By: Jodi Holland, RD
We’re so excited to be part of this year’s Dietitians of Canada Nutrition Month Campaign. We are celebrating Nutrition Month 2018 by helping Canadians unlock the potential of food to fuel, discover, prevent, heal and bring us together. Today we are helping you learn our Top 8 Tips for Healthy Snacks.
How Can Pure Nutrition Dietitians help me?
The dietitians at Pure Nutrition Consulting work with clients every day focusing on food’s potential to:
- Fuel: Stay energized by planning nutritious snacks into your day.
- Discover: Foster healthy eating habits in children by teaching them to shop and cook.
- Prevent: Understand how food can help prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
- Heal: Learn how food can promote healing and how dietitians work in health care teams to make a difference.
- Bring us together: Enjoy the benefits of bringing families and friends together with food.
We often get questions on the best way to fuel our bodies and how to improve energy levels throughout the day. Do you:
- Have a small appetite?
- Are you very active?
- Are you pregnant or breastfeeding?
- Do you need to eat smaller amounts of food more often due to a health condition, such as diabetes?
- Do you get hungry between meals?
Healthy snacking can be one strategy to maintain our energy levels and help us manage our hunger. It’s also a great way to sneak in additional nutrients throughout the day.
Top 8 Tips for Healthy Snacking
- Make a plan. When we plan ahead, and have good snack options available, we are more likely to choose a healthier choice.
- Make it the easy choice. Prep your snacks (i.e. washing fruit, cutting vegetables, make hummus, etc.) in advance so they are ready-to-eat and ready-to-go!
- Create a satisfying snack. We recommend pairing a fibre-containing carbohydrate (whole grain, fruit or vegetable) with a protein choice (milk or meat alternative like yogurt, nuts or legumes).
- Portion it out. Take control of your intake by avoiding eating directly out of packages or containers.
- Is it hunger? Consider if it’s your stomach calling for food or if you trying to fill another need (ex: bored, tired, or stressed).
- Pay attention to your food. Eating mindfully will help you enjoy your food more and eat the amount of food your body naturally needs.
- Timing is everything. The best way to control and satisfy your hunger is to eat regularly throughout the day. Eating every three to five hours can help to manage your energy and prevent overeating.
- Make it convenient. Pack your snacks the night before and stock up on healthy choices at work. Keep emergency snacks in your bag or car to avoid unwanted pit stops.
Our favourite snack ideas!
Choosing vegetables or fruit at snack time is a great way to meet our daily needs. Pair it with a protein choice for a satisfying snack!
| Vegetable or Fruit | Protein Choice |
| Berries | Greek Yogurt |
| Cut-up vegetables | Hummus* |
| Celery or banana | Nut butter |
| Grapes | Cheese |
| Cherry tomatoes | Hard-boiled egg |
| Pineapple | Cottage cheese |
| Carrot sticks | Flavoured tuna |
| Dried fruit | Nuts or seeds |
| Sliced Apples | Energy Balls* |
*See Cookspiration.com for more great recipes!
Check out this video for more Quick and Easy Snack Ideas!
This post was inspired by and adapted from the Dietitians of Canada’s Nutrition Month campaign materials. Learn more at www.nutritionmonth2018.ca