Eight treats with higher protein and fibre, less sugar and sodium
You’ve had a couple classes, and are now beginning to feel your energy waning. Before hitting the library to study, you need a snack pick-me-up, but what food options do you have nearby? If you study at U of G, it could be a Tim Hortons or a Starbucks. These places have delicious options, but most aren’t exactly healthy. What defines a healthy snack though?
According to WebMD, your snack should be high in nutritional value (protein, vitamins, minerals, fibre) but relatively low in calories, total fat, sugar, and sodium. Here are some snack choices from popular U of G food spots that offer a compromise between taste and health.
Second Cup: Baked Goods
There are three Second Cup coffee shops in the U of G area: one at the intersection of Gordon and College, one in the Pathobiology Building, and one in the Science Atrium.
Second Cup shows 13 baked good treats on its website. After comparing nutrition info across all items, your healthiest options are the breakfast cookies, both the original and the blueberry, which contain almonds, peanut butter, and chia seeds.
To break it down, the average Second Cup treat has 425 calories, 23 grams of fat, 316 mg of sodium, 123 grams of cholesterol, 3 grams of fibre, 23 grams of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.
The original breakfast cookie has 340 calories, 22 grams of fat, 5 grams of fibre, 18 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein. The blueberry cookie has 320 calories, 20 grams of fat, 4 grams of fibre, 15 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.
Both have 240 mg of sodium, and are the only two treats with no cholesterol.
Tim Hortons: Donuts
Tim Hortons can be found at four locations across the university: in the Engineering Building, on the second floor of the University Bookstore, in the University Centre (UC) Chef’s Hall, and in the Gryphon Centre Arena.
There are a ton of donuts to choose from at Tim Hortons, over 19 according to their online menu. Here are two that come in at a lower calorie, fat, sodium, and sugar count when compared to the others on the menu. For reference, the average donut at Tims has roughly 259 calories, 9 grams of fat, 245 mg of sodium, 17 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.
The chocolate dip is simple, yet delicious, and clocks in at 200 calories, with 6 grams of fat, 210 mg of sodium, 13 grams of sugar and 4 grams of protein.
The strawberry filled is a sweet, fruity treat with 200 calories, 5 grams of fat, 230 mg of sodium, 14 grams of sugar, and 5 grams of protein.
Booster Juice: Smoothies
There is possibly nothing more refreshing than a big ol’ Booster Juice smoothie. The smoothie and juice bar can be found at two locations on campus: in the UC food court, and in the Athletics Centre.
Their smoothies come in two sizes, snack and regular. The regular sizes pack more calories and sugar, so if you need a small energy boost between meals, getting the snack size would be your best bet. However, note that certain flavours only come in regular (i.e. Bananas-A-Whey, High Impact Acai, etc.) so they have been excluded from the nutritional comparison below.
There are 21 flavours on Booster Juice’s website that come in snack size, with an average calorie count of 163. In general they have 0.5g of saturated fat, 44mg of sodium, 3g of fibre, 27g of sugar, and 2g of protein.
The healthiest options are Unbeetable, made with beets, carrots, strawberries, mangos and apples, and Tropi-kale, made with kale, mangos, bananas, apples and pineapple. Unbeetable has 120 calories, 0.1 grams of saturated fat, 20 mg of sodium, 5 grams of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. Tropi-kale has 140 calories, 0.1 grams of saturated fat, 15 mg of sodium, 5 grams of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.
Starbucks: Snacks and sweets
Starbucks is found at three locations across the university: in the UC, McLaughlin Library, and in the Lennox/Addington Residence.
The coffeehouse chain has its own line of packaged snacks and sweets, ranging from madeleine cakes to potato chips. They usually sit right at the cash register, enticing you when you go to pay for your drink. So which snack is the healthiest to grab?
The average packaged item has 239 calories, 13 grams of fat, 186 mg of sodium, 2 grams of fibre, 11 grams of sugar, and 3.5 grams of protein. Some items also contain cholesterol.
For your sweet tooth, the dark chocolate grahams cookies are a reasonable option, at 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 35 mg of sodium, 2 grams of fibre, 11 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein. For something more savory, consider the butter gourmet popcorn: it has 150 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 240 mg of sodium, 3 grams of fibre, 1 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 191.1 on Aug. 26, 2021.
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