10 Easy Healthy Snacks

There is a balance between getting healthy snacks, maintaining weight, and loving food. But it can be done. My go to snacks are all about nutrition, pleasure, and taste.

If you have picky kids, these snacks please. They replace the empty sugar snacks with brain boosting alternatives.

My favorite 10 Go-to Healthy Snacks

Apples

I love apples just the way they are. Crunchy, tart, sweet, and packed with fiber, magnesium, potassium, healthy polysterols, and tens of thousands of phytonutrients.

Homemade Granola

Toast oats, nuts, and seeds; add dried fruit; dust with cinnamon – that lots of fiber, healthy fats, sweet taste, and it’s easy to take along.

Dark Chocolate covered Almonds

Melt dark chocolate; stir in nuts; cool – just make sure you portion this one out, because they are so good, I ate a whole pound without realizing the first time I made it!

Almond Butter (get the hint nuts are good for you)

This omega-3 fatty acid powerhouse is so easy to spread on veggies and fruit (like the apples).

Hummus

Another dipper for veggies – good protein, high in healthy fats, and low carb!

Yogurt with Fruit

An easy way to get billions of probiotics, that serving of fruit, and if you combine frozen fruit with really cold yogurt, it’s like eating ice cream!

Mini Pizza

Homemade, of course – use a tiny, thin homemade crust (here’s the one I like), lots of sauce, stack on the veggies, top with cheese and spices

Fruit

I love just snacking of fruits – so much goodness, so little summer to grow.

Cheese

Aged, flavorful cheese is good, when combined with something health – try apples and cheese, or shredded cheese on hummus.

Jerky

Make your own – flavorful (hopefully local, healthy) meats, seasoned heartily, and dried – makes a great accompaniment to the granola.

Here’s a tip for parents that have picky eaters and say their kids won’t eat these snacks: There are 2 types of picky eaters:

• Medical conditions
• Stubborn

If you child has a medical condition, such as an allergy, it’s important to get that checked and recorded. It could save their lives one day. And don’t feed them the foods that irritate them!

But, most kids are just stubborn. They want the foods that taste good and make them feel good. That’s why they choose sugar. But you are the parent. It’s your job to make them eat good food.

Give them a choice, the healthy snack or no snack. Kids will only go so long without before they eat the good food. And most will find they actually do like the good food!

The Author:

Christina Major is the Naturopathic Doctor and Holistic Nutritionist of Crystal Holistic Health Consulting. Crystal Holistic Health helps people, especially women, who have Type II Diabetes, High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure lower their numbers, get off medication and increase their energy so they can save money, take back control of their lives and improve the health and happiness of their families. You can get a free report on health at http://www.crystalholistichealth.com