The right superfood snack can pack a serious nutritional punch and satisfy your hunger at the same time. We’ll give you the goods on our top choice of superfood snacks: Healthy Truth’s Organic Superfood Energy Squares.
We’ve all been there: our last meal was several hours ago, our next meal is even further from now, and we’re just plain hungry. A trip to the vending machine may lead us to some bad choices: heavily-processed junk food loaded with salt, fat, calories, and a laboratory worth of artificial chemicals. After indulging, we might just find there are feelings worse than hunger.
Luckily, in this day and age, we have many more healthy options that can fill our stomachs without wrecking the rest of our bodies. It’s the era of superfood snacks: natural goodies that we can munch on while doing just about anything.
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Healthy Truth’s Organic Superfood Energy Squares Are Our Top Choice of Superfood Snacks is an original (NewsHealthWatch) article.
What’s the deal with superfood snacks, anyway?
Classifying certain foods as healthful is nothing new, but as researchers have conducted more detailed studies about nutrients and how they affect various parts of the human body, they’ve discovered some foods are particularly nourishing. While there is no universally agreed-upon list of superfoods, nutritionists often use the label for natural foods that are very dense in nutrients and low in calories.
Generally speaking, the superfood designation belongs to foods that promote cancer prevention, good heart health, and a strong immune system while reducing inflammation and lowering cholesterol. The more of these boxes it checks, the more “super” a superfood is.
Getting results with superfood snacks
Superfoods typically contain a high amount of some vital nutrient or other. Again, there is no defined list of requisite ingredients, but most superfoods do contain considerable amounts of:
- Antioxidants – natural compounds that protect cells from damage and may lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.
- Minerals – essential nutrients such as iron, calcium, and potassium that keep the body performing optimally.
- Vitamins – organic compounds that are needed in small quantities to enable specific bodily functions and maintain health.
- Fiber – a natural carbohydrate that helps decrease cholesterol, prevent heart disease, and control glucose levels in Type 2 diabetics.
- Flavonoids – nutrients derived from plants that have anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties.
- Healthy fats – both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; they can help lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease and stroke.
Superfood snacks:
Nature’s way of restocking the body
Another attribute of most superfood snacks is minimal processing. Nutritionists and other health experts have long advocated for consumers to take a more active role in educating themselves about the chemicals that are added to the foods they eat. While the makers of processed foods have spent billions of dollars developing food additives that enhance flavors, improve textures, and extend the shelf life of products, these chemicals do not contribute any health benefits – and in some cases, they may actually make foods unhealthy.
Many consumers are now catching on to the warnings issued by researchers and, as a result, are demanding clean food that is free of these questionable additives. Some common clean foods are blueberries, dates, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, almonds, raw cacao, pecans, oatmeal, figs, whole grains, bulgur, quinoa, wheat berries, and brown rice.
Superfood snacks:
Always check the source
Just as important as the ingredients and processing of superfood snacks is the company behind the process. Many smaller businesses have sprouted in the past couple of decades to supply a variety of snacks that are both healthy and tasty.
One example of a company that has grown substantially by following this trend is the award-winning Healthy Truth, which started with a single dehydrator in a home kitchen in Walpole, Mass. Its founders declared that they were on a mission to create “the most delicious and healthy snacks the world has ever tasted.”
Healthy Truth offers organic, plant-based, keto, gluten-free, dairy-free raw and uniquely seasoned nuts, proprietary powder blends, and unprocessed high protein bars. Their products are developed, manufactured, and distributed to select retailers and directly to consumers. A unique element of Healthy Truth’s product line is its use of sprouted nuts instead of roasted nuts.
“When you roast something at 180 to 220 degrees, you’re killing all the Vitamin E, the Vitamin C, the Vitamin A,” says Healthy Truth Founder and Chief Creative Officer Bruce Namenson. “Sprouting is when you take nuts in their natural form and soak them to remove naturally occurring toxins, then you dry them at very low temperatures to maintain the integrity of the ingredients.”
One example of a superfood snack made with sprouted nuts is Healthy Truth’s Slater’s Mix, which was developed with input from three-time Super Bowl champion and five-time All-Pro athlete Matthew Slater. The mix contains sprouted almonds, sprouted cashews, sprouted pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate chips, and juice-infused cranberries.
One of Healthy Truth’s best-known products is Energy Squared, which they describe as an ultra-healthy trail mix in a square. These snacks feature ingredients like raw cacao, dates, figs, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, and fiber.
Superfood snacks are here to stay
After peanuts and popcorn were introduced to Americans in the mid-19th century, snacking became a national pastime. Those two foods were soon joined by pretzels brought in by European immigrants. The three quickly found their way to the newly constructed baseball fields, circus tents, and movie theaters across the nation.
In recent years, healthful combinations of nuts, berries, fruits, and other natural ingredients have begun to take over the snacking habits of Americans as they become more health-conscious in all aspects of their lives. A little research into the ingredients label can help you find the tastes you crave and avoid the feelings of regret that often follow an unhealthy calorie binge. It just takes knowledge and a little willpower to put good fuel into your body instead of junk.
FURTHER READING:
Harvard Health
10 Superfoods to Boost a Healthy Diet
Everyday Health
15 Superfoods and the Scientific Reasons to Eat Them
Eating Well
10 Superfood Snacks That Are Too Delicious Not to Eat/
Important Note: The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as health or medical advice, nor is it intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or health condition. Before embarking on any diet, fitness regimen, or program of nutritional supplementation, it is advisable to consult your healthcare professional in order to determine its safety and probable efficacy in terms of your individual state of health.
Regarding Nutritional Supplements or Other Non-Prescription Health Products: If any nutritional supplements or other non-prescription health products are mentioned in the foregoing article, any claims or statements made about them have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and such nutritional supplements or other health products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
