Healthy Low Carb and Low Sodium Snacks | Healthy Carb Substitutes

December 29, 2015/ Patrix / Diet, Health

Dieting can be tough when we don’t know what to eat. When we become hungry and do not have any healthy snacks around it is easy to make poor eating choices.

Many snacks that we eat also contain so much sodium that after eating them we immediately get a bloated tummy due to water retention. High sodium foods can easily add 3-5 pounds of weight which can lead to our clothes not fitting correctly and low self esteem. Sodium also causes high blood pressure which also makes us bloat out.

These easy to make and readily available low carb snacks are guaranteed to keep you full, give you added health benefits and they even taste better than sugary and salty snacks!

Vegetable Chips

Kale Chips

Kale has been quite the trend these past couple of years as it is packed with vitamins K, A and C and has cholesterol lowering and antioxidant benefits.

We used to think of kale as this bitter green that no one ever wanted to eat but when made into a “chip” it becomes a great healthy low carb snack that we can’t keep our hands off of.

There are two ways to make kale chips. You can bake them in the oven at a temperate of 300-350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-20 min depending on your oven or just throw them in a dehydrator if you have one in your kitchen.

Don’t forget to drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on them and you can even sprinkle them with seasonings like salt (but not too much), garlic powder, and onion powder.

Zucchini Chips

If you are really in the mood for a potato chip but don’t want the extra carbs or sodium then try a batch of zucchini chips. This crunchy low carb snack contains only 3.8g carbs in 100g compared to 17g carbs in 100g of potato.

I drizzle some EVOO on mine and make them in the dehydrator, but check out this recipe if you would like to bake them in the oven.

Other low sodium vegetable chips that you can make to substitute for potato chips are carrot chips and brussels sprouts chips.

Natural Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is super simple to make at home and I know this because I make it all the time! Natural peanut butter is much better for you as there is no added or refined sugar.

Sure, you could buy natural PB at the supermarket but it becomes expensive over time and certain brands add excess sodium. When I make it at home there is 0g of sodium so I don’t have to worry about water retention.

All you have to do is buy some peanuts; I buy ‘Fisher’ brand peanuts, bake them in the oven for 18-22 minutes, then throw them in your blender or Vitamix.

The Vitamix works best for blending the peanuts and extracting the natural oils out so it becomes smooth on it’s own. If you use a blender you may have to add a couple of tablespoons of oil to make it smooth. Peanut oil is best for taste but EVOO and hazelnut are great too.

Go Nuts!

If you are not one who is crazy about peanut butter (which is probably a minuscule percentage) or is allergic to peanuts then try snacking on nuts.

Nuts like cashews, walnuts, pistachios, and almonds are packed with essential fats, protein and fiber. There are numerous nutritional benefits associated with nuts including improved skin and heart health.

Because they contain fiber and healthy fats you only need a serving to full and satiated.

Strawberry Fruit Leather

Homemade fruit leather is a portable low carb snack for work or for kids to take to school. Strawberries are naturally lower in sugar compared to other fruits which is why they are a good snack to munch on when you are craving something fruity or sweet.

In 100 grams of strawberries there are 32 calories, 1mg of sodium, 6g net carbs and 5g of sugar.

Although strawberries are a fruit low in natural sugar they still DO contain sugar so it is best to have this snack only once in a while if we are really serious about our dieting goals.

Hard Boiled Eggs

For the person who leads a busy lifestyle hard boiled eggs can be a staple in your diet. They can be made the night before you start your work week and can stay good up to 5 days. Hard boiled eggs are cheap which also makes them a great way for college students to eat a healthy diet.

It is a common misconception that the yolk of an egg is bad for us because it contains cholesterol when in fact eating eggs can actually lower our “bad cholesterol” or low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

The yolks also contain numerous vitamins, minerals and fatty acids which can be very beneficial to our health.

Obviously if you are someone who has high cholesterol than it is not advised to eat whole eggs every day but they can definitely be helpful for a low carb and low sodium diet.

Tuna Salad on Cucumbers or Tomatoes

You don’t necessarily have to have bread to make a sandwich. Swap out bread for a low carb snack using tomato or cucumber and top it with a tuna salad.

Did you know that cucumbers contain numerous vitamins including B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, C and folic acid? Not to mention they also contain calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and potassium. If you forget to take your multivitamin in the morning just eat some cucumbers!

I don’t know about you but cucumbers fill me up very quickly. It must be the high water content that they contain which also makes them helpful for dehydration.

Tomatoes also contain many of these vitamins as well as lycopene which has been shown to have antioxidant effects and helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, premature aging, and osteoporosis.

It is best to make your own tuna salad at home as store bought tuna salad recipes usually contain bread. Also swap the mayonnaise for avocado instead to make it healthier yet still get that nice creamy texture.

Do You Still Think It’s Hard To Eat Healthy?

If you don’t think that there are any tasty low carb snacks, think again! There is an endless list of low carb snacks that we can easily make to reach our dieting goals while saving time and money.

Many people think that eating healthy is expensive or time consuming so hopefully the information I shared with you can give you some ideas about how to make healthy low carb snacks at home.