Healthy Swaps: SNACKS!
If you feel conflicted about the “junk” and snack foods in your life, know that you don’t necessarily have to cut them out completely to reach your health goals. Simply swapping them out for an upgraded, more strategic version makes all the difference to support your health. This isn’t about compromising on taste either! You can explore and discover new options that are health promoting AND super delicious.
When it comes to processed food - i.e. anything packaged with multiple ingredients, first look at the label to see if it is USDA organic certified, since choosing organic helps us to avoid toxins in both plant and animal foods. Then look to the ingredient list - here’s what to ask yourself:
What is your food made of? What do you see listed in the ingredient list? Note that the ingredient used in the highest quantity is listed first in descending order. We want to welcome in nutrient dense whole foods, and avoid chemicals, artificial ingredients, and other potential toxins or irritants to our system.
What type of oil or fat is used? Vegetable oils, such as canola, sunflower, safflower, soy, and corn oil, are often highly processed, rancid and partially hydrogenated (aka contain trans fats), making them inflammatory and aging. Whole nuts and seeds, olives and olive oil, avocados and avocado oil, coconut and coconut oil, grassfed butter and ghee are the fat sources you want to see on your ingredient list. Simply upgrading the fat in a food source can turn it from inflammatory to nourishing and supportive for the body. For a more in depth guide to fats, check out this blog post.
Is there added sugar? Naturally occurring sugars in whole foods like veggies, fruit, grains and beans come as part of a complete “package” with fiber, water, vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients, and therefore the sugar is generally more efficiently processed by the body. These aren’t the sugars we want to avoid. Refined or simple sugars that have been extracted from a whole food, such as fructose, agave nectar, cane sugar or corn syrup, on the other hand, presented to the body without the “package” of the whole food, create imbalance and may lead to nutrient deficiency. Adding refined or simple sugar also makes the food higher on the glycemic index, which means it’s more likely to spike your blood sugar. For blood sugar stability, which affects your mood, energy, weight and hormones, avoid or reduce added sugar! When you’d like some added sweetness, we recommend using monk fruit or stevia, which are both plant derived, zero calorie sweeteners that do not elevate blood sugar.
(For more information on how to read food labels, see this blog post.)
Here are some snack alternatives that are Keenist approved!
CRACKERS
Simple Mills Sea Salt Almond Flour Crackers
These are the ideal saltine alternative! You’ll be surprised by how delicious these grain and gluten free crackers are. These snack packs are convenient to pack for lunches or take on the go. Pair with nut butter or hummus to add some protein and fat!
Mary’s Gone is another great gluten free cracker option.
CHIPS
The main ingredient in these chips is flour from the cassava plant, which is a grain and gluten-free root vegetable. They also contain avocado oil and chia seeds - awesome! The sea salt flavor is a go to staple for mexican food or with any type of dip. The nacho flavor is a delicious dairy free Dorito alternative! And with other flavors including ranch, sal y limon and chipotle BBQ, the Siete tortilla chips can truly meet all of your chip needs.
GRANOLA
It’s tricky to find healthy granolas, since most are loaded with added sugar. I do recommend thinking of granola as a splurge or dessert, not as a breakfast staple! If you like a granola with oats, Love Grown ancient grain (pumpkin cashew and almond sesame flavors) are delicious and have only three grams of added sugar per ⅓ cup.
If you want a grain free, paleo granola made with nuts and seeds, Paleonola is my favorite. Reporting four grams of added sugar per ¼ cup, these are just slightly higher in sugar than Love Grown ancient grain, but still a great option!
TRAIL MIX
Trail mixes are notorious for lots of candy, dried fruit, added sugars and artificial ingredients. Not a beautiful choice! To my knowledge there’s not a great trail mix on the market. Instead, it’s super simple to make your own - and the benefit is that you can include all ingredients that you enjoy! No more fishing out raisins out of each handful - or maybe that’s just me! :).
At the grocery store, grab nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans etc), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower etc), and raw cacao nibs, and add sea salt and any spices to taste, such as cinnamon or nutmeg. You can even add a little monk fruit or stevia for sweetness. Simply combine and store in a glass container. When you’re leaving the house, throw into a plastic free stasher bag and you are good to go.
YOGURT
While yogurt contains gut-boosting probiotics and is in theory a great snack food, dairy may be difficult to digest, mucus producing and inflammatory in the body for some people. For those reasons, I suggest coconut or plant based yogurts. Look for whole coconut or other plant foods and probiotics as the main or only ingredients, and avoid added sugar. If you do well with dairy and want to eat cow’s or sheep’s milk yogurt, choose grassfed and organic (such as Straus) to avoid antibiotics, hormones and other toxins. For more information on dairy, see this post.
If you can’t find the above yogurt products at your grocery store, So Delicious unsweetened coconut yogurt is widely available. It does have some additives, including rice starch and natural flavors, however it is made with organic coconut, has no added sugar and is delicious, so it’s a great secondary alternative. When buying unsweetened, feel free to doctor up your yogurt at home with a little monk fruit or stevia, a dash of cinnamon, sea salt and vanilla extract. Use your coconut yogurt as a healthy fat in smoothies (I love strawberry banana coconut yogurt smoothies!), or pair with fresh fruit for a delish snack or small meal! You can also use plain, unsweetened coconut yogurt as a sour cream alternative.
PROTEIN BARS
Both of these bars are made with grassfed collagen and are low in sugar (3 grams or less)!
POPCORN
Corn is a grain you have to be careful with, since over 90% of corn produced in the US is genetically modified and sprayed with toxic pesticides. For that reason, it’s especially important to go organic for popcorn. I also recommend refraining from microwaving popcorn in order to avoid any negative effects from the radiation, and using more natural forms of heating instead.
Both G.H Cretors and Lesser Evil brands are organic and use fat sources that are anti-inflammatory and nourishing for the body - G.H. Cretors uses extra virgin olive oil, and Lesser Evil has options with coconut oil, avocado oil, and ghee!
…. Even better - make it at home
Easily pop your own popcorn at home on the stove with a popper like this. Simply put organic corn kernels, your fat of choice, such as ghee, and high quality salt (pink himalayan or sea salt) into the pot and heat. It’s also a fun activity because you can hear the popcorn popping - great for kids and family.
….or try pumpkin seeds!
Pumpkin seeds have a similar taste to popcorn, and provide zinc, magnesium, healthy fat and protein, so this is another nutrient dense and easy switch out! You can buy them from the grocery store already roasted, salted, and ready to eat, or roast them at home in the oven. Feel free to add a little extra fat and salt as desired. Enjoy these new options at home, or pack them up and take them to the movie theater with you!
While I don’t recommend that you build the foundation of your diet around these awesome snack alternatives, they sure come in handy when you are having a craving or want to round out a meal with some chips or crackers! Also remember - a really easy snack formula is a veggie or fruit paired with fat and protein, such as carrots, celery, jicama or zucchini with hummus, berries with walnuts, or an apple or banana with almond butter. Reach for your veggies and fruits first, and then supplement with packaged snacks as needed or desired. Is there another snack (or other food or drink) that you want an alternative for? Tell me in the comments below, and you may see it in a future healthy swaps post!