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A Mediterranean diet can contribute to a reduction in the risk of certain diseases and increase the intake of important vitamins and minerals. MayoClinic.com reports that a Mediterranean diet can reduce the chances of developing heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Adding healthy Mediterranean snacks to your daily diet is one way to start incorporating foods that benefit your health to the fullest.
The Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, as well as fish and seafood a couple of times a week, is considered one of the healthiest and most sustainable diets around the world. The eating plan is not only great when it comes to meals, but also for healthy snacks.
And it is that finding healthy snacks is easy when you follow the Mediterranean diet… In this eating plan there is a long tradition of small savory dishes throughout the region that can be eaten between meals without compromising health. Take note of the healthiest snacks in Mediterranean culture!
Why can it be useful to snack?
There are three reasons for this:
- avoid being too hungry, and therefore not being able to control the caloric intake
- avoid drops in performance and attention during the day. This point is valid, above all, for those on a diet
- supplement and complement the main meals with those foods or nutrients that for lack of time or desire have not been consumed
best healthy snack to try
We already know that fruit is the ideal snack to take you to work and calm the voracious hunger of mid-morning or mid-afternoon … but how many of us end up eating the fruit? And how long does hunger take away from us? In some cases, it even causes more. Therefore, we have been trying different combinations of healthy, simple and delicious snacks to take us to work (or anywhere else), with which we overcome the barrier of hunger while still eating healthy.
Dried fruits and nuts
Both dried fruits and nuts are an important sources of fiber, which can contribute to the benefits of the Mediterranean diet by satisfying your hunger for longer periods of time. Consuming filling foods can help resist the temptation to eat more than is healthy for you. Combine dried fruits, such as dates, figs, raisins, apricots, and cherries, with your favorite variety of nuts. Sunflower or pumpkin seeds are additional Mediterranean favorites that can be part of a healthy snack.
Greek Yogurt
is a great low-fat snack. Lactose-intolerant subjects, unable to digest lactose and therefore unable to consume and digest milk are, on the contrary, able to digest yogurt, despite having the latter a high percentage of lactose. The merit of this must be attributed to the microbial flora of yogurt, namely Lactobacillus Thermophilus and Streptococcus Bulgaricus which in accumulating yogurt produce the enzyme lactase responsible for the hydrolysis of milk sugar. Even a jar of low-fat Greek yogurt that is not the usual yogurt is a good idea to fill up on calcium, protein, and mineral salts, useful for fighting sudden hunger and perfect for healthy snacks.
Cereal bar
preferably homemade Cereal bars are tasty, they can be a practical, fast, and more nutritious snack than other products, but certainly, abuse in the intake will not make us lose weight. We, therefore, need to be very sparing. Those who do not want to give up these products must consider them and perhaps choose the product carefully, checking the list of ingredients. Also in Italy are sale bars composed largely of dried fruit and cereals, usually placed near breakfast cereals in order to confirm their healthy image. A valid alternative is to prepare them at home with well-known and potentially healthy ingredients.
Fruit salad
It is useful to include in the fruit mix that we are going to prepare five portions of fresh fruit of different colors, as each shade corresponds to different benefits and nutritional properties. The color of fruits and vegetables depends on the presence of different pigments, each able to offer an advantage to our body. Therefore, only by varying and associating the different colors, you can cover all the needs of the body and fully benefit from the nutritional benefits deriving from their consumption.
Red lentil dip:
For a Mediterranean delicacy with high content of fiber and protein, consider red lentil sauce or dip. Similar to hummus, it is easily prepared with these legumes, although it can also be bought already made. Serve with slices of pita bread or assorted raw vegetables for a quick, easy, and very healthy snack.
Breadsticks
Another very comfortable idea if what you want is something salty. And once again, we don’t turn to just anyone, but we play it safe. And Mediterránea offers us the true Mediterranean Breads in which they replace water and salt, by Sea Water. In this way, the taste of the natural ingredients of each stick is the only protagonist.
Tomato bruschetta
Whole wheat bread and tomatoes are common additions to Mediterranean meals and can also be used to create healthy snacks. Bread supplies several grams of fiber and tomatoes are rich in vitamin C. brush several slices of Italian whole grain bread with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder and thick black pepper. Toast in a toaster oven until golden brown. Top with finely chopped tomatoes, fresh basil chopped into large pieces, and a pinch of fresh mozzarella cheese.
Square of dark chocolate
A square of 80% dark chocolate is among the healthy snacks that can serve if we are down and if we need to gratify ourselves: be careful not to devour the entire bar.
