Which snacks are the best for me? Questions about snacks are common and everyone is desperate to know what the healthiest snacks are. There are an infinite amount of snack products out there that spend lots of money on advertising to make you believe they are healthy, full of nutrients, will sustain energy, maintain muscle mass, and so on.
Freeze dried fruit snacks are very popular right now and they are available everywhere. The calorie contents are very low, between 90 and 100 calories and always claim they are 100% natural, which they are.
If you are the type of person that only counts calories, you are completely blinding yourself to what actually matters for your health.
Low calorie means high sugar.
(Sugar has a very low calorie content! – Does that mean sugar is good? NO!)
Let’s compare two products: BareSnacks dried Fuji Apples and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.
Which would you choose when at the grocery store check out?
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
Fat 13
Carbohydrate 24
Fiber 1
Sugar 21
Protein 5
Calories 210
Write here...
Bare Fruit
Fat 0
Carbohydrate 26
Fiber 4
Sugar 21
Protein 0
Calories 90
Right off the bat, you should notice that the carbohydrate and sugar content is almost identical with each product. Wow, right?
I can hear you saying, “Yea, but the Fuji Apple has 3 grams more fiber and therefore is healthier.”
Not really. What you should really focus on is the fat content. There is much more fat in the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and this is a GOOD thing. When you eat a carbohydrate by itself, your insulin spike, or reaction to sugar, will be much greater than if you ate the same carbohydrate with fat or protein. The fat in the Reeses reduces the insulin spike of the 21 grams of sugar to a much less effect than the Fuji Apple Snack.
The fruit's sugar spike could lessen by adding some healthy fat, like nuts or avocado with it, but both products still have sugar.
If you aren’t familiar with how important your insulin response is to your health, stay tuned. In the meantime, trust me when I say sugar, in any form, is not healthy for you.
