11 Top Healthy Snacks for Athletes

Posted by cetwin on April 4th, 2015

In the real world, there is really no magic numbers of meals, especially for athletes. However, most nutritionist will say that three meals a day is actually very few. If you’re an athlete, it wouldn’t be wrong to have six small meals spread throughout the day.

However, since it is easy to overstuff yourself with calories with the kind of food available in the market today, you need to be sure that you are distributing your calorie intake equally over all your meals.

Here are some of the healthy snacks for athletes that will help you spread your calorie intake throughout the day.

1. Yogurt – Buy plain yogurt and add your own favorite fruits or granola or buy it with the fruit added. You can also try yogurt drinks with thick-and-creamy fruited versions or just the plain one.

2. Crackers – the best are made of whole-grain or stone-ground wheat because they are more fibrous and contain less fat.

3. Fruits – fresh fruits are very refreshing and can make you feel full without adding large amounts of calories. You can also create your own snack packs with dried fruits such as cranberries, cherries and raisins.

4. Nuts and seeds – these are quick easy healthy snacks that are rich sources of essential nutrients. There are many ways you can add walnuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, pecans, and so forth to your snacks or you can just eat them alone. Not too much though because they are also high calorie foods.

5. Peanut butter – you can spread it on a whole wheat slice of bread, rice cake, bagel or a banana.

6. Dry cereal – finger food cereals offer good nutrients especially if you mix them with nuts, dried fruits, or raisins. If you don’t have time to add milk, just take them with you and eat them plain.

7. Raw vegetables – try preparing baby carrot sticks in individual packages. Add some cut-up cauliflower and broccoli. These are available at the raw vegetable sections in the supermarket so you can just buy one pack and take them along with a cup of light salad dressing dip.

8. Energy bars – these youth sports snacks are in the form of breakfast bars and low-fat granola bars which are very convenient to eat, although they can be a bit expensive. They are full of ingredients that will help sustain your energy.

9. Tuna – you can prepare tuna sandwich using whole wheat bread or you can just buy a snack-size can tuna and eat it with whole wheat crackers and some fresh fruits.

10. Frozen fruit bars – this is another convenient but healthy snack. They are filled with fruits or fruit chunks with good nutritional values.

11. Cheese sticks or cheese cubes – choose the ones with reduced fat. You can eat them alone, or together with a whole wheat bread sandwich or crackers.