When you want a quick bite and don’t want to undo any of your fitness goals, it doesn’t hurt to hit a healthy snack. According to Harvard Medical School, whole-grain pretzels, nut varieties, and peanut butter apple slices all serve as valuable options that can curb hunger and ensure you stay healthy. While these options are worth it in the long run, other snacks can unknowingly increase the amount of inflammation In your body.
The Cleveland Clinic reports what certain fried foods, refined carbohydratesalcohol and processed meats can cause unnecessary inflammation. While many snacks easily fall into these categories, some sneaky, bite-sized treats slip under the radar and unknowingly cause more inflammation. Keeping track of these foods can confuse anyone, but with the help of a handful of dietitians, we’ve put together a list of the snacks that secretly cause inflammation flare-ups.
If you don’t want to give up snacking but aren’t sure if finger foods can cause inflammation, double check your anti-snack items. 50 healthy snack ideas to keep you slim.
Granola bars They generally look healthy, but don’t be fooled by the marketing. Eating too many of these items can unknowingly lead to some inflammation.
“Granola or granola bars may seem healthy, but they can cause inflammation, depending on the ingredients,” he says. Amy Davis, RD, LDN. “High-fat granolas and granola bars added sugar from sources like corn syrup, chocolate chips, and cane sugar can contribute to inflammation. In addition to sugar, processed oils like soy and canola are commonly found in granola and granola bars and can contribute to inflammation.”
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Even if granola bars pass you by, don’t make the same mistake with frozen yogurt. Many of these products are loaded with refined sugar and often contain components that can cause serious pain.
“Instead, look [plain] frozen yogurts that contain probiotics to help reduce inflammation,” says Kelsey Sackmann, MS, RD. “If you have a dairy allergy or intolerance, try a dairy-free frozen yogurt that uses coconut milk.”
When you want to indulge a little, be sure to pick the best frozen yogurt and check out We tried the flavor of popular store-bought frozen yogurts – this was the best.
“Animal proteins are known to be inflammatory and similarly affect the gastrointestinal tract negatively and increase circulating levels of IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor) and other inflammatory markers,” he says. Dana Ellis Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RDand author of Recipe for survival. “[If you] eat a mostly plant-based diet, those markers go down and they’re mostly anti-inflammatory.”
find a replacement for spasmodic It’s hard, but if you want the same nutritional components, Ellis Hunnes recommends a substitution like “fruits and nuts like trail mix or edamame.”
“Potato chips, like French fries, are inflammatory because they are highly processed and therefore increase the insulin response very quickly, which can be inflammatory,” continues Ellis Hunnes. “Instead, seaweed with hummus would be a good snack, or seaweed with avocado, kind of like a hand roll, would be a good snack because seaweed has a lot of nutrients. Seaweed doesn’t have a lot of calories, it’s crunchy — like French fries — and the plant-based protein in hummus is always a nice, unexpected mix of flavors.”
If you’re looking for a bag of chips, make sure your snacks are on your side and select from the 11 Best Healthy Chips for Weight Loss.
protein bars It seems like they should effectively replace a meal and keep you going without slowing you down, but be careful with the ingredients.
“Lots of protein bars and loaded with added sugars, which makes them really inflammatory,” he says. Marissa Meshulam, MS, RD, CDN.
Instead, Meshulam recommends reaching for fruit bars.
“Unlike many bars that are packed with inflammatory ingredients, these bars are made with only real fruit, which provides a ton of antioxidants that work to keep our cells healthy and fight inflammation. They’re a perfect convenience item for days when You haven’t made it to the store but want to add some fruit to your snack or bag lunch.”
“Popcorn is a snack that a lot of people might think of as healthy because it’s a total win-win — a good source of fiber,” he says. Joan Bordeaux, DR. “However, [some] packaging microwave popcorn it often contains hydrogenated fats and additives, for example used in packaging, which can trigger inflammation.”
“A healthier option would be pop popcorn seeds in a popcorn maker or microwave popcorn maker. No oil is needed to pop popcorn, and you can add a little healthy olive oil after popping instead. These are quite cheap in the market and you can even save [money]considering the cost of bags of popcorn.
READ MORE: The #1 Worst Drink for Inflammation, Says a Dietician
