You’ve got 15 minutes to eat lunch. That limits your options to whatever is in the vending machine. You eye the racks of snacks. What to do? How to find some healthy vending machine snacks?
Most snacks other than the basic ones like a banana or other raw fruit will have nutritional labels. One way to eat healthy is to never eat anything with a nutritional label (because it is unprocessed), but this is not generally practical with vending machines. The other problem with nutritional labels and vending machines is that you can’t generally read the label until after you have bought the food. Imagine a systematic approach here, a lab book with a history of vending machine nutritional labels. White coat optional.
Diabetics are trained to be very careful about sugar levels. This is good advice for anyone. Large amounts of sugar tend to cause wide swings in blood sugar level from sugar high to crash. The term empty calories is quite appropriate.
A few years ago people were highly focused on reducing fat intake. The current nutritional advice is much more moderate. It is true that fats provide lots of calories, but some fat is actually a good thing. Fat in food helps you feel full, which can help you limit your overall food intake. Transfats, also known as partially hydrogenated oils or fats, are now known to be fairly toxic and should be avoided.
Saturated fats, such as in butter and meat, can be eaten, but the level should be controlled. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, generally vegetable oils, are actually healthy in moderation.
The key word for fats in general is moderation. Too much fat is too many calories. However, some fat can be beneficial. Fat helps you feel full, and it tastes good. Fat in food can moderate the affect of sugar in the food by slowing down the processing of sugar, which reduces sugar highs and lows.
Salt tastes good. Food processors know this so they add salt, sometimes lots of salt, because they are competing on taste among other things. Eating too much salt may increase your risk of high blood pressure. Moderation is the key here.
In general, whole, less processed foods are preferable to highly processed foods. If you are fortunate enough to have a vending machine with nuts or raw fruit, those can be excellent choices. Granola or trail mix tends to have less processing than pastries or candy bars, so those would both be worth considering.
Caffeine is shown on the ingredients list, and you might be surprised at where it can be found these days. It is primarily a beverage supplement, but some solid foods also have caffeine. Caffeine is not necessarily a problem when taken in moderation, it does appear to make one a bit smarter. Caffeine addiction is pretty wide spread; too much caffeine can also cause highs and lows, shakiness, and high blood pressure.
It is work to eat well from a vending machine. Some experimentation is called for. Of course your own preferences are going to be very important. But a little effort can lead you to healthy vending machine snacks.
healthy vending machine snacks
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