While health-based diets typically focus on dinner and lunch, it also helps to know which heart healthy snacks are the best. Find out what they are.
Most people like to snack throughout the day, which isn’t great if you’re only eating high-sodium or high-sugar snacks. However, you can turn this habit on its head by being smart about your snacks and choosing the heart-healthy ones.
While it’s easy to assume all healthy snacks are bland and boring, there are various delicious options to choose from. Moreover, you can take them on the go, as they fit in your bag just as easily as any prepackaged snack.
If you’re feeling the appetite for snacking, consider the following recommendations for eating heart healthy snacks.
1. Healthy Food
You don’t have to eat salty potato chips or chocolate chip cookies to get that crunchy fix for the day. Instead, switch those unhealthy snacks for food that will enhance your heart health and satisfy your sweet (or savory) tooth.
These snacks include apples, pears, carrots, celery sticks, bell pepper slices, zucchini circles, cucumber circles, and roasted chickpeas. You can also eat broccoli and cauliflower florets, popcorn, rice cakes, whole-grain crackers, nuts, and seeds.
2. Healthy Drinks
Instead of drinking high-sugar beverages like soda, you can drink either plain or sparkling water. In fact, you can give your water a different flavor by adding either fruits or herbs to it.
You can also drink fat-free milk or plain soymilk instead of whole milk and choose unsweetened tea or coffee options. If you must have a sweet-tasting drink, you can drink fruit juice – just make sure it’s 100% fruit juice and drink it in small quantities. Furthermore, if you like drinking your veggies, you can have low-sodium tomato juice or mixed vegetable juice.
3. Filling Snacks
While snacks are supposed to hold you over between bigger meals, that doesn’t mean they can’t fill you up. Consider eating whole-grain with either almond butter or peanut butter.
You can also eat cherry tomatoes with hummus, low-fat or fat-free cheese, and plain low-fat or fat-free yogurt with fruit. Finally, you can include a fruit or veggie smoothie in your schedule and whole-grain crackers with canned tuna or salmon.
4. Healthy Sweets
If you like the taste of sugar between meals, consider switching your cookies for some fruit. For instance, you can eat canned fruit (if it’s in natural juice), baked apples, and frozen fruits like bananas.
You can also eat a fresh fruit salad or a thin slice of either homemade banana-nut bread or angel food cake. Also, feel free to eat unsweetened dried fruits like raisins, dates, and figs.
The Outlook
As you choose your healthy snacks, it’s important that you read the nutrition labels and watch out for added sugars and salt. You can also make healthier versions of your favorite snacks at home where you can choose the healthier ingredients.
In addition to snacking, you can give your health an extra boost by taking supplements like HeartBeet Complete. Its ingredients are effective at promoting circulation, blood pressure, energy levels, and more.
Once you’re ready to give your health the support it deserves, start eating healthy snacks and take HeartBeet Complete.
