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Health & Fitness

DocMatthew's Top 5 Healthy Sweet Snack Alternatives

  1. My favorite healthy sweet snack alternative is the smoothie. Just add chocolate or vanilla protein powder to any smoothie for that great sweet taste. My personal favorite is a combo of ice, almond milk, bananas, spinach and berries with a scoop of chocolate veggie powder. It’s just like a chocolate shake though hundreds of calories less and ridiculously healthy!
  2. Raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries are a great sweet alternative. 3/4 of a cup of any of these delicious berries is about 50 calories.
  3. 1 cup of sugar free Jell-O has less than 50 calories and is sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.
  4. 2 pieces of Hershey’s mini dark chocolate bars total only 92 calories! A few small pieces of chocolate can actually be a very good reward for following a healthy diet. They will satisfy your sweet tooth and may also benefit your general health. Dark chocolate contains antioxidants and other nutrients. Several studies have shown that dark chocolate may help lower blood pressure, improve cognitive function and fight against insulin resistance. Remember that these studies were based on small servings and not large quantities!
  5. Greek yogurt mixed with fresh fruit is also a great choice. Plain Greek yogurt contains much less carbohydrates (sugar), more protein and just as much calcium as does regular yogurt. I would recommend the low fat version of Greek yogurt just as I would with regular yogurt. Greek yogurt has a thicker and creamier consistency, which gives it more of a substantial feeling. You can even mix it in a bowl and then spoon out onto a baking sheet and freeze for bite-sized snacks.

Try these out and let me know what you think.

Stay Healthy!….DocMatthew

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