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Healthy Snacks to Lose Weight

Puzzled whether

Snacking = Weight Loss or Weight Gain?

Snacks healthy or unhealthy?

Let’s clarify the two major questions that people in general have in mind:

Snacking leads to obesity.
Can snacks be really healthy?

Snacking & Obesity Confusion Decoded:

Whether snacking leads to obesity or not, depends upon two major factors – Type of Snacks & Snacking Behavior. Research shows that people generally snack on fruit, cookies, chips, ice cream, candy, popcorn, soft drinks, tea, crackers, cake, yogurt, nuts, seeds, etc. which can be either healthy or unhealthy. For instance, fresh fruit is a healthy snack but candied fruit is an unhealthy snack, but both are fruits. So it is important to differentiate between a healthy and unhealthy snack. Any snack food with high sugar, saturated fat, and high sodium content can be considered as unhealthy snack. Candied Fruit is unhealthy as it has added sugar content while fresh fruit is a natural snack. Unhealthy Snacks like cakes, pastries, cookies, chips, biscuits, ice cream, candy, soft drinks, sweets, deep-fried foods like pakora, are laden with empty calories with zero nutritional value and hence consumption of these snacks has been known to cause obesity, which is known to be the root cause of major lifestyle disorders like Diabetes, Heart Problems, Hypertension, to name a few. Unhealthy snacking may also lead to skipping main meals leading to nutritional deficiencies. Inappropriate snacking behaviours like emotional eating, stress induced binge eating, overeating/uncontrolled eating are also leading causes of obesity.

So you must be wondering, then how does snacking aid weight loss.

Let’s first understand the term snack- Any food consumed in between main meals is considered a snack. One of the cardinal rules of right and mindful eating is to have small frequent meals. It helps better hunger management, maintaining optimal blood sugar levels, appetite control, and satiety - all of which aid weight loss. Snacks play the crucial role fulfilling the need for mid-morning, post-lunch, afternoon and evening meals. They also serve the purpose of pre- and post- exercise meal option.

Can snacks be really healthy?

Snacks can be healthy if chosen right and consumed mindfully. Choosing foods that are not high in refined sugar content or deep fried or ultra-processed is the first step towards mindful snacking. Healthy snacks should contain a balanced nutrition profile comprising of complex carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, dietary fibre, as well as essential vitamins and minerals.

Let’s check out some healthy snacks to lose weight:

Dry fruits, Seeds and Nuts: Laden with omega 3 fatty acids, essential vitamins and minerals, dry fruits, nuts and seeds make them one of the perfect choices of healthy snacks to buy. In fact, they can be considered to be one of the healthy late night snacks for weight loss. Almonds, walnuts, pista, chia seeds and flax seeds are the must-have options in your daily pantry. Dates, raisins or dried cranberries, blueberries should also be allowed some space. Being naturally sweet, they help manage sweet cravings which would have otherwise definitely led to binge eating some mouthwatering junk. This category scores some extra brownie points for being very outdoor friendly as it’s super easy to both carry and munch them at the same time.
Trail Mix & Seed Mix: Are you looking for healthy tea snacks? Have a serving of trail mix or roasted seed mix as snacks instead of bhujia or oil fried chips with your evening cup of garam chai. Being loaded with healthy fats along with essential vitamins and minerals, they not only make a great accompaniment with your evening refresher but also serve the dual purpose of being the choice of snacks for weight loss.
Fruits and Vegetables: Seasonal fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C etc. While a serving of whole fruit or mixed fruit salad can be preferred as a mid-morning snack for weight loss, a hearty bowl of mixed vegetable soup can be a healthy evening snack in case you are eating out.
Milk and milk products: Instead of ice cream, have raita or curd. Homemade chenna (cottage cheese) from skimmed milk can be one of the best evening snacks for weight loss. Tofu, the vegan equivalent for cottage cheese can be a suitable alternative for people who are allergic to milk.
Sprouts & Legumes: Instead of papri chaat, have Sprout Chaat to maintain a healthy weight. Add chopped cucumber and tomato with a dash of lemon juice, black pepper powder, chaat masala to enhance the taste as well as nutrition. It’s one of the most nutritious and healthy evening snacks for weight loss.
Home Made Snacks: Instead of noodles, momo and other fast foods have home-made vegetable stuffed Besan Chilla or Oats Besan Tikki or dhokla. Both make great options as low calorie indian evening snacks for weight loss.
Non-Veg Snacks: Does your imagination go to the taste of chicken pakora or chicken drumsticks in the evening? Have an egg (poached) or a cup of chicken soup to avoid extra calorie intake.
Roasted snacks: Instead of unhealthy deep-fried snacks, try roasted snacks. Roasted chana, roasted phool/tal makhana, roasted chiwda, roasted papad etc are healthy indian tea snacks.

So Snack Right to Lose Weight. Above all, Healthy Snacking is not an oxymoron anymore.

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