The other day my mom was asking me for some clean/paleo snack ideas and I thought it would be great to put some of my favorite snacks in a blog post! But to take it even a step further I wanted to grab some of the traditional “snacks” that people tend to reach for and show you that there are paleo/healthier options for them. If you read my paleo journey you know that I don’t eat this way as a trendy diet. This is my preferred lifestyle for health reasons.
A lot of people don’t really read ingredients on some of these food items that we are so used to grabbing at the grocery store and then wonder why they have a hard time losing weight, always sluggish or are constantly sick. Based on my own research and my beliefs I personally choose to ditch as much processed foods as I can— not to say I don’t still buy stuff but I have taught myself to read ingredients and I can not confidently make better decisions for cleaner/healthier options!
So today, I am sharing a couple of my favorite paleo snacks along with some common ones you grab at the store along with their ingredients so you can see that there are some healthier alternatives out there.
Paleo Snacks I enjoy:
– Banana with Almond Butter & Cinnamon
– Dairy-Free Yogurt with Grain-Free Granola
– Smoothie
– Chips & Queso Dip
– Fruit
– Veggies & Queso Dip
– Paleo Puffs
– Candy
Now let’s look at some Snack Swap Options:
Chips & Queso:
Who doesn’t love Chips & Queso? It’s such an easy and delicious snack and especially when you are hosting a get-together! I always have multiple Siete Chip bags on hand at all times for when people come over as well as Siete Queso.
Some more common brands you will find are these:
Tostito Tortilla Chip Ingredients: Corn, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, And/Or Sunflower Oil), And Salt.
Tostito Salsa Con Queso Ingredients: Water, Skim Milk, Monterey Jack Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Vegetable Oil (Corn, Sunflower, And/Or Canola Oil), Modified Corn Starch, Diced Tomatoes In Tomato Juice, Jalapeno Peppers, Chile Peppers, Red Bell Peppers, Maltodextrin (Made From Corn), And 2% Or Less Of The Following: Salt, Cheddar Cheese (Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Natural Flavors, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Monosodium Glutamate, Datem, Sodium Phosphate, Spice, And Artificial Color (Yellow 5, Yellow 6).
Now let’s compare it to two healthier paleo options:
Siete Tortilla Chips No Salt: Cassava Flour, Avocado Oil, Coconut Flour, Ground Chia Seed.
Siete Cashew Queso Mild Nacho: Water, Cashews, Tomatoes, Carrots, Green Bell Peppers, Nutritional Yeast, Sea Salt, Distilled White Vinegar, Flax Seed, Fermented Extract (Oregano, Flax Seed, and Plum), Coconut Milk Powder, Lactic Acid, Onion Powder, Tomato Powder, Garlic Powder
You can clearly see what actually you are putting in your body with the Siete Products (all real ingredients) compared to the Tostitos ones where you can barely pronounce some of the ingredients!
Yogurt with granola: This is always a popular snack or breakfast option but typical yogurts and granolas can have so much processed sugar and extra ingredients.
Here are some common brands of a yogurt and granola option:
Nature Valley Oats n’ Honey Granola: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Soy Protein Isolate, Canola Oil, Honey, Molasses, Rice Starch, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Salt, Natural Flavor. Vitamin E (Mixed Tocopherols) Added To Preserve Freshness.
Yoplait Vanilla Yogurt: Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Nonfat Milk, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Kosher Gelatin, Potassium Sorbate Added To Maintain Freshness, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3.
Now some healthier paleo options:
Culina Bourbon Vanilla Yogurt: organic coconut, organic maple syrup, agar, bourbon vanilla, probiotic cultures.
Purely Elizabeth Grain Free Vanilla Almond Granola: Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Cashews, Organic Coconut Sugar, Almonds, Organic Coconut Flakes, Almond Butter, Organic Medium-Chain Triglyceride Oil from Coconuts, Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Cinnamon, Sea Salt, Vanilla Extract.
Nature’s Path Grain Free Granola Vanilla Poppy Seed: Pumpkin Seeds*, Sunflower Seeds*, Dried Coconut*, Almonds*, Coconut Sugar*, Coconut Oil*, Almond Flour*, Coconut Syrup*, Chia Seeds*, Cassava Flour*, Poppy Seeds*, Vanilla Flavor*, Sea Salt, Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Vanilla Extract*.
Again, you can clearly see what actually you are putting in your body with the paleo products (all real ingredients) compared to the other ones. Also, note that this particular Nature Valley Granola has THREE different forms of sugar in it (sugar, honey and molasses), no one needs that much sugar in one product!
The last comparison I want to do is chocolate bars! Because who doesn’t love a good chocolate bar?! While Hershey’s is obviously the most common and easy to find there are other options that are cleaner.
Hershey’s Special Dark Ingredients: Sugar; Chocolate; Cocoa Butter; Milk Fat; Cocoa Processed With Alkali; Lecithin (Soy); Natural Flavor; Milk.
Compared to my personal favorite:
Hu Kitchen Dark Chocolate Ingredients: Organic cacao, unrefined organic coconut sugar, organic fair-trade cocoa butter.
Once again, the ingredients couldn’t be more simple in the Hu Kitchen one compared to the Hershey’s one! So you can still have your sweet treat while being paleo without the processed ingredients.
While I could go on and off and talk about different snacks all day I wanted to highlight just a few popular ones that I tend to reach for or have on hand at my house. If you want to start eating a cleaner (not necessarily paleo) lifestyle I highly recommend getting familiar with ingredients on items that you purchase! Google them see what they are used for, ask yourself questions like “does yogurt really need modified corn starch?” and go from there!
It can be a ton of research and a lot to process but over time it gets easier recognizing ingredients and what they are used for.
Questions? Need help reading ingredients? Let me know!