Having healthy snacks on-hand can be amazing.
They can make the difference between having awesome energy levels and feeling exhausted. They can make the difference between hitting your goals, and not.
Snacking throughout the day is awesome for your energy levels, blood sugar levels and metabolism. So whether your goal is weight loss, energy, both, or healing something else completely, chances are that snacking smarter and snacking healthier can help you.
16 Healthy Snacks:
1. Raw Trail Mix – One of my favourite healthy snacks is a container trail mix. Mix up your favourite raw nuts, seeds and dried superfruits in a jar or container, put the lid on and shake to combine. Then carry it in your purse, put it in your desk or keep it in your car for hungry moments. Trail mix can keep your brain turned on, so you can stay focused and motivated through your day. I love raw cashews, raw almonds, a few brazil nuts, coconut chips and a few dark (dairy-free) chocolate chips. Yummy!
2. Apple slices with Nut Butter – What’s YOUR favourite nut butter? This snack can be made in under 5 minutes, and is full of fiber and protein. Simply dip apple slices in your favourite nut butter (try to find a nut butter without added sugar).
3. Smoothie – There are so many AMAZING smoothie recipes out there. I love this raspberry cheesecake smoothie, or this tastes-like-ice-cream Kale smoothie both from The Blender Girl. If you make smoothies for breakfast, try making 1 1/2 times your normal breakfast smoothie, load the rest into a small mason jar or to-go cup and enjoy it as a snack later in the day.
4. Chia Seed Pudding – Oh My Gosh! Chia seeds make an AMAZING pudding. This recipe can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge, or whipped together in a flash. Chia seeds are a complete protein, amazing source of inflammation-busting fats and filled with iron and other great minerals! Definitely make this recipe with carton coconut milk (not the thai full fat kind). It’ll blow your chocolate-loving mind.
5. Vegetables and Hummus – This is one of my most-recommended healthy snacks for stressed out clients at the end of the day before bed. The hummus provides protein and fiber to keep you energized while the vegetables are FULL of phytonutrients that possess healing properties to make you glow! Choose your favourite veggies, and buy organic hummus (too many non-organic brands use genetically modified oils you want to stay away from for your best health).
6. Berries – Grab a container of fresh, organic berries. Rinse. Eat. So great! Also helpful in preventing depression through the winter months. Tempting, huh?
7. Guacamole – Avocados, the main superstars behind delicious guacamole are LOADED in nutrients. Besides their great fats, they are a complete protein and provide some of your B-vitamins to help you BUST stress. Make it fresh, and use it as a dip for veggies or look for baked corn chips (not fried), or dehydrated nut-based chip options.
8. Popcorn with Nutritional Yeast – This is one of my go-to healthy snacks. Pop some organic popcorn and drizzle a little olive oil and apple cider vinegar on it. Add some sea salt and nutritional yeast. What’s nutritional yeast, you ask? It’s an AMAZING source of almost everything! Especially your B-vitamins to keep you stress-free.
9. Bean Salad – These take a while to prepare properly but you can make TONS and keep them in the fridge for about a week. If you’re going to use canned beans, look for BPA-free cans and beans that were soaked before cooking (the only brand I know of right now that does both is Eden Organic). Otherwise take the time to properly prepare beans by soaking them first for ~ 8 hours and then cooking them in fresh water. Your body will LOVE you for it! Once your beans are cooked, or strained if you bought them in a can, add in your favourite crunchy vegetables, mix them up with your beans of choice and throw on a well-made dressing (non-gmo if you’re buying it from the store).
10. Raw Truffles – Tempted? These are DELICIOUS and AMAZING for you. Wait, a truffle that’s GREAT for you? I’m in! Dates provide the sweet base that keeps the nuts together into balls. Raw nuts provide so many minerals, protein and essential fats. Especially if they’ve been pre-soaked! Take the time and treat yourself to some nut truffle love!
11. Salsa – An all-vegetable snack? This Nutritionist is ALL about veggies. Serve with organic corn chips, bean chips, crackers you like, veggies or toasted whole grain tortillas. Best made fresh (but don’t worry, here’s a ten second recipe you can make in your blender or food processor) rather than store-bought.
12. Veggies and Dressing – This is a super simple snack to make. So simple, in fact, that my 14-year-old self-conscious self was able to make it for herself when she was “on a diet”. The changes I’ve made since? No yucky oils, please! Make the dressing yourself with great fats, and don’t buy any dressings with non-organic soybean or canola oil. The chances of these oils being genetically modified are SO high, and that’s no good for the world, or your body. Otherwise look for dressings that use olive oil, coconut oil, and ingredients that sound like food more than chemicals. Can’t pronounce the ingredients? Put it back, and make the choice to nourish yourself.
13. Banana Boats – Ok. These things are SIMPLE. And delicious. Take a banana (whole if you want, sliced if you prefer it in pieces) and roll it in things like coconut shreds, cacao nibs, cocoa powder (or my favourite, raw cacao powder). And then eat it. Great when you’re having a sugar craving.
14. Homemade Granola Bars – These are great snacks to make with young kids. I throw oats, superfruits, some dark chocolate chips, sunflower seeds, dates and honey or agave into a big bowl until it’s sticky enough to form into bars. Then whip it into a pan, and press it down. Cut into bars once it’s compressed, and throw them in a container in the fridge until they’re all gone. These are WAY better for you than store-bought versions.
15. Nori (Seaweed Snacks) – The motto on my favourite brand of Seaweed snacks is that they’re “strangely addictive”. I could not agree more. Find them pre-made at a health food store (I’m addicted to the Wasabi kind) or make them yourself by adding a few sheets of nori (found in the Asian section of most grocery stores, the kind you use to make sushi) into the toaster, toast lightly and then add some sea salt and cayenne pepper or ginger. This is especially great in the winter, because those spices are very warming. Seaweed is GREAT for your metabolism, which makes these an even more awesome snack if you crave some healthy, natural weight loss.
16. Whole Grain Cookies (AKA Breakfast Cookies) – These will kick sugar cravings, but provide you with more sustained energy than commercial, refined, blood-sugar-spiking and crashing versions. And yes, they’re healthy enough you can eat them for breakfast! In fact, they’re a *heck* of a lot healthier than most breakfast cereals out there.
I hope you enjoyed my round-up of healthy snacks! Which are you most excited to try? Let me know in the comments.
