4 healthy snacks to curb your sweet craving
While foods like pastries, desserts, and candies are full of sugar, you may not realize that other popular snacks contain hidden sugar, such as granola, cereal, and protein bars, just to name a few. These snacks can provide a quick burst of rocket fuel, but they will often have you crashing at the end of the day. So, what are the snacks that will keep you both healthy and full for your sweet cravings?
APRICOT AND ALMOND DUO
Dried fruits and nuts can help you have a healthy snack on hand when you’re on the go.
Apricots provide vitamins and minerals as well as carbohydrates.
Almonds provide fiber, protein and healthy fats.
Putting these two together, you’re fueling with apricots for now and then you’re fueling with almonds
YOGURT AND CINNAMON
Yogurt contains a lot of protein, which is a slower-burning fuel than carbohydrates.
Consuming it with cinnamon is an easy way to add flavor, which research shows can have anti-inflammatory properties and positively affect blood sugar levels.
For this snack, add a pinch of cinnamon to 3/4 cup of plain low-fat yogurt.
You can also add 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh mango or blueberries to give the snack a little more flavor.
STRAIGHTENING CHEESE AND BLUEBERRY
Berries are some of the best fruits for fiber, especially blueberries, which are a fiber-rich fruit, make a great snack.
They’re also a great source of fiber-rich carbohydrates.
Low-fat cottage cheese is a great source of protein.
Add a cup of fresh or frozen blueberries to 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
It has almost no carbohydrates in it, so it’s important to get that full serving of fruit to fuel you right now.
PEANUT BUTTER AND APPLE
A small apple with peanut butter not only tastes good, it’s also good for you.
Be sure to eat the skin of the apple in addition to the fleshy insides.
When you consume peanut butter and apple together, you will get two kinds of fiber. You will get insoluble fiber from the outside and soluble fiber from the inside.
Spreading 1 tablespoon of peanut butter on top of apple slices will add protein and healthy fat.
Be careful not to exceed the amount of peanut butter.
