Healthy snacks on the go
Snacks commonly found in vending machines and on service station counters are sometimes made up of empty calories, or calories that don’t give much sustainable energy to the person eating the snack. The alternative? Pack a lunch. But some students don’t take the time to pack a healthy lunch. If your life revolves around campus living and you only have time to quickly grab a snack from the vending machines or the Quick Stop throughout the day, here are some rules of thumb in making a better snack choice:
Choose baked chips over other chips. Non-baked chips have more fat.
V8 Juice. Although fruit juices may be more popular than V8, fruit juices can have a large sugar content and may give more of a sugar boost instead of an energy sustainer. Plus, V8 gives the drinker a serving of vegetables.
Instead of eating a chocolate bar, try a cup of hot chocolate. The calories in each differ by about 80 calories, with hot chocolate having fewer calories. And the hot chocolate will satisfy a chocolate craving. A mini chocolate bar will also give the same satisfactory craving as the king-size bar.
Sometimes feeling hungry can really mean your body needs more water. Drink more water before buying your second bag of Cheetos.
Chewy granola bars covered in chocolate have more sugar and fat than crunchy granola bars do. The healthy kind of granola bars are usually the crunchiest.
Carry baby carrots or almonds around in your backpack.
Remember which snacks work best for you. If you have high blood pressure, avoid foods with high sodium content like pretzels.
Information compiled by Brittny Goodsell Jones and from www.kidshealth.org