15 Tips for Healthy Snacking from a Dietitian

If you want some quick tips for How to Snack Healthier, you're in the right place! I'm a Registered Dietitian, and in this post I share my advice on snacking.

popcorn in a bowl on a white background — Photo by Edgar Soto on Unsplash

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Is Snacking Healthy?

Snacking can absolutely be part of a healthy lifestyle if you choose nutrient-dense snacks in appropriate portion sizes! Snacking can help with blood sugar control, weight management, and meeting your nutrition needs for the day.

According to a recent Food & Health Survey from the International Food Information Council, 72% of Americans snack at least 1 time a day in addition to their meals. And another recent study from Nutrients, a peer-reviewed journal, showed that snacks make up around 20% of the average American's daily calorie intake!

Interestingly, the time of day has an impact on the type of snack people reach for. Common morning snacks are fruit, dairy, pastries, or nutrition bars. In the afternoon people tend to grab something salty, while in the evening many people look to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Since snacks make up so much of what we eat in a day, it’s worth it to make sure you are making nourishing snack choices!

a girl sitting on a hill eating out of a bowl — Photo by Jamie Brown on Unsplash

Here are 15 Healthy Snacking Tips so you can feel great about your food choices:

1. Choose Less Processed Snacks

When possible, opt for whole foods that contain important nutrients. Snacking is a perfect opportunity to make healthy choices to fuel your body until your next mealtime.

Examples of snack ideas that are whole food or minimally processed:

Fresh fruit slices with peanut butter or almond butter. Apple slices or bananas are easy to find at the store and are popular choices to eat with nut butter.
Raw vegetables, whole-grain crackers, or nut & seed crackers with hummus or tzatziki dip. Baby carrots, celery, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers are all great for dipping!
Low-fat yogurt, Greek yogurt, or Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) with chia seeds and frozen fruit, nuts, or granola made from whole grains.
Nuts or seeds. Almonds, pistachios, macadamia nuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, or a mix of nuts and seeds are great choices!

2. Make Homemade Snacks

If you have time and enjoy being in the kitchen, make your own snacks! This gives you the advantage of being able to customize the flavors and is an easy way to cut back on additives found in potato chips and other packaged snacks. It's also a great way to get kids in the kitchen to help make easy snacks!

Examples of snacks you can make at home:

Combine your favorite nuts and seeds to make your own healthy trail mix. Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top and add chopped dates or dark chocolate chips. This will help to satisfy your sweet tooth with less sugar than a candy bar. Antioxidants found in dark chocolate and nuts and seeds can help also help improve brain health!
Blend up a smoothie with spinach, banana, almond milk, and protein powder. Or choose your own favorite combination of smoothie ingredients!
Make homemade Hemp and Date Granola that is ready in just about 30 minutes, tastes amazing, and will have your whole house smelling incredible! For this recipe, you will mix oats with your favorite unsalted nuts and seeds. Then combine honey, olive oil or avocado oil, and vanilla and bake it in the oven before adding naturally sweet chopped dates.
Stovetop Dill Pickle Popcorn. Making popcorn on the stovetop is so nostalgic and it's fun to watch it pop! You can add your own seasonings, but if you're a pickle person and crave salty snacks, the dill pickle flavor of this recipe is perfection!

A hand holding a straw in a green smoothie — Photo by Maryam Sicard on Unsplash

3. Portion Your Snack or Choose a Snack Pack Size

If you are looking for weight loss or want to maintain a healthy weight, serving size matters! Eating straight out of a big bag makes mindless eating more likely, and before you know it the whole bag could be gone when you weren't even all that hungry to begin with.

Instead, prep snack bags for yourself and simply grab one out of the pantry or fridge when hunger strikes!

Some snacks that are relatively low calorie include popcorn, veggies, or fruits. You can eat more of these foods for the same amount of calories as having just a few chips.

Be mindful that while high-fat snacks like nuts, nut butters. and seeds are great snack foods, they aren't low-calorie options. Portioning them out can be helpful.

4. Read the Nutrition Facts Panel and Ingredient Statement

Learning how to read a nutrition facts panel is an important aspect of healthy eating and will help you choose the better snack!

Look for snacks that are lower in saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars and higher in grams of fiber, protein, and heart-healthy fats.

As far as ingredients go, look for whole food and ingredients that you recognize the name of and less artificial ingredients.

5. Keep a Healthy Snack in Your Purse or Bag So You'll Always Be Prepared

It's a good idea to bring a nourishing snack with you when you're having a busy day and won't be at home with access to your pantry or fridge. Choose shelf-stable snacks that don't need to be refrigerated if you will be out and about for many hours!

Examples of healthier snacks to keep in your purse or bag:

Whole grain crackers or nut & seed crackers.
High protein foods - a protein bar or turkey meat stick are good options.
Plain popcorn or popcorn made with minimal ingredients like sea salt instead of butter.
Banana, apple, or orange.
Snack pack bag of roasted chickpeas or roasted edamame.
Granola bars made with oatmeal as a first ingredient and less than 5 grams of sugar.

A white backdrop with 2 bowls of oats and blueberries and 2 gold spoons. — Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

6. Make a List of Your Favorite Healthy Snacks

Become familiar with common snack choices you may see at a vending machine or gas station. This will help you make the healthier choice in the moment when you need a quick snack!

You can choose some from this list of snacks that I buy as a dietitian, or make your own list of favorites to look out for.

7. Pair Nourishing Foods to Stay Full Longer

One of the best healthy habits is to learn how to make balanced meals and snacks. Choose snacks that are a combination of: 1.) complex carbohydrates with dietary fiber, 2.) protein, and 3.) heart-healthy fats.

Balanced snacks that contain multiple food groups will keep you full for longer, keep your energy levels steady, and give you a more stable blood sugar rise than eating a snack that only contains carbohydrates.

Here are some examples of balanced snacks:

Popcorn paired with nuts.
Whole grain crackers paired with black bean dip.
Hard-boiled egg or string cheese paired with a piece of fruit or small bowl of oatmeal.
Low-fat cottage cheese with frozen berries.
Rice cake with a small amount of cream cheese, cucumber slices, and a sprinkle of Everything But the Bagel Seasoning.

Hummus with different vegetables and nut and seed crackers. — Photo by cleo stracuzza on Unsplash

7. Eat Enough at Your Meals

You should be able to go 3-4 hours without eating. If you are getting hungry more frequently than that, chances are you aren’t eating enough at mealtime! If that’s the case, consider increasing your portion sizes at meals and be sure you are eating a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fats.

For example, if you tend to get really hungry between breakfast and lunch, you may need to add more protein at breakfast.

8. Be Mindful of Why You’re Snacking

Sometimes taking a pause to ask yourself whether you're really hungry is enough to get rid of the urge to snack. If you're actually hungry, then eat! But if you are just bored, stressed, or reaching for a snack out of habit, take a few breaths, have a glass of water or tea, and let the moment pass.

9. Don’t Let Yourself Get to a 10 on the Hunger Scale

When you are thinking about food, chances are that your body is hungry! If so, eat a snack that provides you with good nutrition. If you try to designate snack times but you are genuinely hungry an hour before, it's often better to eat a light snack when hunger strikes rather than waiting it out which can lead to overeating and weight gain.

Granola bars on a white background. — Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

10. Don’t Always Fight Cravings

If you are craving something sweet or salty, it's better to have a small portion of the food you are craving than to eat a whole bag of popcorn when a small serving of chips would have satisfied you.

Give yourself an occasional treat! Have a small serving of ice cream or a chocolate chip cookie if that's what you want. People often end up over-indulging when they deprive their body of the foods they truly want and usually end up feeling guilty. Instead, simply enjoy the food you are eating and go on about your day!

You don't always have to choose the healthier options, but you might find yourself craving less junk food once you start eating nourishing foods and notice how great you feel.

11. Don’t Skip Breakfast!

One of the benefits of eating a nourishing breakfast is that you are less likely to snack later in the day.

People who eat breakfast have been shown to eat less calories and get more of the nutrition they need throughout the day. This is because breakfast skippers tend to snack on unhealthy food that doesn't contain many nutrients later in the afternoon and evening.

If you aren't hungry in the morning, try eating something small like yogurt with granola or a protein bar.

12 Ideas for a Hormone Balancing Breakfast

a woman wearing yellow and smiling while she eats a blueberry. — Getty Images on Unsplash

12. Stay Hydrated

Sometimes people mistake thirst for hunger so staying hydrated can help you cut back on excessive snacking.

Try to drink water rather than drinks that contain empty calories. Replace sugary drinks like fruit juice, soft drinks, or energy drinks with water or tea.

If you have trouble drinking plain water, try these ideas for how to make water taste better.

13. Don’t Keep Unhealthy Snacks in the House (or Keep Them Out of View)

An easy way to avoid the temptation to snack on empty calories is to keep nourishing snacks where you can see them and put the less nourishing snacks out of your line of sight.

You are much more likely to grab an unhealthy snack if you’re hungry or bored and it’s the first thing you see when you open the pantry.

If possible, don't buy the tempting foods that you know aren't part of your healthy eating goals.

14. Use Mealtime Foods as Snack Time Foods

Nutritious foods can be eaten at any time of the day! A snack is generally thought of as an easy on-the-go option, but with so many people working remotely it may be easier to prepare nourishing snacks or have access to refrigerated snack options.

If you work from home, take advantage of this by opting for foods you may normally think of as being part of a meal as snacks.

For example, a scrambled egg with a handful of spinach and ½ a cup of blueberries has around 100 calories. It has the same amount of calories as many snack-packs, but is more likely to satisfy you and provides more nutrients like protein, fats, vitamin A, vitamin D, and potassium!

A bowl of oatmeal is a great snack choice, too! Add berries for even more antioxidants. Oatmeal has been shown to help with heart disease by helping to lower cholesterol. And the fiber in oats will keep you full until your next meal.

hard boiled eggs — Photo by Mustafa Bashari on Unsplash

15. Make a Grocery List!

Go to the grocery store or supermarket with a plan by making a list on a piece of paper or your phone. This can prevent you from overspending and impulse buying less healthy foods.

Take it a step further and take an inventory before you head to the grocery store. Take note of what you already have in your pantry and fridge and if you meal plan ahead of time, take a look at your meals and decide what nutrients you will need more of. Then fill in the gaps with snacks!

For example, if you are planning a lot of high-protein meals, balance out your day with snacks full of dietary fiber and carbohydrates or healthy fats. If your meals will be more carb-heavy, opt for snacks that are higher in protein.

Apple slices with peanut butter. — Photo by Natalie Behn on Unsplash

In Conclusion

Recent studies show that snacking makes up around 20% of the average American’s calorie intake, making snack time a great opportunity to meet nutrition needs by choosing healthy snacks. Take these tips with you next time you are in the mood for a snack and be sure to check out my favorite nourishing snacks to bring on a road trip!

I hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new! I would love to hear from you if so. Please leave me a comment below or find me on Instagram....I LOVE knowing there’s people out there reading my articles. 🙂 IG: @mallorythedietitian.