Five wellness things I liked lately: the snack edition

How to choose healthy snacks and my personal top five

Chloe Wise "Lactose Tolerance" (2017)

For the most part I try to eat three meals a day. But afternoons are my kryptonite, especially the hours between 1-4 pm when I feel the least energized and productive and hence, often reach for a snack. Whenever possible, I schedule my workouts during that interval so I can get a boost of energy and dopamine and I’ll have my snack before heading to the gym. Before I breakdown my five favorite snacks, I want to make two important considerations when choosing a snack:

In the hierarchy of snacks, single-ingredient, whole foods are always better than processed foods. For example, a hard boiled egg or an apple > a protein bar > a bag of cookies or chips. What you want in a snack is for it to have nutritious value (protein and fiber) so it actually keeps you full. If you eat empty carbs or sugar, you’ll just want another snack one hour later. If whole foods are not available and you must choose something packaged, read the labels and try to stay away from foods that are very high in carbs, but low in fiber, high in sugar, or filled with additives, artificial flavors, gums or seed oils (canola, corn, grapesed, sunflower, peanut oil etc).

And number two, there are a number of snack foods (can’t really call them “foods”) that I would avoid at all costs. These include processed or deli meats, chips, cookies, candy, crackers, store-bought pastries or cake, most granola and protein bars, energy drinks. Some protein bars and crackers are less offensive, but those are rare and I will offer a few examples so you know what to look for.

1. Favorite snack number one: a protein smoothie.

This is by far my number one choice as it helps me get a lot of nutrients in a single serving while also maximizing energy and satiety. My go-to smoothie that I make at home has 40 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, at least 700mg of polyphenols and 0 added sugar. Here’s the recipe with links to all the products I use:

• 4 oz water

• 1 scoop grass-fed whey protein isolate

• 2 tbs grass-fed collagen

• 1 scoop fiber blend

• 1 scoop cocoa flavanols

• 2 tbs flaxseed

• 1 tbs chia seed

• 1/2 cup frozen berries (raspberries and blueberries)

2. Favorite snack number two: eggs and avocado

Another great pairing of protein, fat and fiber comes from 2 hard boiled eggs and 1/4-1/2 avocado with a dash of lemon and sprinkle of sea salt. You can keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge so you don’t have to make them on the spot, or even buy ready-made ones like these. Whenever possible, choose organic, pasture-raised eggs for maximum quality and nutrients.

3. Favorite snack number three: nut butter or grass-fed yogurt with berries

If I only have two minutes to make a snack, I will throw some grass-fed yogurt or raw almond butter/ peanut butter/ tahini in a bowl with a handful of berries. My favorite are raspberries because they’re the highest in fiber and lowest in sugar, but you can do blueberries, blackberries or even an apple. For nut butter, look at the label and make sure there are only one or two ingredients (raw nuts and/ or sea salt) with no added sugar or oils. Choose peanut butter over “peanut spread” which is usually filled with nasty ingredients and sugar.

4. Favorite snack number four: a Chomps stick

If I really am in a pinch or traveling, I will grab one or two Chomps sticks . I like the original grass-fed beef or turkey the most - the turkey one is the highest protein and it has a super mild flavor. While these fall under the “packaged food” category, the quality of the product is high and they’re made with minimal ingredients. Chomps are also a good way to add extra protein to your diet if you can’t get enough at meals.

5. Favorite snack number five: an IQ bar

I believe 90% of protein and granola bars are junk food. They’re usually filled with so many nasty ingredients (too much sugar, gums and additives that irritate your gut, etc) that I would rather wait until my next meal than eat one. It’s important to read labels carefully and not be fooled by words such as “organic”, “gluten-free”, “dairy-free” or “vegan” that don’t mean anything in the context of ingredient quality. What you want to look for is minimal, unprocessed ingredients, and a good ratio of macronutrients - enough protein and fiber with a low carb and sugar content. I say low carb because it’s unlikely that in a snack bar, the carbs would come from good sources such as vegetables. Most often the source is dried fruit (think dates) which are very high in sugar and low in fiber. The only protein bars I can stand behind are the ones from IQ. While not organic, the ingredients are very high quality and these are the lowest-sugar and highest fiber bars I’ve tried. A good rule of thumb is to check the carb and fiber ratio. With IQ bars, for example, the total carb is 9 grams out of which 7 grams are fiber. This is excellent and something to look for when choosing a snack.

That’s it for this week. As always, feel free to drop me a line at sabina@kahla.com if you have suggestions or requests for health & wellness topics I should cover.