Snacking has a bad rep. Popular snacks, like potato chips, pretzels, cookies, and cheese doodles are high in fat and sodium, and have little nutritional value. Eating more small meals, including snacks, however, speeds up your metabolism and helps maintain an ideal weight. The key is to snack healthy. How?

Soy Products

Do not know how to snack healthy? One of the easiest ways is by snacking on soy. Samuel Bowen, a sailor who stopped in China, brought back soybeans for American consumption in 1765. Since then, researchers have discovered more and more benefits of soybeans and soybean products.

What are some soybean health benefits? Soybean products, like popular soy nuts, contain soy isoflavones. These soy compounds can reduce harmful LDL cholesterol, and are high in protein. In fact, according to its 1990 Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS), soy protein is just as nutritional, with just as many healthy benefits, as milk, eggs, and casein. And, if you need more reason, studies show that Asian women who eat 20 to 80 mg of soy every day are much less likely to get breast cancer, especially compared to Western women who do not eat soy.

A Wide Variety

With high protein, less risk of bad cholesterols, and a glycemic index as low as 18 (low glycemic indexes help combat weight gain), the only question is how to snack healthy when it comes to soy. The good news is that there are endless options. One of the most popular soy products, soy nuts, come in many different varieties. Snackers can choose from chocolate covered soy nuts, dark chocolate soy nuts, wasabi soy nuts, unsalted soy nuts, and more.

Non-GMO Soy

GMO stands for “genetically modified organisms,” and fruits, vegetables, and other products grown using GMO are not healthy. Crops are most likely to contain GMO if they are grown in a commercial environment. However, companies are making moves to eliminate GMO use and produce safe, healthy products, including soy. Check labels for “Non-GMO” soy and, once you see it, snack away.
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