this week; next week try another.

The following two simple actions will help you meet a Snack Attack head on when you are in a time crunch:

Take a list of nutritious snacks with you to the grocery store
Plan to keep nutritious snacks available at home, at work and in the car

Personalize Your Action Plan
This week I choose one of the following strategies:

I will buy nutritious snacks at the store
I will plan my snacks for the day
I will keep nutritious snacks at home
I will bring nutritious snacks to work

Can snacks be fun foods?
Actually, healthful snacks are tastier than the processed snacks that are high in refined sugar and laden with saturated and trans fat. The variety in nutritious snacks can contribute to your daily calcium, vitamin, protein and fiber intake.

Healthful Snack Choices
Printing the following list of healthful snacks and taking it to the grocery store will help you make wise choices for healthy heart nutrition:

Whole-grain, low-fat cereal with milk
Fruit smoothie
Low-fat cottage cheese and fruit
Frozen bananas
Raw vegetables dipped in low-fat dressing
Low-fat yogurt and fruit
Low-fat, reduced-sugar granola bars
Pita bread stuffed with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and low-fat salad dressing
Orange juice
Cantaloupe
Frozen blueberries
Low-fat yogurt
Raw vegetables with low-fat dip or low-fat salad dressing

On-the-go Portable Snacks:

Apple
Pear
Banana
Carrots
Low-fat, peanut butter on wheat crackers
Low-fat, reduced-sugar granola bars
Dried cranberry and peanut mix
Mini-can tomato juice
Low-fat string cheese
Mini-box of raisins
Pretzels
Air-popped corn
Low-fat cheese and whole wheat crackers
Low-fat oatmeal cookies
Sunflower and pumpkin seeds
½ c. Fiber One cereal
Dried fruits: apples, bananas, pears

Published: December 29, 2005
Source: The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutritional Guide, Roberta Larson Duyff, MS, RD, CFCS, Chronimed Publishing, Minneapolis, MN
Writer: Writer: Elizabeth Todd Bartholomew, MA, APR

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