Need a Snack? Eat A Pepper…

It happens all the time.  I’ll be out running errands or in the airport catching a flight, just about to bite into a crunchy, red bell pepper and someone will stare or gawk or even approach me and ask if I’m “really going to eat that, just as it is?”.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I am!

I don’t know if doing something such as eating a whole bell pepper, just the way one might eat an apple, never seemed odd to me because I grew up with a mom who liked to garden and always had plenty of fresh produce to choose from or because I simply view it as a food.

Regardless, I still don’t think it’s odd and it’s become quite interesting to note the responses I always get.

Isn’t it actually more strange that we find it normal that eating a packaged item made from all sorts of things we often cannot even identify as food and don’t think twice about inhaling it?

So here’s my challenge:  the next time you want an easy to eat, quick to grab snack, pick up a bell pepper.  Or a cucumber. Or some celery.  

You get the idea.

And while I’ll always recommend balancing out your macronutrients, since many veggies are high in fiber and low in sugar and starch, if eaten alone, they won’t wreak havoc with your blood sugar the way a package of dried fruit or a ripe banana or even (gasp) a fresh, cold-pressed fruit juice from the local, popular juice bar.

Stop by the farmer’s market, or pop into the organic produce section at your grocery store, choose your veg and other than washing it off, there’s no prep needed.

Bite in, and enjoy the refreshing flavor, the hydrating sensation and the knowledge that you just did something very, very good for your body.

Pass on that ‘energy snack mix’ and pile on the leaves…seriously!