Protein, Fat, and Fiber Snack: How Apples and Peanut Butter Are Good for You

The average American eats around two snacks per day. Apples with peanut butter are an ideal snack because they provide a good mix of protein, healthy fats, and fiber.

When hunger strikes between meals, it’s time to grab a snack. However, when it comes to nutrition, not all snacks are created equal. While reaching for a bag of chips or a small pack of cookies can be tasty and convenient, these aren’t the healthiest choices. To fight off hunger, you should opt for something filling but light, something that has the right mix of nutrients. Look no further than an apple and peanut butter, an easy, healthy snack that tastes delicious, too.

Did you know that the average American eats around two snacks per day? In fact, about one-quarter of each person’s calorie intake each day is from snacks alone. As long as you’re choosing the right things to eat, there can be several benefits to eating a snack between meals, including:

• Keeping your energy up
• Controlling blood sugar levels
• Ensuring that you get in your daily servings of nutrients
• Helping your body recover from a workout

Many people avoid snacks because they think that eating between meals will lead to gaining weight. This isn’t necessarily the case, though. Choosing a healthy snack between meals can lower your chances of overeating at mealtime. Controlling your hunger with a snack also makes it less likely that you’ll reach for unhealthy food later when you’re really hungry.

While snacking can be healthy, be sure to listen to your body’s hunger cues. Ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you're reaching for a snack for another reason, like boredom or stress. Emotional snacking can lead to overeating when you aren’t really hungry, which can cause you to eat too many calories.

Planning out your snacks can be just as important as planning out your meals to make sure that you stay on track. The perfect snack size is one that fills you up enough but not so much that you’re not hungry during your next meal. Aim for your snack to be between 150 and 200 calories so that it gives you energy but not too many calories.

Building a healthy snack means including important nutrients such as:

• Protein
• Fat
• Unrefined carbs
• Fiber 

Protein, carbs, and fat are macronutrients, the nutrients that provide calories to your body and help it function. Protein is the building block of muscles, healthy fats are stored as energy and help with organ function, and carbs give your body quick energy. Whole-grain carbs, along with fruits, veggies, and pulses, are high in fiber and help you to stay full for longer.

You know that old saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away?” Apples are excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, all of which are essential for good health. When it comes to fiber, apples contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, most of which is found in the skin. This fiber helps to regulate your digestion by preventing both constipation and diarrhea. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that people who include high amounts of dietary fiber in their meal plans are less likely to gain weight as well.

Apples are a low-glycemic food, so they won’t cause your blood sugar to spike and will give you slow-burning energy. They are also good sources of antioxidants that can lower your chances of developing certain conditions, including asthma, lung cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Peanut butter sometimes gets a bad rap since it’s high in fat, like most other nuts. One serving of peanut butter, which is two tablespoons, has 3.3 grams of saturated fat and 12.3 grams of unsaturated fat, so about 80% of it is unsaturated. So even though it has some saturated fat, these numbers put peanut butter up alongside olive oil when it comes to the ratio of unsaturated versus saturated fat per serving. Be careful when it comes to reduced-fat peanut butter. It often has the same amount of calories but more sugar than regular peanut butter, so it isn’t always the healthier option.

Besides being a source of good fat, peanut butter also has some fiber and 2 ounces of dietary protein. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend eating 5 or 6 ounces a day, so this is already one-third of the protein that you need for the day. This same serving has 190 calories in it, so you should pair it with something low-calorie, like an apple.

Studies show that people who eat nuts, including peanuts, are less likely to develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes compared to people who don’t eat nuts. Studies also show that people who snack on peanuts or peanut butter are more successful in losing weight due to the high fat and protein content.

When you're choosing a snack, several factors come into play, like convenience, budget, and taste preferences. Luckily, an apple and peanut butter is a snack that’s easy to prepare and is pretty budget-friendly, depending on the types of apples and peanut butter that you buy. In addition to being a source of multiple nutrients, this snack also has different tastes and textures that satisfy: the sweetness from the apple, a bit of saltiness from the peanut butter, and both crunchy and smooth textures for you to enjoy.

Studies show that balanced snacks that contain foods from different nutrient groups are more satisfying. Pairing different nutrients, like protein, fat, and fiber, help to keep your snack nutritionally balanced but allows you to play around with ingredients and flavors that you like. The pairing of an apple and peanut butter is a “high-low combination.” This is when you choose a small amount of something with high-fat content, like peanut butter, and pair it with a larger portion of something light, like an apple.

The average American’s diet is lacking in essentials like fresh fruits and veggies, so building your snacks around these items is a great way to get a serving in. Preparing your snack ahead of time, like chopping up apple slices and measuring our servings of peanut butter, makes it easy to always have a healthy snack on hand that’s easy to take with you.