The best healthy snack alternatives to try when the miserable weather makes you want to reach for junk food
WHEN it is cold and miserable outside, it is tempting to reach for the snacks. But they don’t have to be bad for you.
There are healthy options you can make yourself. We give some a go, while our Beauty Editor puts eye patches to the test.
CHOCOLATE – One of the tastiest “health” things I’ve tried. Prodigy makes a range of delicious plant-based chocolate bars and recreates classics such as Snickers using half the sugar.
Orange and chocolate tastes amazing with oil from the superfruit baobab and oranges, plus cacao butter, coconut sugar, gluten-free oats and inulin. I loved it.
189kcal per 35g bar. 16.2% sugar. From £1.60 a bar,
CRISPS – Boundless is known for its snack bags of seeds but now its has brought out “activated chips” made from the iron-rich grain sorghum and yellow pea flour.
They are “activated” by soaking them to kick-start a germination process to release nutrients. The smoky chipotle and lime flavour is great – crispy, smoky, filling. 14.4% fat and 99kcal per 23g serving.
From £1.62 for an 80g bag,
YOGHURT – Gut Glory is a new range with 100million live cultures per gram. The Strawberry and Peach & Mango yoghurts have added fibre, which is a great idea.
Tasty and creamy, they make a great snack. They contain bits, so if you want a smooth yoghurt these are not for you. Four per cent fat and 11.1 per cent sugar.
The larger 450g Strawberry With Fibre costs £1.80 per pot at
Beauty with Gabriella Stein
BUDGET – Skin Republic collagen hydrogel under-eye patches (£4.49 for three pairs, ): Infused with an intensive anti-ageing serum containing collagen, green tea, aloe vera and vitamins A and E.
Easy to apply and stuck well. Gave an instant boost. Can’t say I noticed a lasting effect on lines and wrinkles but it definitely plumped and brightened around the eyes. Excellent value too. My favourite.
MID – Starskin Eye Catcher eye mask (£9 for two pairs, ): A delicate sheet mask for under-eyes to reduce puffiness and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
Enriched with skincare serum, coconut juice and liquorice root. Fiddly to apply as they are so saturated with serum. Once applied I had to stay quite still for them to stay in place. But they do work well for brightening the eyes.
LUXURY – Rodial dragon’s blood jelly eye patches (£32 for four pairs, ): Under-eye jelly patches to plump, restore and hydrate.
Infused with dragon’s blood, a tree sap with anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antibacterial properties. Also has hyaluronic acid to boost moisture in the skin and raspberry ketone extract for elasticity.
Instantly cooling and after applying for 30 minutes, my under-eye area was brighter.