Healthy Snacks

Your stomach is growling, but lunch is hours away. You could indulge yourself with a snack and it's probably tempting to go the quick and easy route by grabbing a samosa, fries, potato chips, or candy. But you think it's best to avoid treats altogether and wait for lunch as weight loss is your goal.

Whenever we think about snacks, we think of chips, samosa, batata vada, namkeens or biscuits and somehow snacking is always associated with fattening foods. But at the same time we know that sometimes, before it's a full meal time or sometimes when we do not have the time to eat an entire meal we end up eating snacks. Many, despite of knowing it is unhealthy, do it. It is more like a bad habit and people are mostly too busy even to think about it!

Unhealthy eating causes a myriad of problems like unhealthy hair, dull skin with acne and blemishes, constipation, gas and bloating, aging faster than the chronological years, cholesterol problems irregular periods and hirsutism. It can also lead to memory loss, concentration and other emotional disorders etc.

But it is possible to treat yourself to a healthy snack. In fact, if you have a hectic schedule, it's even more important to eat healthy foods that give you the fuel you need to keep going. Snacking on nutritious food can keep your energy level high and your mind alert without taking up a lot of your time. Some nutritious snacks are:

Sweets

• Fruit chat
• Oat biscuits
• Whole wheat muffins
• Anjeer (figs)
• Prunes
• Fruit shakes
• Kishmish (Raisins)

Namkeens

• Moodi mix (rice puffs, channa, tarbooz seeds and few curry patta)
• Corn & wheat mix (Corn flakes, wheat flakes, curry patta, and few peanuts)
• Roasted channa (you can also add some chat masala for some zing!)   
• Roasted moong dal
• Chat papdi (baked)
• Roasted dal plus rice flakes (bhelpuri)

Snacks

• Baked samosa
• Whole wheat bread pizza
• Whole wheat pasta
• whole wheat kaathi roll
• Dhokla
• Khandvi
• Idlis

As with everything, moderation is the key to healthy snacking. People who eat regular meals and healthy snacks are less likely to overeat and gain weight than people who skip meals or go for long periods without eating and then binge on junk food. Healthy snacking is an art and challenge is to balance convenience with nutrition by switching out bad food choices for good ones.