| We are led to believe that there are numerous 'healthy | | | | French dressing, chunks of fatty cheese and perhaps |
| snack' foods that we are permitted to consume at | | | | some deep-fried croutons plus a smattering of fatty |
| any time of the night or day and never experience any | | | | ham will show this salad to be high in fat. Instead, try a |
| bad health. Some would also add that, indeed, these | | | | healthier version with less oil, a light mayonnaise, lean |
| healthy snacks actually do us good. We are lulled into | | | | ham, less cheese and perhaps some baked or grilled |
| a false sense of security, believing that we can happily | | | | wholemeal bread croutons. |
| munch a large variety of snack foods with alacrity. | | | | · FRUIT JUICE |
| The following information will help to dispel those myths | | | | Check the label, you will be surprised at just how much |
| and put them where they belong, in the rubbish bin. | | | | sugar is in the average carton of fruit juice from the |
| · NUTS | | | | supermarket. Rather than drinking down heaps of fruit |
| How many times have you heard that nuts are a very | | | | juice in the belief that it is doing you a power of good, |
| healthy snack food and you can chomp on them on a | | | | try eating a piece of fresh fruit. Not only is it lower in |
| regular basis throughout the day with no detrimental | | | | energy but also more filling as it contains the natural |
| consequences? Well, nuts to that - nuts are high in fat; | | | | fibre generally missing from the straight juice. A glass |
| most nuts are approximately 50% fat! Antioxidants | | | | of freshly squeezed orange juice contains about 430 |
| and 'good' fats they may have, but eat nuts in small | | | | kilojoules - a whole orange has about half this amount. |
| quantities to derive their benefits but without adding | | | | So, if you like to drink heaps of fruit juice on a daily |
| high doses of kilojoules to your daily intake. | | | | basis or you must drink the store-bought variety, try |
| · LITE POTATO CHIPS | | | | diluting your glass of juice with water and limit your |
| Here the word 'Lite' refers to the thin cut of the chip | | | | intake to one or two glasses daily. This will help to |
| (and perhaps lightly sprinkled salt). A 50g packet will | | | | reduce your sugar consumption. |
| contain roughly three teaspoons of fat. If you are | | | | · BAKED NOT FRIED |
| weight watching steer clear of chippies - rice crackers | | | | Whereas 'baked' implies low fat, this is not necessarily |
| are a better bet, together with some light, cottage | | | | the case. If you spot this low fat claim on a pack of |
| cheese, celery sticks or a carrot plus a low-fat dipping | | | | crackers, for example, compare the fat content per |
| sauce. | | | | 100g and then check with other, similar products. Even |
| · CAESAR SALAD | | | | when they are baked, some crackers can have a fat |
| Lettuce does not necessarily a healthy salad make. | | | | content of more than 25%. Why not try rice crackers, |
| Just because there is some crispy green lettuce on | | | | lite bread, rice thins or other similar ones with 5% or |
| the plate does not mean that it is healthy. A rich | | | | less fat? |