Snacking the Healthy Way

It is often debated whether snacking between meals is healthy or not. Having a scheduled snack between main meals is a good way to control hunger and prevent over-eating at lunch or dinner. However, continuously snacking or picking at food can be an easy way to increase your energy intake and can lead to weight gain.

Healthy snacking is:

• Plan a scheduled morning tea, afternoon tea or small supper
• For the average person, the calorie content of a snack should be around 100-200 calories or approximately 420-840kJ
• A snack should contain minimal saturated fat

Having a snack that contains a source of protein will additionally help keep you more satisfied. Snacks containing protein are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Healthy snacks:

• Fresh piece of fruit
• 200g tub of low fat yoghurt *
• Dried fruit and nut packs (40g) *
• Fruit and nut bar *
• Slice of raisin toast with a spread of ricotta *
• 2 small pikelets with jam
• Rice/corn thins with low fat cheese spread/hummus/vegemite
• Vegetable sticks with hummus dip
• Muesli bar (Carmen's muesli bar is an excellent brand)
• Skinny cappucino/latte/flat white *
• Small tin of baked beans *
• Tinned fruit
• Up and Go *
• Rice crackers or vitaweats with low fat cheese (30g) *
• Air-popped popcorn
• Boiled egg *
• Low fat milk smoothie *