10 Healthy Snacks for Merienda Time

From Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen's Blog

Many of you on are concerned about what snacks you can have during the Bon Appétit Diet!

First, I advise you to refer to your meal plan so you don't exceed your daily calorie level. If you see some fresh fruit or yogurt for lunch, you can save them to eat for your merienda at 4 pm.

On the other hand, you can take a look at this list of healthy snacks and make the appropriate substitution based on the List of Food Equivalences in the Bonus section (e.g. if you have a pack of crackers, eat less rice at dinner). You can also ask for our dietitian's help through the Personal Questions tool.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 healthy snacks!

1. Fresh fruit. It can be consumed at any time of day without compromising your diet and exercise efforts.

2. Dried fruit (raisins, prunes, apricots, dates, apples, etc.). Grab a handful, and you're good to go.

3. You can also make trail mix by mixing dried fruits and nuts. The combination of diverse tastes, the fiber from fruits, and the fat from nuts will satiate you and provide nutrients at the same time.

4. To avoid monotony, you can switch your consumption of fruit with dairy products such as yogurt (58 kcal, provided that there is no sugar) and cottage cheese.

5. Rather than peanuts or chips during movie or TV night, prepare a veggie snack plate with cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced carrots, celery, cucumber or cucumber.

6. Choose light salad dressing, and use as minimally as possible.

7. If you have a hot-air popper, make some popcorn, preferably with no sugar, salt, or oil. If you can recall last week, you can add spices and herbs for flavoring instead.

8. Look for some diet biscuits with very few calories (75 kcal on average).

9. Chocolate can also be a smart snack. Choose a diet chocolate, or dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa.

10. Finally, remember that water, tea, and fresh fruit juice and smoothies (request for no additional sugar) can be effective to counter sudden hunger. Drink a glass of water if you feel a little hungry, and gauge whether it is real hunger or not. If it is, go ahead and have a healthy nibble.

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