When choosing a nutritious snack, ideally you want to look for one that will supply your body with a little decent protein, quality carbohydrate and nourishing fat. Even if you’re eating something like a piece of fruit, it’s best to include a little something extra to provide the protein and fat to curb the insulogenic effects of those natural sugars on your blood glucose levels (and vice versa, ie make sure you have some fruit or root veggie etc, with your protein), whilst giving you longer-lasting energy.
17 is a bit of an odd number, but that’s what I came up with. Here goes…
1. Ripe fruit and a chunk of good cheese. Filling and nutritious, the fruit and cheese combo is delicious – try goats cheese + pear, grapes + cheddar, fresh figs + blue cheese. Just make sure you go for quality cheese – from grass-grazing cattle, raw cheese if you can get it.
2. Boiled eggs. Your natural multivitamin in a single food (read more about the nutritional value of eggs here). Jazz them up with a little unrefined sea salt and cracked pepper, a smear of organic butter or a dollop of home-made pesto (recipe) and you’re good to go. Combine with a piece of fresh fruit.
3. Leftovers. A small piece of fish with a few slices of cooked sweet potato, a little leftover steak and veg, home-made curry, stir-fry, root vegetable soup, etc. Leftovers from home-cooked meals can make for the most satisfying and nutritious snacks, and tend to be fairly well-balanced options in terms of providing good amounts of all your macronutrients.
4. Warm milk and honey. Who doesn’t love a warm cup of milk with honey? Add chai spices (cinnamon, cloves, star anise, ginger, etc) and sea salt for a beautiful snack that’s soothing to the adrenal glands and will help to reduce any excess stimulation of cortisol and adrenalin in the body (although you may just want to curl up and nod off afterwards!).
5. Raw carrot salad. Sorry to go all “rabbit food” on you, but a raw carrot is actually a great thing to include in your diet. Carrots (and bamboo shoots) contain unique fibres that have a natural antibiotic effect in the gut, reduce inflammation, and can bind to and help eliminate excess hormones and endotoxin. Grate it up and combine with a little coconut oil and cinnamon, or chop it up into sticks to dip in homemade pate, pesto, strained yoghurt, etc.
6. Coconut – fresh or dried. Dried coconut chips or flakes are an easy snack that will give you a good serving of medium-chain saturated fatty acids, fibre and potassium (read more about the benefits of coconut here) – you can eat them on their own or sprinkle them over cut fruit and/or yoghurt. Seek out a young Thai (green) coconut and crack it open to reap the benefits of the fresh coconut water, and scoop out the soft flesh of the coconut as well. If you’re feeling up to it, a spoonful of cold coconut butter or oil (it goes hard in the fridge or cool pantry) is a fantastic hunger-buster and will help to nip cravings in the bud.
7. A fruit-based smoothie. Add plenty of fresh fruit, milk, yoghurt or coconut milk, cocoa powder, cinnamon, untreated honey, etc. If you’re game – add egg yolks and/or gelatin for an incredibly nutritious snack.
8. Olives. Olives are great to nibble on, although go for quality olives preserved in extra virgin olive oil over the canned varieties. They’re full of monounsaturated fatty acids – try kalamatas or large green olives stuffed with sheep’s milk feta for a little added protein, and eat them alongside a good few handfuls of crunchy capsicum or fresh pear slices.
9. Frittata. Sliced potato with rosemary, zucchini and roast tomatoes is a favourite combination of mine for an egg frittata or Spanish tortilla, (see above, about eggs). It’s all too easy to cook up a big frittata on the weekend and cut it into slices ready to go for meals and snacks during the week. You can even freeze the portions and defrost/reheat them as you need – great served cold or reheated.
10. Strained yoghurt or kefir. A nice balance of fats, carbohydrates (from the milk sugars) and complete protein. Avoid the skim varieties and ones loaded with additives, and spend the extra money on a beautiful organic goat, sheep or cow’s milk variety with no added milk solids or gums. There should be just two ingredients listed on your yoghurt – whole milk and live cultures. Add some fresh fruit such as berries or papaya, or even a raw grated carrot, honey, and a dash of cinnamon.
11. Quality chocolate. Seriously good, but we’re talking about real bittersweet chocolate, with a high-percentage of cocoa solids – at least 70, if not 85 or 90%. It’ll give you a nice dose of magnesium, plus quality fats to keep you going. For an even more nutritious option with the added bonus of coconut oil, see here for the recipe for coconut oil chocolate with sea salt and chilli.
12. Bone broth. If you’re up for it, a cup of well-prepared bone broth (or stock) is a brilliant snack (and a great thing to try and get into your diet as often as possible). Add plenty of sweet beets, sea salt and fresh herbs – it will win you over! For more on the benefits of bone stock and gelatin, see this post and this one.
13. Sweet potato chips. Completely addictive. Just cut sweet potatoes into wedges or thin discs and shallow fry in a little butter or coconut oil, before draining on paper towel and tossing with herbs or cinnamon and sea salt. Serve with a little pure sour cream if you like.
14. Macadamia nuts. The top pick out of the various types of nuts for their low inflammatory polyunsaturated fat content and high percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids (see this post for more information). For chocolate-covered macadamias, simply dip the macadamias in a little melted 85% dark chocolate and cool on baking paper.
15. Baked spud. Bake sweet or white potatoes whole for at least 40 minutes and enjoy hot or cold with a dollop of natural, organic yoghurt, grated cheese or sour cream and a sprinkling of herbs, dried chilli and spices – whichever tickles your fancy.
16. Berries and coconut milk. Yet another coconut option, but a good one to include! You could even use few tablespoons of pure, organic cream (read more in this post) for a hefty dose of fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K and conjugated linoleic acid. Proof that healthy food can taste pretty wonderful!
17. Pâté. Liver is one of the world’s most amazing foods – it’s one of the highest sources of dietary iron available to us, as well as being incredibly rich in a whole host of other micronutrients: vitamin C, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin D, choline, phosphorus and manganese. Albeit, liver can be a little hard to stomach for the initiated, so pâté is a brilliant way to get in this superfood. Choose a quality pâté (preferably organic) made with natural butter and herbs, and serve with some carrot, cucumber or capsicum slices for dipping.
It’s not an exhaustive list, but there are some pretty good options on there for everyone – surely you’d be able to find at least one or two that you like the sound of. Whichever you choose, it would surely rock the socks off a muesli bar any day!
1. Ripe fruit and a chunk of good cheese. Filling and nutritious, the fruit and cheese combo is delicious – try goats cheese + pear, grapes + cheddar, fresh figs + blue cheese. Just make sure you go for quality cheese – from grass-grazing cattle, raw cheese if you can get it.
2. Boiled eggs. Your natural multivitamin in a single food (read more about the nutritional value of eggs here). Jazz them up with a little unrefined sea salt and cracked pepper, a smear of organic butter or a dollop of home-made pesto (recipe) and you’re good to go. Combine with a piece of fresh fruit.
3. Leftovers. A small piece of fish with a few slices of cooked sweet potato, a little leftover steak and veg, home-made curry, stir-fry, root vegetable soup, etc. Leftovers from home-cooked meals can make for the most satisfying and nutritious snacks, and tend to be fairly well-balanced options in terms of providing good amounts of all your macronutrients.
4. Warm milk and honey. Who doesn’t love a warm cup of milk with honey? Add chai spices (cinnamon, cloves, star anise, ginger, etc) and sea salt for a beautiful snack that’s soothing to the adrenal glands and will help to reduce any excess stimulation of cortisol and adrenalin in the body (although you may just want to curl up and nod off afterwards!).
5. Raw carrot salad. Sorry to go all “rabbit food” on you, but a raw carrot is actually a great thing to include in your diet. Carrots (and bamboo shoots) contain unique fibres that have a natural antibiotic effect in the gut, reduce inflammation, and can bind to and help eliminate excess hormones and endotoxin. Grate it up and combine with a little coconut oil and cinnamon, or chop it up into sticks to dip in homemade pate, pesto, strained yoghurt, etc.
6. Coconut – fresh or dried. Dried coconut chips or flakes are an easy snack that will give you a good serving of medium-chain saturated fatty acids, fibre and potassium (read more about the benefits of coconut here) – you can eat them on their own or sprinkle them over cut fruit and/or yoghurt. Seek out a young Thai (green) coconut and crack it open to reap the benefits of the fresh coconut water, and scoop out the soft flesh of the coconut as well. If you’re feeling up to it, a spoonful of cold coconut butter or oil (it goes hard in the fridge or cool pantry) is a fantastic hunger-buster and will help to nip cravings in the bud.
7. A fruit-based smoothie. Add plenty of fresh fruit, milk, yoghurt or coconut milk, cocoa powder, cinnamon, untreated honey, etc. If you’re game – add egg yolks and/or gelatin for an incredibly nutritious snack.
8. Olives. Olives are great to nibble on, although go for quality olives preserved in extra virgin olive oil over the canned varieties. They’re full of monounsaturated fatty acids – try kalamatas or large green olives stuffed with sheep’s milk feta for a little added protein, and eat them alongside a good few handfuls of crunchy capsicum or fresh pear slices.
9. Frittata. Sliced potato with rosemary, zucchini and roast tomatoes is a favourite combination of mine for an egg frittata or Spanish tortilla, (see above, about eggs). It’s all too easy to cook up a big frittata on the weekend and cut it into slices ready to go for meals and snacks during the week. You can even freeze the portions and defrost/reheat them as you need – great served cold or reheated.
10. Strained yoghurt or kefir. A nice balance of fats, carbohydrates (from the milk sugars) and complete protein. Avoid the skim varieties and ones loaded with additives, and spend the extra money on a beautiful organic goat, sheep or cow’s milk variety with no added milk solids or gums. There should be just two ingredients listed on your yoghurt – whole milk and live cultures. Add some fresh fruit such as berries or papaya, or even a raw grated carrot, honey, and a dash of cinnamon.
11. Quality chocolate. Seriously good, but we’re talking about real bittersweet chocolate, with a high-percentage of cocoa solids – at least 70, if not 85 or 90%. It’ll give you a nice dose of magnesium, plus quality fats to keep you going. For an even more nutritious option with the added bonus of coconut oil, see here for the recipe for coconut oil chocolate with sea salt and chilli.
12. Bone broth. If you’re up for it, a cup of well-prepared bone broth (or stock) is a brilliant snack (and a great thing to try and get into your diet as often as possible). Add plenty of sweet beets, sea salt and fresh herbs – it will win you over! For more on the benefits of bone stock and gelatin, see this post and this one.
13. Sweet potato chips. Completely addictive. Just cut sweet potatoes into wedges or thin discs and shallow fry in a little butter or coconut oil, before draining on paper towel and tossing with herbs or cinnamon and sea salt. Serve with a little pure sour cream if you like.
14. Macadamia nuts. The top pick out of the various types of nuts for their low inflammatory polyunsaturated fat content and high percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids (see this post for more information). For chocolate-covered macadamias, simply dip the macadamias in a little melted 85% dark chocolate and cool on baking paper.
15. Baked spud. Bake sweet or white potatoes whole for at least 40 minutes and enjoy hot or cold with a dollop of natural, organic yoghurt, grated cheese or sour cream and a sprinkling of herbs, dried chilli and spices – whichever tickles your fancy.
16. Berries and coconut milk. Yet another coconut option, but a good one to include! You could even use few tablespoons of pure, organic cream (read more in this post) for a hefty dose of fat-soluble vitamins A, D and K and conjugated linoleic acid. Proof that healthy food can taste pretty wonderful!
17. Pâté. Liver is one of the world’s most amazing foods – it’s one of the highest sources of dietary iron available to us, as well as being incredibly rich in a whole host of other micronutrients: vitamin C, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin D, choline, phosphorus and manganese. Albeit, liver can be a little hard to stomach for the initiated, so pâté is a brilliant way to get in this superfood. Choose a quality pâté (preferably organic) made with natural butter and herbs, and serve with some carrot, cucumber or capsicum slices for dipping.
It’s not an exhaustive list, but there are some pretty good options on there for everyone – surely you’d be able to find at least one or two that you like the sound of. Whichever you choose, it would surely rock the socks off a muesli bar any day!
