Snacks and Convenience Foods

Snacks are foods and beverages that are comsumed between meals. A nutritious snack is a food or beverage that belong to one of the four healthful food groups or the combination group and follows the seven dietary goals. An apple is a healthful snack. It belongs to the fruit and vegetable group. An apple contains complex carbohydrates and narurally-occurring sugars.It id not high in Calories, sturated fat,or salt.

Some snacks are empty-calorie foods. An empty-calorie food lacks nutrients and is high in calories. An empty calorie food belongs to the others food group. These snacks are usually high in sugar, sal, and saturated fats. They may cause you to gain unnecessary weight. Some examples of these snacks are candy bars, cakes, soft drinks, and salted pretzels. These snacks are not healthful choices.

Fast foods are popular mass-produced foods that can be served quickely. Fast foods are sold at many popular restaurant chains. Some of the fast foods sold at restaurant chains are deep fried and heaviely salted. Other fast foods, such as salads and yougurt,are low in fat, salt, and Calories. Fast food chains were asked to provide nutritional information about some of their foods. This information was included in the report by the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.
Convenience foods are foods that are easily prepared at home. A TV dinner is an example of a convenience food. Some convenience foods are nutritious while the benefit of thers is only the convenience. Many contain too much sodium, and most are very expensive.

Posted in: Nutrition

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