my top two healthy, filling snacks
I call them “my gorging remedies” because when my appetite escapes control, I get on the verge of inhaling all-food-in-sight. Without these two safe and simple snacks to indulge in, my diet gets raped and ravaged. My blood sugar becomes damaging.
Now, that’s the extreme scenario, but it has happened to me more than once.
More commonly, I grab a fistful of these treats for a mid-morning, a mid-afternoon or (very rarely) a bedtime snack. This keeps me balanced and satisfied.
The first snack is magic, the second is misunderstood.
Ready?
Snack #1 is large, unsweetened coconut chips. I buy them in bulk online at Nuts.com to save money.
Bland tasting? Kind of…
To me, they are slightly sweet. Sugar has been out of my diet long enough that I can enjoy the unenhanced natural sweetness in most foods. This takes a few weeks.
I’ll tell you how to rev up your flavor experience, in a bit.
Fresh, unsweetened coconut chips are chewy and have a pleasant, subtle flavor. That you have to chew and get your saliva going is key to satisfaction.
Here’s what you’re eating.:
1/4 cup serving ( A fistful. I measured.)
- Calories 100 – a Snicker’s bar has 250 calories
- Fat 10g (saturated fat 9g)
- Cholesterol 0mg
- Sodium 0mg
- Potasium 0mg
- Total Carbs 4g
- Fiber 3g
- Sugar 1g
- Protein 1g
Why is this magic? It seems high in fat and calories. Bad stuff! … but not really.
There are books written on the healing qualities of coconut oil
Next, when you mix in the high fiber content of dried coconut meat ( 3x the fiber of broccoli), you inhibit the absorption of the carbs. Fiber promotes good overall digestive health.
Coconut chips are not only healthy, they are healing! To go deeper, check out this book, The Coconut Oil Miracle, 5th Edition
on Amazon.
In the meantime, here’s ways to zing the flavor. Flavor is satisfying.
Rev Up the Flavor
- Squeeze a lime over the chips
- Add optional salt
- Chile flakes
- garlic powder
- Cinnamon or other herbs and spices
- Tabasco sauces (my favorite is Chipotle)
- Toast briefly – I never do this out of laziness.
Heck, mix your chips with Snack #2,
NUTS. Mix almonds with coconut to get …? Yum!
Nuts can be raw or roasted, but not “dry roasted”. Read the dry roasted label. They add some weird stuff. Buy them salted or unsalted, but never sweetened or honey roasted. Doing that will defeat your hunger control.
Your choice.
I always have a bag or can of nuts on hand for those special diet moments.
Snacking on nuts will also encourage you to drink more water. This helps all around, but most importantly, when that urgent food craving finally fades, the damage that’s been done is minimal.
Wait!
Aren’t nuts high in calories and fat? How can that be good?
Well, you’ve been mislead.
Yes, nuts have fats, but how readily are those fats absorbed and turned into unwanted pounds?
Not very readily, it turns out. There is some solid science involved.
I believe it is because of the ratios of proteins, fiber and fat found in nuts that make the fats less readily available to absorb. See the study “Peanuts-the Next Diet Food” from “The International Journal of Obesity”. Link provided at article’s end.
A long story short, nuts are my single biggest and best diet weapon. I’ve consumed 5 cans of nuts a week for years and steadily lost weight!
Give nuts an honored place in your diet toolbox.
Please experiment.
You’ll lose weight!
NOTE: Study link is… http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Peanuts-the-next-diet-food
I recommend substituting nuts for peanuts. Peanuts are not truly a nut. Same bennies, but less possible unwanted reactivity.
Would you like more healthy snacks?