The second of three blogs

National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign celebrated annually in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the United States’ largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.  The National Nutrition Month campaign focuses on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.  In addition, National Nutrition Month® promotes registered dietitians as the most valuable and credible source of timely, scientifically-based food and nutrition information.

2018 National Nutrition Month Theme

“Go Further with Food” is the theme for 2018, a reminder to eat healthfully for ongoing energy and plan meals and snacks in advance. Preparing healthy snacks at home can keep you going strong throughout your day, on track with your health and lifestyle plan, and on budget.

“Go Further with Food” by Preparing Snacks in Advance

Which of these snacking scenarios fits you best?

1. I make a 3 pm trip down the hall to the vending machine to keep from falling asleep.

2. I meant to eat the fruit from my lunchbox, but didn’t have time.

3. I would have a snack, but I don’t have any food on hand.

4. I snack all day; every time I pass my coworker’s candy dish.

No doubt about it, none of the above snacking routines promote good health, and we’re all guilty of one or all of them, whether it’s a daily habit or on occasion, but snacking can be healthy, when done right.  Smart snacking, where healthy foods are eaten in controlled portions, has many benefits.

Preparing snacks in advance can help us stay ahead of all of the above snacking snafus, each of which can get us into trouble with our healthy eating goals.  Smart, prepared snacks are a great way to control binge eating, maintain a high level of energy through the day, increase the nutrients in our diet, and improve the nutritional balance and variety of our food choices.

For most, a healthy diet includes food choices from all food groups on a daily basis.  For review, the food groups are protein, fruit, vegetable, whole grains and dairy.  What better way to eat from all food groups than to include whole foods from these groups as snacks between meals.

Follow these guidelines when preparing healthy snacks:

1. Include a combo of carb and protein

    Quality carb choices include fruit, yogurt, whole grain crackers, and vegetables.  Some ideas for wholesome proteins are nuts, seeds, cheese, lean meats and nut butters like peanut butter.

2. Limit traditional refined snack foods

    If some of your favorite snacks include chips, cookies and candy, have them on occasion versus regularly.

3. Monitor portions

    One benefit of choosing whole foods is that calories are almost always lower. A piece of fruit and an ounce of part-skim cheese not only has fewer calories than a small bag of chips or a medium cookie, but also contains far more nutrients, including fiber, calcium, and protein.

4. Know what you’re consuming

    Read the label to look for snacks within your calorie limit that give 10% or more of at least one vitamin or mineral.

Here are a few snack ideas to get you moving in the right direction:

• Single-serving yogurt with 2 Tbsp low-fat granola

• One string cheese with 5 Triscuit crackers

• A dozen almonds and a dozen dried cherries

• One banana and 1 tablespoon almond butter

• One small baked potato with ¼ cup cottage cheese and ¼ cup sal

Karen Fisher, MS, RDN, CDE is a dietitian in Reno, Nevada, happily promoting the benefits of healthy foods at her nutrition consulting firm, Nutrition Connection.