How Pathetic! Most Popular Snacks are Really Bad for You
The 25 most popular snacks in America were ranked in an article I read the other day. It was a pathetic list. Nearly every item was highly processed, full of sugars, artificial ingredients or preservatives, and at best only approximated real food. You can find the two exceptions here.
I’ll skip the snark and just tell you that they were all made by the very largest snack companies. Missing from the list were all the snack items I’d expect to see, like fresh and dried fruits, raw veggies, cheese, and nuts.
I know you are not surprised by any of this. Health experts have been preaching for years about what we should and should not eat. Yet, still too many American adults reach for processed snacks because they’re used to the taste of processed foods, excess salt and excess sugar.
What if there was a better option? Snacks that are real food you can taste? With flavors you love, made with real ingredients, and low in those things that are bad for you.
You deserve snacks that are real food you can taste. Snacks made for adults.
Snacking is Good for You
There are many good reasons to snack, such as to manage blood sugar or to ward off the hangries. Nobody wants a growling stomach to interrupt a meeting. Or, maybe you need to give yourself an energy boost before taking on a strenuous task or workout.
Plus, snacking is an excellent way to add more foods derived from plants to your diet. Snacks such as pecans offer essential vitamins and minerals for optimal health and fiber. When you eat real food for snacks, you help minimize your chances of suffering obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and heart attacks.
What to Look for in Snacks
More and more Americans have turned away from the most popular snacks processed. Instead, they are turning toward natural, plant-derived snacks that are seasoned for the adult palate. If you’re ready to join these Americans, give pecans a try.
Pecans are a good option because they provide you with 3 grams of dietary fiber. They contain no sodium, no cholesterol, and no gluten. You can read more about the nutritional value of pecans here in a previous post. Check out the accompanying infographic.
Fiber and sodium are good ingredients to pay attention to when selecting a snack. The daily recommended amount of fiber is 25 to 30 grams each day. Plus, fiber makes you feel fuller longer. Most of us need more fiber in our diets.
What we don’t need more of is sodium. The American Heart Association reports that 70 percent of the sodium in the average American diet comes from processed foods. Low-sodium foods are typically unprocessed, and contain less than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving.
A Better Snack Option
I suspect one reason packaged snacks are so popular is their convenience. Although I bet the taste of combined sugar, fat, and salt rank higher for most people. Still, packaged snacks can be more convenient than raw foods. They’re easier to take everywhere you go, and they require no utensils or refrigerated storage.
We’ve combined the best of both in a snack that is seasoned for adults, is good for you, and is convenient no matter where you are. A single five-ounce resealable pouch of Wutta Nut! pecans gives you five snacks, one for each day of the week. A pouch takes minimal space in a desk drawer or briefcase, so it’s always close at hand for that late-morning or mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
This time of year, it’s also a great size to take with you to the ballpark, whether you’re watching your favorite team with some friends, coaching your kids, or playing in a league yourself. Open the pouch and pass it around as a better snack choice for adults than the standard fare.
The Choice is Yours
You already know that highly processed foods with too much fat, salt, sugar, artificial ingredients and preservatives are not good for your health. The question is, what choice are you going to make? Will you continue to eat snacks that damage your health, or will you begin to choose foods that taste great and also support good health?
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