When you eat, what is your primary goal? Do you focus on choosing foods that are good for your health? Have you fallen into a habit of only wanting to eat things you like or that satisfy a craving? Do you keep healthy snacks on hand at home or to carry with you when you’re on the road? There is ample evidence to show that the ingredients in typical snack foods (i.e. potato chips, Doritos, Takis, etc.) are terrible for your health. Such foods also have an addictive quality so the more you eat, the more you want to have that particular food again.
If you’re like many people who have become more health conscious in 2020, healthy snacks should be part of your plan. Maybe you’re one of those rare human beings who don’t snack at all. If so, then, just pass this information along to the 99.9999% of the population who DOES. (Totally fabricated and non factual percentage there. Just sayin’, so I don’t get gobs of hate mail. lol) If you’re wanting to turn the tide on your unhealthy eating habits, these 4 healthy snack ideas may interest you. You can easily make them in an oven or dehydrator.
Kale is a superfood and kale chips are the bomb of healthy snacks
Listen. If you don’t like kale, you need to eat it anyway. Kale is one of the healthiest foods on the planet. FOR REAL. It improves vision. It’s also loaded with omega-3 acids that act as anti-inflammatory agents throughout your body. In fact, kale is the superhero of natural suppressants for chronic inflammation. Cancer researchers believe that Glucosinolates prevent cancer, especially breast cancer and colon cancer.
Guess what? Kale is the only food that contains FIVE Glucosinolates! Most health experts agree that regularly incorporating kale into your diet may reduce your chance of heart attack as much as 60%! So, let’s go. Start making your own kale chips! Here’s one of several ways to make them! Some people prefer to use the lowest setting on the oven or a dehydrator to get the moisture OUT. This video used a higher temperature and left moisture in. Both ways work — the video’s process takes less time. Also, if you’re using a low temp or dehydrating method, tear the leaves OFF the stem all the way because the stem holds moisture. One more thing: I personally sprinkle a little salt before the cooking or dehydrating process because I think it ‘clings’ better that way, but it’s up to you.
More oven chips that are tasty and easy to make
Our next three healthy snacks are also of the chip variety. Apples, bananas and tomatoes are super good for your health. Apples are known to lower the risk of diabetes. They are also a prebiotic (like apple cider vinegar with the mother in it) that feeds your gut. Note: If you get confused between prebiotics and probiotics, the short explanation is that PRObiotics are good bacteria that populate your gut. PREbiotics are compounds that nourish the good bacteria in your gut. In other words, prebiotics feed probiotics. You need teeming amounts of both to have a strong immune system!
Potassium helps maintain good heart health and blood pressure. Bananas are loaded with it. They also aid the digestive process. Tomatoes are a major source of antioxidants, particularly lycopene. They are among the most beneficial cancer fighting foods. They’re also full of vitamin C, folate (iron) and vitamin K. Making healthy snacks with apple, banana or tomato chips is super easy and delicious! I like spicy foods, so I sprinkle hot red pepper seeds on my tomato slices before dehydrating or baking them. Also, my favorite apple chips are plain, but my kids love them sprinkled with cinnamon and a tad bit of raw sugar. The great thing about banana chips is that people who struggle with the texture of a raw banana often enjoy the crunch and flavor of a chip! Check out these easy recipes:
You can tweak these recipes to your preference. For instance, many people brush their banana slices with lemon juice first or soak them in water with turmeric and lemon juice, like a brine. These recipes use an oven, but as I mentioned earlier, you can use a dehydrator, as well.
Make healthy snacks part of your New Year
The key to good health is a strong immune system. The problem is that you might think you’re healthy because your immune system isn’t visible to the naked eye. Many people are walking around believing they’re healthy when, in fact, their immune systems are in BAD shape. Understand that viruses themselves do not make you ill. You have viruses in your body all the time. A weak immune system makes you ill. If a virus or pathogen enters your body and your immune system is weak, it is unable to eradicate the virus or pathogen. The germ gains the stronghold and THEN you become ill. In other words, our own weak immune system causes illness, not the germ itself.
This is why, if strengthening your immune system and becoming healthier is a primary goal of yours for the New Year, you’ll want to start making healthy snacks and rid your pantry and freezer of JUNK food and processed food items. You can do it! I know you can! Why not invite some friends over for a healthy snack making day? As a parent, you have an opportunity to teach your kids about healthy snacks and how to strengthen their immune systems. They’ll grow up living a healthy lifestyle. Teaching kids these lessons while they’re young can change the tide of American health, which is currently a disastrous tsunami of disease and illness. You can be part of the change!
Do you have more heathy snack ideas to share? We want to hear about them!
