I am a healthy 41 year old man follow a diet of unprocessed foods and no sugar and sweeteners. went from 235 to 175 and still my weight after 4 years cholesterol from 220 to 180 and still the same and no more sleep apnea I "created" my eating habits using information from different web sites this being one of the top. this article is the 10 healthiest snacks or 10 alternatives to junkfood
Midmorning fill probably be better then the midmorning breakfast burrito from a fast food chain, so for all you whiners instead of using the suggested brand of oatmeal find something that suits your needs.non dairy topping could be a soy milk based topping or something or simply skip it. For complainers just to straight out bash the article is wrong, if you thing the information is invalid don't take it and so there is a corporate tie , information here is still valid and useful. specially for people that are starting a healthy life style and are looking alternatives to current "junk food" fixes.
GREAT SITE

not to be sarcastic but who do you all think pays for this web site the companies that are killing all of us the government is also run from the money that these companies are making off of killing us that is why you dont see any one in government pushing to help companies that dont promote their foods and drugs and vaccinations that is why we are the sickest country in the world even poverty stricken countries eat healthier than we do not just food but they dont pollute as much as the us does

Always otp to eat as "whole" as possible. Avoid the bleached foods that are void of vital protein and fiber. Choose raw over cooked (we're talking veggies here) and unsweetened over sugared anything. Just use logical judgement if you're craving something that's not the healthiest. Moderation is the key when you're eating anything other than fruits and veggies. Also there's almost always a lower fat healthier version for just about any food item on the "bad" list. Also when it comes to the quick versus slow cooking oats (or any grain), the more whole the grain ie; steel cut versus rolled oats (the longer it takes to cook because they aren't stripped of the fiberous parts). I suggest cooking a big batch of the steel cut oats and use the extra throughout the week.

I use both Stevia and Agave in my baking, tea, bread, etc. I enjoy it in the place of sugar. Artificial sweeteners will never touch my lips again. Good Luck to all of you who continue to use them. There is a reason other countries have banned it and why our country has become very sick. Lastly, do you know anything about Monsanto, the inventor of the "chlorine based Splenda"? Do you really trust your life with them? It is your own decision and the rest of us are merely making "suggestions" to you in hopes of fully educating you so that you can make your own healthy choices.

i agree with ellen clark's comments!!

I think that this information is good for someone who is looking for alternatives. Sure cooking oatmeal for half an hour beats instant. But instant oatmeal beats chips and dip. It's about making better choices. In a perfect world the supermarket wouldn't even sell cool whip. A spoon full of cool whip won't kill you if you live an overall healthy lifestyle. Then again those who do probably won't choose to have cool whip. All things in moderation. I see this article as a stepping stone to making better food choices without going cold turkey and becoming frustrated because you feel like you are missing your fav food.
Lighten up

I cannot say enough good things about Stevia sweetner, use it, it is the best.
I cannot recommend any of the diet items you purchase in a store, nor can I recommend the MCCann apple cinnamon quick oats, the regular steel ground oat, take 30 min. to cook, yes, but the benefits by eating unprocessed food is worth every minute you wait to ejoy a bowl of Oatmeal, a spoon of Wildflower Honey to sweeten. Recommending to eat Cool Whip, is a crime, you should be ashamed. Obviously you do not know what is in this artificial delight. You should brush up on your knowledge, take a course in Nutrition at any University. If a food has been processed, i.e. bleached, cooked reconstituted, do not eat it!It is pure poison and has not food value. If sticky starch is all you want, you may as well eat an Elmer's Glue stick. Only $1.07 at the craft store.
Processed foods are the main contributors leading to obesity and diabetes in this country! Please post the good foods, nuts, dried fruit, fresh everything in season. No sugar and no white processed flour. Very little bread, but when you absolutely have to have it, one slice of 9 grain, wholw grain bread, available in every good Harris Teeter or Fresh Market, today. Enjoy and stay healthy!

Most of these suggestions for healthy snacks are chock full of harmful chemicals which are downright killers in the long run. Why would this website post such unhealthy information?

" Stevia " The best sweetener that has come down the pike , I find no after taste , no calories , simple , made a pumpkin pie using stevia and liked it better then with sugar or all the other sweeteners I've used .....,Bob " STEVIA _ google it "

I am surprised that you reccomend so many foods with artificial sweetner in them. Also, have you ever looked at the ingredients in non dairy whipped topping? Chemicals galore! I can't imagine that putting all those chemicals into your body can make your real age younger. Older yes. I really like your articles, but this one is really not good advise if you ask me. Ellen Clarke

to print, cut the recipes you want, then paste into a document using your word-processor (Word, etc.)

by the way, even diabetics can use these suggestions, just talk with your Dr. about how to work snacks in your diet. You still need half to 2/3 of your calories to come from healthul carbs, and keep the fat down and limited to healthful fats as much as possible. I am diabetic myself and see an endocrinologist who keeps up on the latest research, and that's the advice he gave me. It's harder to follow that it sounds, as I discovered when I actually started tracking carbs, fat, and protein with software form calorieking.com.

The recommendations given by RealAge help a lot in getting the maximum nutrition in and empty calories out, while still being able to ENJOY eating. THANKS!!!!

I could find no way to print these low cal suggestions--not even the highlight and click worked.

Love this site! With this variety of suggestions, everyone should be able to find at least one that works. I'm printing the list. Thanks to the person who said to highlight what you want to print, right click, and click selection. How have I worked on computers all this time and not figured this out myself?

I agree that many suggestions on the Real Age web newsletter are generic, promote drugs, and the doctors own products. I also think that if they really want to disseminate knowledge it does need to be printer friendly on the site.

I agree that many suggestions on the Real Age web newsletter are generic, promote drugs, and the doctors own products. I also think that if they really want to disseminate knowledge it does need to be printer friendly on the site.

Why do so many people take things so personally?? As several people have said these are SUGGESTIONS and very good ones they are too. If you are Diabetic or on a Low Salt Diet or Low Fat etc or have Allergies to certain ingredients then either omit them or use a substitute that IS acceptable to you. We are ALL in charge of our OWN Health but a little help IS appreciated by ME at least. I am in the UK so some of the ingredients arent even AVAILABLE in shops here!! Am I monaning?? No siree!! Thank you so much for your very interesting site.

All you whiners and complainers are probably the ones who want to close down all the fast food restaurants. If you want to go to McD's and eat a big mac, that's your choice. If you want to go there and eat a salad, that's also your choice. If you don't want to eat Splenda, Cool Whip, or use a microwave, then don't! This column is full of good suggestions. That's what they are-suggestions.

My favorite snack - grate an apple, chop up a dozen walnuts, sprinkle it all with cinnamon. Its' delicious.

Each and everyone sounds great! I can't wait to try them instead of the chips that I regularly eat. I'll be cooking the RealAge Confetti Crisps tonight. Its a good thing that work encourages everyone here to look at your site, we all really enjoy it!

How about making REAL hot cocoa with REAL dutch cocoa and REAL skim milk?!
Protein: it's a good thing.

Is this stuff good for you, and can you lost weight eating them?
1.Quinoa
2.Millet
3.Amaranth
4.Buckwheat
if so what recipe is good to use with it?

For number 1, try Quaker Simple Harvest™ Instant Multigrain Hot Cereal. No artificial sweetener, just good stuff.

Very good tips and snacking ideas here. If you don't like certain ingredients, or are allergic, then just substitute for something you do like (providing has similar amount of calories). No one is forcing you to include non-dairy toppings, splenda or even microwaves if you don't want. Geez people most things are bad for you if you think about it, and after all these are just snacks. These snacks are well suited to the average person who would contain the majority of these ingredients in there pantry already. Thanks.

I love reading your atticles so much. Especially that am 45 but i still look like am 30yrs old. I really want to maintain the same. Of late i have put on weight. I was weighing 64KG but i have put on 4KG extra which is not too good for a lady like me. I have a very nice body shape but this weight thing. I am a Zambian in Central Africa. Pls give me a receipe that i can easily assess here in my country.

I agree, having been allergic for about 75 years to chemicals in foods and cleaning agents. Only natural foods qualify for a healthful diet. If you sue things that are fresh, not in a box or can, you will feel much better.Stay away from starches as they are sugar in your body.

i had a reaction to statins. my doctor gave me the following diet: no cheese, no real eggs, and track my cholesterol count each day under 150 mgs. i lowered my cholesterol from 282 to 149 over a 9 mo.period. i lost 20#. it has lasted for over a year now. diet, diet, diet and no adverse reactions, and no excuses. p.s. lousy cholesterol from 130 to 79 and good cholesterol over 150. signed , type 1 diabetic and proud of it.

In one of your articles you were chastising Splenda and now you suggest it be used as a snack. Contradicting yourself aren't you?

Splenda is made from SUGAR and my dietician, Doctor & nutritionalist all say that even though we taste the sweetness it is NOT metabilised in our system. Also Over the past 5 years I have found that you need Half or even a Quarter amount in recipes as it is very sweet! Good luck

I have 1 parmesan cracker bread for my breakfast (purchase at costco bakery dept area) and 1 glass of 100% juice Ocean Spray cranberry/blueberry juice..its just the best breakfast and no allergic reaction that I get with dairy products..very satisfying and plenty of fiber...its the best! Carole..Dearborn Heights Michigan

These are great snack ideas! Some of the ingredients may not be totally healthy, the cool whip for example, but they are practical snacks for the average person that is trying to do the best they can in a crazy, hectic, latte driven world. Keep the ideas coming.

Purple potatoes aren't very common, they are a dark blue - kind of remind me of blue corn. You could probably use any firm potato (ie russet norkota may be better than a russet burbank).

And for you critics posting your opinions freely, remember that the free information you are getting is a tip for the average person - who probably already has Swiss Miss and Cool Whip in her/his home. Tweak these for your own use. I'm allergic to nuts, but I'm not slamming them for including nuts in these recommendations, am I?

I am a very healthy 70 and I belong to a computer club of about 1000 seniors who are in pretty good shape and want to stay that way. Will you please write a book for us?

Non-dairy creamers and whipped "cremes" all contain ALOT of trans-fatty acids. Swiss Miss also contains trans-fats to give it that "creamy" taste. Trans-fats aren't good for anyone, regardless of other health concerns. You'd probably be better off using real fats, at least the body can metabolize them faster. Trans-fats are good for NOTHING.

Purple potatoes...most interesting.

Purple potatoes?...explain, please...never heard of them !

I bought your book YOU Staying Young The Owner's Manual for Extended Warranty. It's great. However, I'm 75, widowed 14 months ago, having trouble walking but working on strengthening my legs, diabetic, and trying hard to manage that. How about writing a book for us old folks, who don't have that many years to extend out lives 27 more years or so, probably. Donna Port Angeles WA

Non-dairy topping? I really don't understand that one! Why not use some non-fat yogurt or ricotta cheese? At least that way you would be getting some protein and calcium.

non-dairy topping? I really don't get that one. What about some yogurt or ricotta cheese? At least you would get some protein and calcium.

For those of you who don't like coffee, I like to brew a cup of Celestial Seasonings Blueberry tea and add a hot cocoa packet. Yummmy! It's like the gourmet cocoa, but much more affordable. Plus you get the antioxidant benefits from the tea!

Please, please everyone read labels on processed foods. The more natural the better! Soy non-dairy is good, cool-whip etc. not. Don't expect miracles overnight. Be consistent and eat healthy, exercise, think positive, show kindness. We live here so lets improve it.

Please, please everyone read labels on processed foods. The more natural the better! Soy non-dairy is good, cool-whip etc. not. Don't expect miracles overnight. Be consistent and eat healthy, exercise, think positive, show kindness. We live here so lets improve it.

Splenda?????

Microwaves????

I don't think I'll read your website anymore.

What isn't Carol Channing President of the United States ?

Thank you for these tips. I'm starting to use more and more of them everyday.
I do have a question though.
How can I get rid of an extremely large, fat belly?

...or just drink 100 Pepsi 1's! Plenty of chemicals there, too, and only 100 calories.

Thanks for the good ideas you provided on healthy snacks. I usually snack (just a small amount to curb my hunger pangs) on my breakfast cereal dry but I am certainly going to add some of your ideas to my snack meals. I find the Real Age weekly ideas informative and useful.

Those confetti chips sound great!

Joanne, I use the cut & paste feature to keep from printing all the stuff on the page I don't want. I merely paste it into a word processing document and print from there. I can also save it for future use!

Does the Swiss Miss chocolate mix have trans-fat? Most of the instant mixes do. Watch out for your total salt intake for the day if you are drinking tomato juice. Lots of salt added to tomato juice. Many of these suggestions aren't quite right for people with high-blood sugar but since we know who we are we can work around that.

I don't have a Whole Foods store nearby, but have found agave nectar not only at the local food co-op but Meijer's, a mainstream grocery store in Michigan! I have used agave in muffins and soups. My husband uses it on hot cereal. It seems to work well as a honey substitute, though bread products are more chewy than with granulated sugar.

You all have encouraged me to continue working these natural sugar alternatives into my daily cooking habits! Here's to Healthy Eating!

Agave nectar can be found in Whole Foods stores. It is a little expensive, but it tastes great on watermelon - that's the only thing I have ever had it on. You could probably add it to alcoholic drinks, especially those that are tequila based, in order to sweeten them instead of a liquer. The suggestions sound pretty good to me. I like to hear about healthy snacks that do not require a lot of preparation that I can grab on the go. For those of you having trouble printing, try highlighting what you want to print and then right-clicking your mouse to choose "print". When the print menu comes up, choose "print selection". That way, only the stuff you want prints, and you don't waste extra paper and ink.

How do I print this one?? My print preview shows nothing, and I don't want all the comments just the snack tips.

Walnuts and almonds are very filling snacks. Have before a meal and they cut down on food consumption.

These are just suggestions. Some things you will like and some you won't. You all need to lighten up!

I do like these tips and use what I like and dispose the others. My gripe is that I have tried to fit all the needed helpings of veggies, fruits and whole grain into my diet and have gained weight. I do not need this!! I need to lose it.
I do enjoy all the tips and think you have a great site.

I use Stevia for sweetening, just not in baking. It is VERY sweet so a dash goes a long way. I don't get any after-taste from it either.

I just printed this article by simply clicking on my tool bar print icon.......I was even able to print all your comments and list of previous food bites....so beware and program your printer to only copy the pages you want.

I am encouraged to read the dialouge about healthy foods. Especially by those who take the time and have the consideration to present their comments or questions in a positive light. I am planning to buy the vegs for "confetti Chips" today, as the salty-crunchy urge is a main portion of my snacking downfalls. I will modify the other recipes to exclude the artificial foods suggested. For instance, plain yogurt rather than non-dairy topping. Does anyone have experience using the herb Stevia for sweetening, or agave nectar? I appreciate the time it takes to put together these tips. Thank you!

These snacks sound great and doable!
I'm going to copy and paste into text and print them so I can put the list on my refrig.
These sound good for my diebetic mom too.
Thanks
B :o)

wonderfull. I feel happy about your revcipes.I from India where they use a lot of oil and spices. why don`t you go for indian spices. it has lot of good ingredients like sfron, garlics, peper, red chilie,cinamon,cilandra,cloves,phenugreak,musted, gingly,onions etc.I see you are picking a few if them.Thanks.

Just copy the article and put it into Word and then you have it.

you people are idiots if you really think a website is going to take into consideration your person needs...and just copy and paste it into a word document if you want to print-stop being so lazy-and don't critize a website's suggestions if that is all your using to get information-

Can we please have food and snack suggestions that only involve natural ingredients? Artificial sweeteners, non-dairy toppings, hot chocolate mix - none of these contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

What about raisins? Are they still considered good food bites?

What about raisins? Are they still considered good food bites?

Well, I sure would like to print these snack suggestions. What is the reason for not taking the suggestion from a previous subscriber and making your tips printable? If you really want us to follow these wonderful suggestions; then you need to make them accessable.

How about making suggestions printer friendly?

I thought this was the best article I've ever read on alternatives to the 100-calorie snack pack. Lots of good choices here. Can't wait to try the confetti chips. Well done!

Take my last name off my coment thank you Brenda

I think the Dr. does not think when people are diabetic and have diverticulosis. Every one says eat nuts and things with seeds and spices. Guess what I can't eat food like this. I eat apples without the skin and a banana if you can get good ones. Population of town about 400 people but the grocery store is good and trys to keep these things.November 26,2007

I think I'd put more faith in Mercola than someone suggesting Splenda. "Advice you can trust" doesn't mean you believe everything he says. I think his site is more diligent with its research than most.

You believe everything Dr. Mercola says? I think he just slaps any old thing on his web site just to get people to read it. He doesn't research both sides extensively, it's only his opinion.

oh yeah . . & microwaves ??!! ever wonder why they've been banned in Russia since 1976 ? all the info is available but not promoted hmmm wonder why that is ? start with mercola.com for health advice you can trust :) :)

Splenda ??!! Low fat ??!! Please check out Weston A Price Foundation :)