You face many challenges when you’re standing in that Supermarket aisle, looking for a “healthy” snack option to get you through your days or to feed the kids.
Everything is marketed as “healthy” in some way with phrases…
GLUTEN FREE
NATURAL
NO ADDED SUGARS
But what do these claims actually mean?
Generally not much when it comes to sugar content unfortunately.
Sugar is not just found in the expected foods like biscuits, cakes and soft drinks. It’s the biggest trap with commonly perceived or marketed “healthy” snacks. They’re laden with added or even high amounts of what we consider “natural” sugars and sweeteners, used to enhance the
sweetness and preserve the flavour.
Consuming these hidden sugars is detrimental to your health:
* Empty calories with no nutritional benefit. So they don’t satisfy your hunger or fuel the body in any way.
* Increase weight gain and lead to chronic diseases.
* Spike your blood sugar levels which leads to highs and lows in everything from appetite, energy, mood and behaviour (particularly in kids). And when your blood sugars eventually crash down again, you’ll crave more sugar or carbs.
* Increase risk of insulin resistance which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes in the long term.
There are a few ways you can sort out the good from the bad, and make the healthiest decision possible for you and your family. Always keep in mind, that anything packaged is never really going to be as healthy as something prepared from scratch at home.
However the reality is, we all need some convenience in our lives and it’s better to know what the best options are in that case.
3 Step Sugar Check
1. Read the ingredient list
The order of ingredients is from the highest to the lowest in content. So if any kind of sugar or sweetener is in the first 3 ingredients listed, it’s never a good sign, turn back!
2. Sugar content
Look at the nutrition panel and make sure the “total sugars” is <5g per 100g. Anymore than this, is too high. The lower you can go, obviously the better.
3. Other names for sugar
When looking at the ingredients list you want to avoid anything which contains sugar, but that can include anything on this list:
Raw or brown sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, golden syrup, lactose, invert sugar, malt, malt extract, molasses, sorbitol, sucrose, glucose or glucose syrup.
Look for more natural sweeteners like: raw honey, stevia, rice malt syrup, maple syrup and coconut sugar.
Common high sugar “healthy” snacks:
– Muesli Bars
– Flavoured Yoghurts (a small tub contains up to 7 tsp sugar)
– Fruit Smoothies/Juices
– Bliss Balls or Protein Balls
– Banana Bread (1 slice contains up to 11 tsp sugar!)
Muesli Bars
Most bars use refined cereals mixed with dried fruits and extra added sugars, not to mention preservatives like sulphites, colours and additives. They’re a very refined and sugary snack with little nutritional benefit.
There are no muesli bars on the market which fall into the low sugar
category. The ‘Carmen’s’ brand at least contains no preservatives and tends to use better quality ingredients. However they do use sweeteners like glucose now, whereas they only used to sweeten with honey.
You can make your own muesli slice at home pretty easily, using some raw honey or maple syrup to sweeten and a blend of whole-grains like oats, nuts, seeds and coconut flakes.
Yoghurts
Always choose unflavoured Greek yoghurt and add your own fresh fruit to sweeten it naturally. Avoid any flavoured yoghurts completely. The best brands are Jalna or Barambah Organics.
Fresh Fruit Smoothies/Juices
These sometimes contain between 6-10 pieces of fruit in just one juice!
Always choose a fresh juice containing mainly vegetables and just one fruit like green apple to sweeten. When you’re making smoothies, just add one serve (a cup) of fruit, rather than 2-3 and include some protein from full-cream or almond milk.
For juices on the go, look for the cold-pressed vegetable based juices.
Bliss or Protein Balls
Any of the packaged bliss balls are generally best to avoid, they contain added sugars in addition to dried fruits. Even the unpackaged bliss balls in cafes contain high amounts of dried fruits to bind them, a high dose of concentrated sugar!
The popular ‘Bounce’ protein balls have 12g of sugar per serve and the second ingredient listed is a sweetener.
Homemade is always best so you know what’s going into them. My Salted Chocolate Bliss Balls or Coco Almond Slice are yummy and sugar-free!
The key with snacks is it doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep it whole and simple.
A stash of raw nut mix in your desk drawer or in the car for the school run. Always have some essentials in the fridge like green apples, carrots, celery, hummus, cottage cheese and Greek or Coconut Yoghurt.
For more tips on healthy snacking…
4 tips to snacking right
Protein is key to good health
Sign-up to my zesty community and receive your FREE Healthy Snack Guide eBook today!
