Calorie Awareness:
Side by side, can you choose
the healthier snack?

Review the following snacks side by side and choose which one you think is the healthiest choice. 

Assorted Olives
Fat Free Pretzel

The fat-free pretzel looks bare, dry, and downright plain, so we're likely to assume that it must be low in calories. By contrast, we tend to think of olives as fattening foods, and their lush appearance and rich taste only add to that image. It's accurate to say that olives contain fat, but many people don't realize it's the good kind: heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, not the saturated kind that raises artery-clogging cholesterol.  Olives = 60 calories; Fat-free pretzel = 80

Dried Peach Halves
Low Fat Granola

These two are tied for calories at 150…but for the same amount of calories, you can eat far more dried peach halves.  And despite all the nutritional claims for the granola bar, you get even more fiber, vitamins and minerals from the dried peach halves.

Graham Cracker
Peanuts

Graham crackers versus peanuts? Seems like an easy choice.  It's hard to believe but absolutely true that these three puny graham crackers, the least cookie-like cookies around, have more than twice as many calories as 10 peanuts, notorious for their fat content. And the graham crackers are virtually nutrition-free, while the fats in the peanuts are the essential fatty acids our bodies need.  Peanuts = 80 calories; Graham Crackers = 180 calories.

Frosted Flakes
Grape Nuts

This one seems like a no-brainer, what could be higher in calories than a cereal that has been sweetened like crazy with frosted sugar! The fact is that almost all cereals have about 110 calories per ounce. The denser the cereal, the higher the calorie content per cup. Grape-Nuts is a particularly dense cereal. Just eat 1/4 cup of it, and you'll be consuming a full ounce.  ½ cup of Grape Nuts = 400 calories, ½ cup of Frosted Flakes = 220 calories

Roast Beef on Country White
Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel

If you eat salmon only on special occasions and roast beef as a standard lunch selection, rethink your strategy. In this comparison, the roast beef sandwich is not the lower-calorie item. In fact, the salmon on pumpernickel wins: Its 235 calories compare favorably to the roast beef sandwich's 360.

M&M’s
Yogurt Raisins

Yogurt raisins are pretty much everybody's idea of a virtuous snack. They're what you would eat if you were trying not to eat M&M's. If you did so, however, you would achieve absolutely nothing in the weight loss department. This bowl of yogurt raisins has exactly as many calories as the bowl of M&M's. Eat yogurt raisins if you want to, but not to save calories.  5 oz. M&M’s = 675 calories; 5 oz. Of yogurt raisins = 675 calories.

Dry Bagel
English Muffin with Jam

If it's calories you want to save, go with the English muffin and jam 170 calories compared to the dry bagel with 400. But, take note…both of these snacks offer minimal vitamins, minerals and fiber.  So, if these are the only snacks around, you might as well go for the sweet taste of the muffin and jam rather than the dry, unadorned bagel.

Peanut Butter and Jam on Whole Wheat
Turkey on Rye

Surprise! A sandwich of skinless white meat turkey (hold the mayo) looks like the perfect diet lunch. By contrast, good old peanut-butter-and-jelly seems an obvious no-no. But in this case, looks are deceiving; the truth is in the numbers. If you choose the PB&J, you'll be getting fewer calories.  Turkey on rye = 410; PB&J on wheat = 365.

Information taken from the Prevention.com website. www.prevention.com/cda/homepage.do