Low-calorie snacks that won’t even dent your diet
Photo by Sergiu Vălenaș/Unsplash
The biggest temptation in diets are snacks. You could be eating the most calculated and balanced meals but once the urge to snack hits, it’s hard to resist. Luckily, it’s easy to embrace the idea of healthy snacks between meals.
Frozen grapes
If you’re looking for something cool and sweet, this treat might be perfect for you. It’s a sweet and nutritious snack that only has around 110 calories per cup. Frozen grapes don’t become solid on the inside like other fruits and has very little fat with no cholesterol or sodium. Red and green grapes have the same amount of vitamins and nutrients, but the red ones have more antioxidants. What’s even better is that this snack is something even kids enjoy.
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
Don’t be deceived by the chocolate, this treat is actually considered as healthy and diet friendly. The nutritional value would differ with the kind of chocolate, but it’s generally a lot better than most desserts. While chocolate might be a little heavy on calories, strawberries themselves only have around nine calories for a large berry, so you can get an estimate of around 188 calories for three berries. This treat is high in manganese and vitamin C, and three coated berries can give you over a third of your daily intake of these vitamins and minerals.
Pumpkin seeds
Just like nuts, seeds are also a good snack with lots of nutritional benefits and low cholesterol. A handful has around 151 calories and is one of the best sources of zinc and magnesium. While it may contain 5 grams of carbs a serving, none of these carbs are sugar. Like nuts, it’s also high in disease-preventing antioxidants.
Popcorn
You may not know it, but popcorn at its simplest form– air-popped, no salt, no added flavor–is actually a healthy low-calorie snack. One cup of popcorn has about 30 calories and no fat, but cooking it with oil or adding butter can bump it up to 55 calories with around 3 grams of fat. It’s still a relatively small amount compared to other snacks, and it also has vitamins like B12 and other minerals and fiber. However, you have to watch out for trans fat in packaged microwaveable popcorn. Movie popcorn is made less healthy and can contain up to 1,200 calories with around 980 milligrams of sodium.
What we eat for breakfast or lunch can easily be ruined by the snacks we eat, especially if we have more than one a day. Snacks are a great way to regulate blood sugar, and the right snacks can even give us added sustenance.