1. Shelve the Corn Chips and Purchase Popcorn Cakes.
A two-ounce bag of corn chips has 358 mg of salt; two white cheddar popcorn cakes have 58 mg (the FDA recommends less than 2,400 mg of sodium a day). Neither has cholesterol, but the chips have 2 grams of saturated fat (versus 0 grams for the popcorn cakes) and 294 calories -- four times more than the popcorn cakes.
2. Say Goodbye to Ice Cream and Hello to Italian Ice.
A half cup of vanilla ice cream has 29 mg of cholesterol (daily total should be less than 300 mg a day), over 7 grams of saturated fat and 184 calories. The ice has no cholesterol, no saturated fat and only 70 calories. Similar benefits result from enjoying a frozen fruit bar instead of an ice cream sandwich.
3. Turn Back the Devil's Food Snack Cake and Behold the Angel Food.
Resist the temptation of that 200-calorie snack cake with its 9 mg cholesterol and more than 2 grams of saturated fat. A commercially prepared slice of angel food has just 72 calories, no cholesterol and a trace amount of saturated fat.
4. Can the Cashews and Choose Almonds.
Cashews, whether dry- or oil-roasted have about 2.5 grams of saturated fat per ounce. Almonds have a little over 1 gram. An ounce of either one has about 165 calories. Here's more about nuts and heart disease.
5. Know Your Granola.
Rather than going for the soft granola bars that pack almost 3 grams of saturated fat, choose the hard variety, which has one-third less.
Be sure to stock your car/laptop case/purse for handy access to healthy treats. When you're only a zipper or glove compartment away from a box of raisins, you're more likely to resist candy and chips.
Sources:
Smithson, Toby. Registered dietician. Telephone Interview. 2 Oct. 2008.
"Snacking." americanheart.org. Sept. 2007. American Heart Association. 19 Oct. 2008. <http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3046055>.
"Sodium." americanheart.org. 2008. American Heart Association. 9 Oct. 2008. <http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4708>.
"USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17/Cholesterol." nal.usda.gov. 2008. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 9 Oct. 2008. <http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17a601.pdf>.
"USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17/Energy." nal.usda.gov. 2008. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 9 Oct. 2008. <http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21a208.pdf>.
"USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17/Fatty Acids, Total Saturated." nal.usda.gov. 2008. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 9 Oct. 2008<http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21a606.pdf>.
"USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17/Sodium." nal.usda.gov. 2008. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 9 Oct. 2008. <http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17a307.pdf>.
