Top Healthy Snacks That Are Good For Your Diet

By Jann A Brunes

Are you a snack person? Snacks are usually the ones that ruin a good diet. The need to eat donuts, chocolates and other non-healthy foods rich in calories and carbohydrates usually make it necessary for us to go the extra mile when burning calories. Since the human body can only go through so much physical activity, this doesn't always work, making a persons weight higher than ever.

Still, if you can't give up your snack habit, you can always replace it with other food stuff. Following are some healthy snack types that you can try out.

Nuts 

Almonds, walnuts, pine nuts and cashew are high in protein and healthy fats. Although they also contain high dosages of calories, the way these foods are packaged doesn't promote overeating. This is because the nuts are often packaged in shells, making people work before actually removing the food. Always make sure that the snacks you buy are still in their shells so you can take the time opening it and therefore eating less. Sometimes, snacking is only a matter of keeping someone busy and this is your goal when it comes to snacking on shells.

Fruits both dried and fresh 

Obviously, these would be excellent alternatives for your usual processed snacks. Try to choose fruits that you can easily munch on like apples or grapes. For dried fruits, prunes, raisins and unsweetened cherries would be perfect.

Vegetables 

My personal favorite of vegetable snacks are baby carrots. No need for dips since chances are they would contain more calories than the actual snack. The great thing about carrots is that they are crunchy and therefore fun to munch on. Of course, if you're not the carrot type, you might want to try celery sticks or sugar snap peas.

Crackers, whole grain 

Don't add anything on the cracker and eat them as is. These munchies are excellent for warding off hunger pangs as well as keeping calorie levels low.

Popcorn 

This favorite movie food is actually very low in calories as long as eaten without salt, butter or margarine.

Yogurt 

Easy to eat and can be found in almost all convenience stores, yogurt is a great alternative for your unhealthy snacks. This contains proteins that could make a person feel full for longer period of time, thereby preventing hunger pangs. Try to choose low fat yogurt as much as possible.

Whatever snack item you choose, make sure that it is as natural as possible. Lay off processed foods so that you won't be exposed to large amounts of calories and carbs that you don't need in your system.

Of course, if you can avoid snacks altogether, then that would be best. If you can't, then make sure that you are still giving yourself healthy nutrients and minerals each time. When washing down your diet, be sure that you don't drink anything more than water. Soda and other sweet drinks for snacks alone can ruin a perfectly good diet since they likely contain more unhealthy ingredients than the snack itself.