Delicious crispy chips, chocolate and greasy popcorn - these are snacks people of any age and social status cannot resist. They are especially dangerous for those trying to lose weight or control their diet. For some of us, such starters represent a kind of therapy, a cure against stress, boredom or bad mood. But is it possible to get pleasure from eating snacks while maintaining slender figure? The secret lies in the rational choice of snacks.

Try to replace harmful fat and high-calorie snacks with the ones that help maintaining healthy energy level. Our article describes some of healthy and delicious snacks with low fat content, which can serve as a meal and cause no fear of weight gain. So, it’s time to release kitchen shelves and refrigerator from chips, nuts, popcorn and other things to fill the vacant space with low-fat healthy snacks that cause no harm to your health and figure.

Snacks are good for health

* Frequent low fat snacks help conserving energy, supporting normal sugar level in blood, as well as inhibiting appetite. However, snacks should certainly be healthy and lean.

* Some low-fat snacks well satisfy hunger, so you eat less during lunch or dinner. Result - decrease in the total daily amount of consumed calories.

On the other hand, obsession with unhealthy snacks that are high in trans fats can cause sharp swings in blood sugar level, which in turn can lead to mood swings, apathy and irritability. Fat content in a product affects its taste, texture, structure, shelf life and appearance. But we should not forget that all foods with high content of cholesterol, saturated and trans fats may affect cholesterol level in blood, which in turn increases likelihood of heart disease development. Therefore, children and adults should not only buy low-fat snacks, but also learn cooking them, moreover it is very simple.

Healthy snacks

* Choose snacks that contain complex carbohydrates, such as peanut butter, cheese or nonfat yogurt. Forget about foods with high content of simple carbohydrates and glucose, for example, candies, sweet water, etc.

* When buying any product, read information on packaging (ingredients, shelf life).

* Granola bar (sweetened oatmeal with addition of nuts and raisins) can contain trans fats, but is considered an excellent healthy snack.  Check information on packaging.

* Choose snacks with such combination of ingredients that provides necessary amount of carbohydrates (provide with energy), proteins (delay release of sugar in blood and thereby conserve energy), fat (causes a feeling of saturation), and healthy unsaturated fats.

Law-fat snacks

Fresh fruits, raw vegetables, nuts, crackers or whole grain flour bread, low-fat popcorn and cheese - these are the healthiest snacks recommended by nutritionists. Some fruits, pieces of vegetables, a small number of nucleoli nuts, nonfat peppered popcorn and cheese - that are quite accessible and useful snacks.

Other simple low-fat snacks.

* Corn chips or tortillas, cooked properly.

* Cracknels from whole grain flour with natural peanut butter

* Wheat crackers with salsa sauce

* Medium-sized buns with bran

* Hard-boiled egg with salt, pepper or mustard

* Pretzel, a banana or celery stalk with natural peanut butter

*  Raw vegetables with hummus, yogurt or low-fat cheese

* Fresh fruits with yogurt

* Cocktail with yoghurt, ice and chunks of fresh fruits (smoothie) (try different combinations)

* Finely chopped tuna fillet and celery, dressed with low-fat mayonnaise

* Pita stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers with low-fat dressing

* Ready-to-eat cereals from whole wheat flour with soy milk

* Law-fat popcorn, low-fat cheese, nonfat yogurt, rice cakes - great snack after dinner.

* Sliced apples, grapes or berries with honey

* Raw vegetables of any type with nonfat dressing

* Pretzels, instant popcorn, rice cakes

* Milk shake (from skim milk) with a banana, berries or grapes, milk can be replaced with low-fat yogurt or orange juice.

Healthy snacks cooking secrets

Law-fat snacks need not be totally tasteless. You are free to cook healthy low-fat snacks, which can treat your friends and relatives.

* Not to use sunflower or olive oil, cook in a pan with non-stick coating.

* Instead of frying vegetables or fish in the pan, use a microwave oven - so you can do without oil.

* Medium-hard mozzarella, stringy cheese (cheese strudel), cottage cheese contain little fat compared with other varieties of cheese.

* Replace cheeses from cow’s milk by cheese from goat’s milk - it contains less fat.

* Try to choose low-fat potato or corn chips

* To prepare sandwiches, use bread from whole grain flour.

* Try to eat more hot and cold instant cereals - they contain virtually no fat.

* Replace margarine, butter, mayonnaise and sour cream by sauces based on yogurt and spices.

* Replace fatty sauces with condiments, spices and low-fat marinades.

* If you need to use egg, it is better to replace two egg whites by one whole egg.

* It is better to replace sour cream by simple low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese.

* Baking, roasting on an open fire and browning - these are the healthiest methods of poultry cooking.