Aging well is more than just being lucky or seeing the doctor. It requires a dedicated commitment to an overall healthy lifestyle. Things like exercise, hydration, proper nutrition, managing stress, and more, can all influence your health as you grow older through your twilight years. Making smart choices when it comes to food means more than paying attention to just your meals, it also requires making good choices when it comes to snacking.
Healthy snacking doesn’t mean sacrificing taste and texture and subsisting on rice cakes or bowls of unsalted almonds. By keeping in mind the tenets of nutrition, which broadly means sticking to whole grains, unprocessed foods, fruits and vegetables, there are many delicious snacks that can be assembled and provide as much enjoyment as they do nutritional value.
The common adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, while not literally true, does hold some weight in the sense that apples are high in fiber and natural sugar, and the fiber helps your body process the sugar more slowly, which prevents your blood sugar from spiking. Apple slices can be eaten on their own, or smeared with peanut butter to add healthy fats to them, or enjoyed with yogurt for a boost of protein and calcium.
Nuts are also an excellent snack. Peanuts, almonds, cashews, and all other types of nuts are high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Mixed nuts make an excellent snack, or you can chop them and add them into your yogurt or oatmeal for an added boost to an already healthy meal.