the snack plate
A few years ago I was offered a position at a medical device start-up with an improved syringe for performing epidurals. Mothers are experts on the blessed relief from labor pain given by epidural anesthesia, but often have stories about a complication they or a friend may have suffered. We thought that our device could reduce the risk of certain complications but what we learned was that doctors are reluctant to switch away from whichever epidural method they were first trained to use.
Introducing a new medical device is a tedious process so like many start-ups, this company offered a pantry of free snacks. To keep us near the office, they also provided a free lunch brought in from local take-out restaurants. The dishes were ordered from a stack of menus and were typically fried foods. In the beginning I limited myself to salad for lunch, avoided the free snacks, and mostly drank water. In time I tired of lunching on poorly made salads and began to order cooked dishes—fried in low-cost oils, I suspect. I also began to snack on the chips, candies and soft drinks offered. Just an occasional snack in the beginning, but without really noticing my addiction grew. Within a year I suffered an increase in weight and a troubling decline in health.
Have you or your spouse had this experience? The first thing I did was start bringing my own snacks to eat during work breaks. After I left this company I began to read about healthier eating. I was continually being surprised—about sugar, trans fats, etc.—by things that I didn’t know, or had forgotten, that were essential to healthy living. Two years and perhaps a hundred books later I started this blog. Today’s post is about the snacks we eat—the best indicator of our addiction to unhealthy food. Here are a couple of reports:
• This N.Y. Times article about classic junk snacks has a list that includes Cracker Jacks, Tootsie Rolls, Double Bubble, Twinkies and the Big Gulp/Double Gulp. Read it and weep.
• Breakfast sets up the snacks: Dr. David Ludwig of Tufts University and Children’s Hospital Boston reported that a healthy (low G.I.) breakfast results in 81% less snacking calories during the day, compared to a sugary (high G.I.) breakfast.
• Another N.Y. Times article, discussed how parental guilt and the decline of planned meals add up to giving in to kids on their favorite snacks (typically the worst food available).
• Factoid: this year we’ll average about a dollar spent each day on snacks—redirecting this money to healthy food is the best opportunity to improve your diet on a fixed budget.
Snacks are an enormous business in our society. Take a walk through your grocery store, down the candy aisle, the chip section, the cookie row, and through the cracker area. (You can remember these as the four “C’s”.) If this made you thirsty wander by the aisle for sugary drinks—it’s the biggest section. If there’s an in-store bakery check it out. These are the most toxic section of the grocery store and it’s a big, profitable business. People are starting to wise up on toxic snacks and this makes Food Inc. nervous. They monitor us through research like “Mintel’s Healthy Snacking Report”. Some recent observations:
• The snack market is divided into 20 snack categories: cereal, cheese, crackers, cookies, fruit, ice cream, meat snacks, dried fruit/fruit snacks, trail mix, popcorn, chips, pretzels, raw veggies, rice cakes, snack bars, yogurt, bagels/bialys (a flat bread), canned soup, chocolate candy bar, nuts/seeds.
• Food Inc’s big question: How much taste will we give up for our health?
• Consumers want healthy but they also want tasty. Corn and potato chips are an example of our bipolar behavior: 72% of consumers eat them but only 4% think they’re healthy. Ditto for packaged cookies.
• At the other end of the spectrum are nuts and seeds: 79% of us eat them and 87% think they’re healthy. More expensive, but you get both taste and health. Add fresh fruit: though just 66% partake regularly, 96% see them as healthy. (What is the other 4% thinking?)
A high dependence on snacks is an indicator of poor health. But even healthy people need a mid-morning or mid-afternoon refresher. Just remember, the more sugar in the snack, the sooner you’ll crave more. So what to eat? Here are our favorites:
• Raw vegetables like carrots and celery. Actually these aren’t my favorites, but it’s hard to get five vegetable servings a day if you don’t get at least one snacking.
• Fruit. We all have our favorites but cantaloupe and watermelon are underrated.
• Nuts and seeds—not the cheapest snack but a good health value.
• I like nut/dried fruit mixtures: dates with walnuts, or dried mangos with pecans.
• Popcorn, but not the sugared or microwave products. Is there a better mix of taste and value than homemade popcorn?
• Yogurt—buy the brand with the least added sugar and add your own fruit.
• Dark chocolate. I like dark chocolate chips with almonds or walnuts.
• Granola or its cousin, trail mix—purchased or homemade.
• Crackers that meet the grain rule (whole grains; more grams of natural fiber than added sugar). Yes, I’ll visit the cracker aisle and give a list in a future post.
Children naturally understand healthy snacks. A mom told of overhearing her children playing a made-up game: create a healthy snack. The daughter was the judge of her brother’s entries. The first brother’s snack was slices of carrot on a Graham cracker. The next entry was a child’s multivitamin covered with honey. They have much to learn, but children are teachable and more observant than we realize.
Impulse often drives our snacking and the lack of planning makes for less healthy snacks. We can also lose track of how much we nibble on in a day. The solution: Make a snack plate about mid-morning, or whenever you can. Lay out a healthy mix of snacks for the day and enjoy. (When I forget to do this, I regret it.)
(Or a snack bag instead of a plate if you work away from home.)
Please comment on your favorite healthy snacks. (I’m expecting a LOT of comments, please.)
Need a reminder? Download our Healthy Change reminder card. Print and fold, then place in your kitchen or on your bathroom mirror to help you remember the Healthy Change of the week.
Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 7:54AM | by Skip Hellewell | 52 Comments | 6 References | Share Article | in healthy change, snacks | Email Article
Reader Comments (52)
Here's what I've learned about getting toddlers to eat raw, hard veggies. Cut them very, very thin, then serve them with a dip. The younger the child, the skinnier the pieces. I learned this with my third child, and wished I would have with my first two! I can slice up a baby carrot into about 10 - 15 little slivers, and she just goes to town dipping and eating. If she doesn't have a dip with it, she chews it all up, but then spits it all out.
Good ideas for dips would be hummus, green goddess dressing (homemade with avocado), cottage cheese, or plain yogurt.
Of course with tiny kids, you have to watch closely so they don't choke--and they really don't eat very much. But I think it's great to start young, because they get picky at around 18 months! My youngest is 2 1/2 now, and she eats all sorts of veggies--carrots, broccoli, baby spinach, lettuce...anything tiny and dippable!
I've been following your blog since you started and have found the information really helpful. Learned some and also been a friendly reminder for other things. Keep up the good work!!
Lately, I love dipping an apple into yogurt. I also love carrots and a little bit of light ranch dip. Sting cheese is good too. I tend to find myself reaching for the snack that I shouldn't have too often though. I guess I'm a work in progress.
I, too can't remember how I stumbled upon your blog but I enjoy it very much! As a healthy eating aficionado, it helps me to stay motivated by reading other's ideas. One of my favorite snacks lately has been a sliced apple "schmeared" with some cashew butter. It's delicious and satisfies that salty-sweet craving but is lots better than a Reese's peanut butter cup!
My children, ages 8,6,4 and 1 ALL love edamame. We buy the bulk pack at Costco, heat up a bag for three minutes in the microwave, sprinkle some kosher salt and DONE! It is even fun to de-shell the beans!
Thanks for the blog SKIP!!!
Lately I have been feeling that my snacking habits have become boring, so this post came at the right time. I usuall find that I need a snack midmorning (I can never eat enough breakfast to satisfy me until lunch) and one in the afternoon or/and evening depending on when and what I eat for dinner. Lately it has been a lot of apples and carrots + a piece of dark chocolate (which are great snacks but can become a bit boring if you eat it twice a day for several weeks) with some hard boiled egg with vegetarian caviar or dark bread with peanut butter thrown in during the afternoon coma around 4 pm, before or after dance class or when I have had a really early breakfast or a very light or early lunch. This article made me start thinking about snacks again. First of all, I have noticed that I have snack cycles during the day and year; unless I'm in need of a second breakfast, the midmorning snack usually consists of something light and sweet, like fruit or vegetables combined with some nuts or a small piece of dark chocolate, my afternoon snack is usually a bit more substantial and often more salty, like a sandwich, soy beans, nuts, pretzels and the best snack of all, miso soup (it really gives me an energy boost). The evening snacks usually consist of popcorn, a cup of camomile tea with oatcakes or a cup of hot cocoa (made with pure chocolate powder and some sugar). I have also noticed that my snacking habits are seasonal, with heavier snacks during the winter and lighter snacks during the summer.
Here are some of my favourite snacks in random order:
fruit
vegetables cut in pieces
celery/carrot sticks/root vegetables cut in pieces with hoummous or peanut butter
apples and almonds
carrots with a piece of dark chocolate or some nuts or some slices of salami (carrots contain many fat soluble vitamins, so should always be accompanied by something fatty)
miso soup
bread with hummous, peanutbutter, butter and tomato with a sprinkle of salt and preferably some basil
snap peas
pancakes (I like them cold without any trimmings, but admittedly, I don't know how american pancakes would taste like that)
apple sause
nuts
popcorn with a bit of sea salt
hard boiled eggs with vegetarian caviar
soy beans
sushi
pretzels
unsweetened (lactose fee) youghurt with berries, jam, preserve or fresh fruit like necatines, some nuts and seeds and some wheat germ, oats or pieces of hard bread
Sorry about the essay, but I needed to put it down for my own reference anyways and thought someone else might get inspired too (as I got by the other posts)
Oh, I forgot to say, I love the snack plate idea!
The photo of the snack plate made my mouth water. Nice.
You're blog is so great. I am so grateful you are sharing your expertise in a motivating way, without guilt and doom...just great information. It's so nice to understand the reasons why, and what without just being told "not good. don't eat it." thank you so much.
Sam's Club sells a big bag of individual size microwavable bags of edamame. My kids eat them like crazy. And frozen peas...they aren't big fans when they're cooked on their dinner plate, but give them a bowl of frozen peas and they love 'em.
You are what you eat. So if a person eats healthy foods, his or health will be good.
I enjoyed reading your article on healthy snacking. And I agree that choosing healthy alternatives is always a mindful option over food items high in sugar, salt, and fat.
Smart snacking has become an essential part of our lifestyle. Peanut butter, walnuts, bananas, oatmeal, Greek yoghurt, hummus etc., are some of the excellent healthy options for late-night snacking. However, my favourite is unsalted puffy popcorns.
Thank you for sharing this delicious snack plate recipe. This recipe by Pinch of Yum offers a great way to enjoy a variety of snacks in one plate. This snack plate includes items like crackers, cheese, nuts, olives, and vegetables, making it perfect for an appetizer or a light meal.