Chew on these satiating snack solutions when you’re in a time crunch.
By Kim Eagle and Sarah Holcomb
Eat this: high-protein snack foods
Not that: protein-powder drinks
Says who: Kim Eagle, personal trainer and nutrition coach at Earn That Body (earnthatbody.com)
Why: A 2010 study by Consumer Reports discovered heavy metals hiding in many protein powders and drinks. For those using protein powder on a daily basis, those levels can become dangerous. Since the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements, Eagle swapped her protein-powder drinks for shakes made with real food.
“Real food is always going to be the best thing for us,” Eagle explains. “You want to eat a food as close to the source as possible. If there are like 50 ingredients—which, for most protein powders, there are—that means you’re not very close to the source.”
Make the swap:
Greek yogurt
- protein: 17 grams per 6-ounce serving
- “Since Greek yogurt can be kind of sour, you can always add fruit to it. I always recommend adding real fruit versus getting flavored fruit yogurt at the store because that can be incredibly high in sugar.”
Canned Tuna
- protein: 20 grams per 3-ounce serving
- “You can put tuna on a whole-grain piece of bread or even on celery sticks. Sometimes the kids like that. It’s a little more fun.”
Eggs
- protein: 6 grams per egg
- “On the weekends, I’ll hard-boil like eight eggs because it’s great for me to grab and easy for my son to grab. If you have trouble getting breakfast in, it’s already made!”
Peanut Butter
- protein: 8 grams per 2 tablespoons
- “It has healthy fat in it, which is so important, and [it’s] also great protein. I make a yogurt bowl and mix in 1 tablespoon of peanut butter into my Greek yogurt and add half a banana.”
Pumpkin Seeds
- protein: 5 grams per 1 ounce
- “[This is] an easy grab item. I like to prep snack bags on Sundays and put an ounce of pumpkin seeds in each.”
String Cheese
- protein: 8 grams per serving
- “I try to pair string cheese with a fruit, usually an apple, but any fruit is great. It’s a great snack for kids because they enjoy the fun of pulling on the strings to eat it.”
