By definition, snacks are a small amount of food eaten between meals; as such, they should be convenient, transportable, and ready-to-eat.

Healthy Snacking Benefits

• It boosts energy if blood glucose levels decline after several hours without eating.
• It reduces one's appetite, which helps prevent overeating at their next meal.
• Some healthy snacks can provide extra nutritional benefits. Snacks such as vegetables, fruits, seeds, and nuts
• It can be helpful for someone who suffers from a poor appetite and can't eat full meals due to illness.

Dangers of Snacking

• Indulging in snacks that are high in fat and sugar can lead to weight gain.
• Over-snacking can reduce hunger and make people skip main meals, thereby making them miss out on the important nutrients they can get from main meals.
• Snacks that have high salt and sugar content, but poor nutrition tend to be addictive as people who indulge in these snacks end up with food addictions and a change from healthy to unhealthy lifestyles.

Healthy Snack Components

Here are a few tips to get you started. First, eat a snack between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and dinner. Keep your snacks small. To stay energized and satisfied, a healthy snack must contain a good balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

Healthy Snack Ideas

If you want to incorporate snacks into your daily routine, try out some of these foods:

Daytime

• Smoothies
• Avocado slices with a slice of whole grain bread
• Carrot or cucumber sticks with groundnut spread
• Roasted ripe plantain with groundnuts
• Whole grain cookies
• Dark chocolate
• Hard-boiled eggs with pepper (kosua ne moko)
• Roasted corn and groundnuts (ebro ne nkatie)
• Nuts (roasted cashew nuts, groundnuts, almonds)
• Seeds (chia seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds)
• Tuna and whole-grain bread
• Greek or plain yoghurt
• Whole grain cookies
• Plantain or cassava chips with groundnuts

At Night

• Popcorn
• Greek or plain yoghurt
• Slices of fruits and Vegetables
• Smoothies

Try any of the smoothy combos below, put together by our Nutritional Specialist.

 A simple guide for you when making a tasty but healthy jar of smoothie- we have a surprise for watermelon lovers at the end! 

1. Apple

Fruit: Beets, Cranberry, Mango, Lemon

Herb/Spice: Cinnamon, Ginger, Rosemary, Clove, Nutmeg, ginger

Nuts/Seeds: Walnut, Hazelnut, almonds,

Others: Millet, Oats Caramel, Honey, Vanilla

2. Banana

Fruit: Avocado, Berries, Carambola (Starfruit), Mango, Pawpaw.

Herb/Spice: Cinnamon, Ginger,

Nuts/Seeds: Groundnut, Cashew

Others: Caramel, Cocoa, Coffee, Honey, Yogurt

3. Coconut

Fruit: Banana, Lemon, Guava, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Tomato, Soursop (Aluguntugui)

Herb/Spice: Allspice, Curry, Cumin, Ginger, Lemongrass, Turmeric

Nuts/Seeds: Almonds, Cashew, Brazil nuts.

Others: Caramel, Cocoa, Vanilla

4. Mango

Fruit: Apple, Banana, Berries, Lemon, Coconut, Melon, Pineapples, Tomatoes

Herb/Spice: Cinnamon, Ginger

Others: Caramel, Vanilla.

5. Orange

Fruit: Berries, Cranberry, Grape, Pineapple, carambola (Starfruit), Passionfruit

Herb/Spice: Basil, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Ginger, Lemongrass, Mint, Nutmeg.

Nuts/Seeds: Almonds, Hazelnut.

Others: Vanilla.

Bonus! Watermelon

Fruits: Tomato, Coconut, cucumber, Berries, Pineapple, lemon, Orange

Herbs/Spices: Allspice, Bayleaf, Basil, Cilantro, Mint, Ginger

Nuts/seeds: Sesame seeds, Chia seeds

Others:  Yogurt, Cheese

Get in touch with our nutritionist and let us help you improve your diet and reap the benefits of snacking now. Contact Health Essentials Ghana on +233 (0) 20-195-5791 / +233 (0) 24-450-2785 today!

References:

hsph.harvard.edu

healthessentialsgh.com

Put together by

Maureen Masopeh and Augustina Amarh

Content Creators

Health Essentials Ltd