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Eat Well Wednesday: healthy snacks

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I am a self-appointed fresh produce ambassador.

For those of you who’ve been following my articles for the past few years, you will know that building a diet out of minimally processed, whole foods is the best way to promote good health and manage a healthy weight long term.

I also believe in balance. It’s actually not possible for the entirety of our diet to come from fresh food and it actually doesn’t have to either. What’s more important is the overall quality of your diet on a day to day basis, rather than judging individual meals and snacks on their own. If your diet is characterised by fresh whole food, meaning thats what you eat most of, then a few processed foods thrown in the mix is not a big deal at all.

Advances in food processing has changed a lot about the way we eat. It’s meant that more people have access to a large range of safe, convenient foods that we wouldn’t have access to other wise. The problem is that it’s also created a large of what nutritionists like to call ‘discretionary’ foods. Food thats not so nutritious and easy to eat in excess.

So with balance in mind and in the context of a daily eating pattern thats rich in vegetables, fruits and minimally processed foods – here is a list of processed foods that are handy to have around when life gets a little busy…

Nuts

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Raw and unsalted ones are the best choice. Keep snap-lock bags of them with you throughout the day to snack on.

Steamed Brown Rice

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It takes one minute to heat this rice in the microwave for a healthy, high-fibre meal or snack. Serve with a tin of tuna, vegetables, salad, feta and heaps more.

Rice & Chia or Rice & Quinoa Cups

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This is great portion controlled meal option. Serve with leftover curries, stir fries, chicken, feta, chopped vegetables and more.

Tuna Slices or Canned Tuna

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High in protein and a source of healthy fats to fill you up and help keep you fuller for longer.

Baked beans

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Easy, portion controlled snacks or meals that are perfect to eat on the go. Good source of fibre and protein. Buy salt reduced.

Tuna and Beans

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A perfect source of protein and healthy carbohydrate. It’s a no fuss lunch when you’re really pushed for time. Just grab and go.

Tuna and Brown Rice & Quinoa

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Another good source of protein and healthy carbohydrates that you can grab and go.

Muesli Bars

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Goodness Superfoods ‘Fibre Boost’ & ‘Better for You’ bars are a great option to keep in your bag or at your desk to snack on throughout the day.

Yoghurt

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Natural yoghurt or options with limited added sugar are a great source of protein and perfect for a snack to fill you up and keep you going.

Vita Wheat crackers

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Serve with hummus, natural peanut butter, other nut spreads, vegemite etc. Also top with avocado, cheese, tomato, smoked salmon…

Fava Nuts or Chick Nuts

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These are roasted broad beans or chick peas. They are a fantastic snack that are a good source of fibre and low GI carbohydrate.

Trail mix

A handful of nuts, seeds, dried fruit and choc chips is delicious, nutritious and filling.

Fresh cheese slices

Not the highly processed ‘plastic cheese’ but regular old tasty cheese can be great with fresh apple slices or on top of wholegrain crackers.

Nutrition advice is highly individualised and it’s important to make decisions about the foods you eat day to day based on your diet as a whole as well as your health, goals and other lifestyle factors. If you’e unsure about where to start to make healthy choices with your diet, the team at The Healthy Eating Hub can help. Our qualified nutritionists and dietitians are experts in healthy eating made easy!

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7 Responses to Eat Well Wednesday: healthy snacks

Jo Atkinson says: 13 May, 2015 at 12:00 pm

Great article Kate. I am interested to find out the ingredients list of the Goodness Superfoods muesli bars. I am always looking for a few packet options for my clients, but avoid additives. Is this additive friendly?

Kate Freeman says: 15 May, 2015 at 9:44 am

Hi Jo, Thanks for your question. Their ingredient’s list is in the photo attached. The main additives are ‘natural flavour’ and ‘lactic acid’ so quite low on the additive scale. They not artificial flavours or preservatives. 🙂

Bec Lou Lou Webster says: 13 May, 2015 at 4:10 pm

How can you include the Goodness Superfood muesli bars? Each bar is 19% sugar!! How they can say the following “whether you are trying to lose weight, reduce your cholesterol levels,
reduce your blood sugar levels, or boost your digestive health” is beyond me.

Kate Freeman says: 15 May, 2015 at 10:00 am

Hi Bec, Thanks for your comment. I understand your confusion with the sugar content. Using the ‘100g’ column on the nutrition information panel is a great way to compare different products in the same category with each other and choose the best one. 19% sugar is pretty good compared to other muesli bars, which is their main claim. When looking at consuming the actual bar, you should look at the ‘per serve’ column (nutrition information panel attached). You’ll see that it’s only 35g per serve. So 1 bar contains only 1.5 teaspoons of sugar and a whopping 7g of fibre – which is what makes them a better choice over other brands. They are not supposed to make up the bulk of someone’s diet, you would only eat one per day. In the context of a well-balanced diet they are a good quick option for a snack on the go. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the main purpose of the article was to highlight the fact that the nature of our lives means that choosing 100% fresh food all the time can be a challenge and that there are some processed foods that are better choices to help us get through those busy times. In terms of the claims on their website that you’ve mentioned, the fibre content of their products is extraordinarily high compared to other products on the market. The research surrounding fibre on all of those issues (weight loss, cholesterol management and digestive health) is very strong and is the reason they can make that claim. I hope this all makes sense. Thanks again for your question, love a savvy consumer 🙂

jill says: 15 September, 2015 at 5:48 pm

Hi Kate- I see you recommend natural yoghurt and we regularly eat it with fruit- but I noticed that the Coles brand natural yoghurt doesn’t have a very good health star rating- do you know why this would be? Many thanks!

Kate Freeman says: 17 September, 2015 at 9:50 am

Hi Jill. Without seeing the exact product or it’s ingredients it would be hard to give you an exact answer. I just did a quick look online – The Coles brand Natural Pot Set yoghurt has a health star rating of 4.5, which is pretty good. Health star Ratings are based on a number of different factors for particular food categories. Per 100g or 100ml of the product it looks at the overall energy content, risk nutrients (saturated fat, sugar & sodium) and positive nutrients (fibre, protein and the addition of whole fruit and veg). A yoghurt is likely to get a poor rating if it had higher amounts of added sugar compared to others – perhaps check the ingredients list to see what else was added to the yoghurt apart from milk, milk solids and bacteria. Hope this helps :), Kate

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