Why we buy Healthy snacks?
Healthy Snacks can be a real handy boon for those in-between meal times and when you’re on the go and stuck for something to eat.
‘Snacks’ fall into a few categories; there are snacks that give you an instant energy hit, snacks that simply bridge the gap until the next meal or snacks that replace a meal when a meal is not possible, or much needed convenient friend on a journey with no time to stop and eat a plateful of freshly made hot food.
When it comes to giving your child a snack it’s a minefield of choices
There are the quick fix options that give rise to blood sugar spikes and crashes later on in the day, often parents cave into pressure to give their children sugary fixes as their brain craves instant energy, but the greater impact can be bad or cranky behaviour and a loss of concentration.
Fresh Fruit is the considered standard ‘healthy’ option but often lacks the variety, appeal and allure of more processed, simple carbs or complex flavoursome foods to the young palette as biscuits, sweets, chocolate, and crisps do. We all as biscuits, sweets, chocolate, and crisps do. We all know that white sugar is toxic to the human body, whilst some of us may or not yet know that polyunsaturated oils that crisps are cooked in are highly inflammatory and toxic, upsetting the natural balance of your child’s delicate system, setting them up for probable health problems later on in life.
Then there’s the matter of the word ‘healthy’ which unfortunately has been used so often by the food industry and associated with foods that really aren’t healthy at all that it has become almost a meaningless word. Wholesome and natural foods have a more meaningful ring in today’s jungle of dietary terminology.
What is GI?
Fibre rich Fruit is the natural choice for a ‘ healthy’ snack for your child and low GI fruits in particular hold sway for the healthy crown. Low GI means glycaemic index which is a measurement of the impact of food on your blood sugar; high GI will raise blood sugars quicker than the slower low GI foods.
Berries, cherries, apples, pears, grapefruit, figs, plums and apricots are all low in fructose so sit in the low GI category.
Did you know?
That berries like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries blueberries and cherries are the lowest for natural fruit sugars ( fructose ) and yet have the highest antioxidants of all the fruits. ( antioxidants slow down ageing and help to keep us healthy )
Did you also know?
Cherries are good for your teeth, and blueberries are good for your heart.
There are numerous ways to pimp up your fruit offerings such as dehydrated fruit straps, poached fruit with spices or in combination with other food stuffs.
If you are time poor, as many parents are, fruit as jelly slurps such as Naturelly offer a fun, tasty, unique and accessible way of presenting fruit to your child which provides a practical, wholesome low GI energy solution to snacking conundrums. Somewhere between fruit juice and pots of jelly these pouches are delicious even for the fussiest of eaters perfect for healthy snacks.
Fruits that are low GI can be eaten at any time of the day, slightly higher GI foods are better eaten as a mid morning snack so that they are used by the body for energy rather then stored as fat.
Naturelly pouches are an excellent introduction to the world of healthy snacks containing 100% RDA of Vitamin C and great for the young discerning palette and help cultivate healthier relationships to food for life.
Jazz up the desserts
Try mixing naturelly with yogurts (dairy-free), nuts, oats and seeds.
- Tropical fruits are ideal for a mid morning energy boost snacking
- Berries, apples and pears are ideal for late afternoon snacking.
Naturelly pouches are ideal to take on school field trips, family picnics, hikes up the mountains and woodland adventures. Fabulous at parties and a welcome treat on long car journeys. Comfortably placed in packed lunch boxes and store cupboard staples for emergency snacking.
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