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Healthy Snack Foods?

avec_moi

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Hey

I looooove to eat, and I love food. I'm not fat (not at all, quite slender actually), but I worry that if I sit around snacking on chips I will gain lots of weight really fast.

Anyone have any suggestions for good snack foods that are healthy and don't taste like cardboard?

I know the basic wheat thins and triscuits type things aren't so bad, but I'd like something with flavor. Also, I live on an island, so something that I can find at a typical grocery store would be best.

Thanks!
 

Jared

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Edamame is how I get my salt fix. I figure even if you coat them in salt, it's less than the magic industrial processes can pack into chips or crackers.
wink.gif
 

NorCal_1

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most Edamame are imported from China

I can tell you first hand that they grow most if it in disgusting, polluted conditions (water poured over it is brown to black in color and comes from the local polluted rivers),,,so whatever you do, DON'T eat any imported from there! AND ESPECIALLY DON'T FEED THEM TO YOUR KIDS!

and make sure to read the labels because most edamame sold in the US is packaged here but sourced in China, so the label might say 'packaged in USA' to trick you

tell others to avoid any food crops from China, too - there is almost zero oversight and quality testing over there!




China: Food Crops Grown in Soil Polluted with Heavy Metals
July 3rd, 2007

Wall Street Journal

For nearly two decades, Lai Mandai regularly ate and sold beans, cabbage and watermelons grown on a plot of land a short walk from a lead smelting plant in her village.

Like dozens of other villagers who ate locally grown food, Ms. Lai, 39 years old, developed health problems. “When I did work, planting vegetables or cleaning the floor, I felt so tired, and my fingers felt numb,” Ms. Lai says. “I talked with other villagers. They had the same problems.”

Ms. Lai, along with 57 other villagers, was eventually diagnosed with high levels of cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause kidney disease and softening of the bones. Runoff from the factory — which the government tore down in 2004 — had contaminated the farmland and entered the food supply. A Chinese government report found that rice grown in the village contained 20 times the permitted level of cadmium.

China’s tainted food supply has fallen under heightened scrutiny after a shipment of wheat flour contaminated with a chemical used in fire marsupialants found its way into pet food and was linked to the deaths of U.S. animals in late March. Concerns have since soared over the safety of the country’s exports. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently told consumers to stop buying toothpaste made in China because it might contain poisonous diethylene glycol. Last week, the FDA sounded an alarm on farm-raised seafood from China, citing excessive levels of antibiotics and additives.

Yet after decades of industrial pollution, some of the worst contaminants making their way into the country’s food come from the soil in which it is grown. So far it hasn’t been determined the extent to which tainted crops such as rice, fruits and vegetables have been exported to the U.S. What is clear is that in contaminated areas dotting the country, residents have been eating such food for years or decades.

Pingyang, where Ms. Lai lives, is among the so-called hot spots in China where farmland lying in the shadow of factory smokestacks or mining operations has been contaminated by heavy metals. These elements can cause a sweeping range of health problems, from brain damage to cancer.

Chinese academics have written about such sites in more than a dozen studies over the past two years in Chinese and international scientific journals. In a study published earlier this year, researchers at the Guangdong Institute of Ecology found excessive levels of cadmium and mercury in Chinese cabbage grown in Foshan, a major manufacturing center in southern China. Last year, researchers at Lanzhou University published research showing that vegetables at four sites near the mining and smelting city of Baiyin in the Northwestern Gansu province contained hazardous levels of cadmium, lead and copper. A study of crops grown in the central city of Chongqing found excessive lead and cadmium levels in vegetables at 20 sites.
 

Jared

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Originally Posted by NorCal_1
most Edamame are imported from China I can tell you first hand that they grow most if it in disgusting, polluted conditions (water poured over it is brown to black in color and comes from the local polluted rivers),,,so whatever you do, DON'T eat any imported from there! AND ESPECIALLY DON'T FEED THEM TO YOUR KIDS! and make sure to read the labels because most edamame sold in the US is packaged here but sourced in China, so the label might say 'packaged in USA' to trick you tell others to avoid any food crops from China, too - there is almost zero oversight and quality testing over there!
Unfortunately the China import issue has become so politicized in the US that all press on it is untrustworthy. In this case it's obviously distorted by the American soy-bean-farmer lobbyists, given that the US is the world's largest producer of soy beans at 39%. If you're concerned about food safety, you should get your politicians to increase funding for inspections (in most cases the standards are already high), rather than relying on your own expertise. Thank you for your concern, misguided though it may be.
 

wpdoyle

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Originally Posted by avec_moi
Anyone have any suggestions for good snack foods that are healthy and don't taste like cardboard?

In terms of "traditional" snack foods, I am a big fan of soy crisps, which are now widely made in many flavors by a number of companies. Much lower cal than fried snacks, and contain some soy protein.

Of the so-called "healthy snacks," I love eating baby carrots with hummus. You might also try a handful of nuts, which are a lot healthier than processed junk food.

I am an AP psychology teacher, and do I always do a unit on the psychology of eating. Mountains of research show that the key is portion control. One of the biggest mistakes people can make is eating directly from the package. Instead of grabbing the whole bag and eating from it, throw a serving onto a paper plate or napkin. This will allow you to enjoy your guilty pleasures from time to time without worrying about getting too fat.

I was a junk-aholic in the past, but started eating much healthier when my son was born, and now, I honestly don't even crave those kinds of snacks the way I used to. You'll be amazed at how you can habituate yourself to new tastes. You just have to want to make the change, and stick to it!
smile.gif
 

NorCal_1

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Originally Posted by Jared
Unfortunately the China import issue has become so politicized in the US that all press on it is untrustworthy. In this case it's obviously distorted by the American soy-bean-farmer lobbyists, given that the US is the world's largest producer of soy beans at 39%. If you're concerned about food safety, you should get your politicians to increase funding for inspections (in most cases the standards are already high), rather than relying on your own expertise.

Thank you for your concern, misguided though it may be.




I've been to China, I've seen their farmlands first hand

eating US grown soybeans is what I'm advocating, but if you continue to eat China-grown ones, all I can tell you is to order a side of chemotherapy,,,,you're eventually going to need it
 

Jared

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Originally Posted by NorCal_1
eating US grown soybeans is what I'm advocating, but if you continue to eat China-grown ones, all I can tell you is to order a side of chemotherapy,,,,you're eventually going to need it
Although soybeans accumulate more heavy metals in their seeds than other plants, the majority still ends up in the roots, steams, and leaves. eg:
030102zt2.png
But fertilizers in the US also contain a lot of heavy metals. It's interesting to note that most organic soy beans come from China because the US mostly grows GM beans. One of the major uses of soy beans is oil. Soy oil contains very little of the heavy metals in the original seeds. What's left after the oil is removed is used as livestock feed. Since heavy metals bioaccumulate, you're much better off eating contaminated beans than meat. In conclusion: we're all fucked no matter what. Or to bring it back on topic: there's no such thing as healthy food.
 

inogenius

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Ignoring the political discussion, I have started to change the ways that I snack. Instead of eating potato chips or a bowl of ice cream (which really isn't THAT bad) I've switched over to banana's, grapes and strawberries. They fill the need to eat, usually inspired by boredom, while still being remotely healthy.

And I completely agree with boycotting China. The amount of health risks that we have been exposed to from their ignorance, is astounding. No longer is it just a product defect, now it's we, and our animals dying.
 

NorCal_1

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"Yet in one recent survey, 95% of the samples tested were polluted, some with sewage."






China warns of water pollution
=================================
By Louisa Lim
BBC News, Beijing



Officials in Beijing have warned that a third of China's rural population - an estimated 360m people - lack access to safe drinking water.

They also said that more than 70% of China's rivers and lakes were polluted.

The vice minister for water resources, Zhai Haohui, told a symposium on water management that the provision of clean drinking water should be a priority.

This is yet another sign that China is struggling to deal with the impact of its breakneck economic development.

China's waterways are dying, and its rivers are running black from industrial effluent and untreated sewage.

The China Daily newspaper said that about two million people had suffered diseases caused by drinking water with high arsenic content, including cancer.

In the nation's cities, the situation is just as dire. There, ground water is the major source of drinking water.

Yet in one recent survey, 95% of the samples tested were polluted, some with sewage.

An official from the environmental watchdog openly blamed the crisis on improper policies and poor government administration.

But decades of rampant economic development have taken their toll on China's environment.

Those now tasked with cleaning up face opposition from polluting industries and local governments.

The current leadership has stressed the need to conserve the environment, but these latest figures show just how much damage has already been done.
 

avec_moi

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ugh...I asked for snack food suggestions, not international politics.
 

lakewolf

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snack ?

Eat apples, bananas, oranges....
 

LanAltec

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Originally Posted by lakewolf
snack ?

Eat apples, bananas, oranges....


I like to eat frozen blueberries as a desert/snack. They're healthy and taste delicious. And you can't really fill up on them.
 

iamaloser

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Frozen blueberries are addicting precisely because you can't fill up on them. I chew gum now, because even if I get a crave for food it takes like ten minutes to get the flavor out of my mouth, and that way I don't do any impulse snacking. I think snacks that are purposefully low calorie and not filling work against keeping back food cravings, but anything low calorie with lots of salt will work if you just want to munch on something while watching tv.
 

kakemono

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fruits and nuts are my thing. I would stick my hand forward to the cherry basket before I would for the snickers/chips basket anyday.

maybe try kettle chips or pretzals?
 

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