the nut-free nutritionist: your guide to navigating the snack aisle
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Have you stumbled into the world of wellness and are simply looking for clean eating options? Do you have a nut allergy? Have you perhaps discovered that gluten or dairy also irritate you? Has this made it extremely overwhelming when wanting a snack?
Don’t get me wrong, I have seen over the past few years a lot more brands entering the Peanut Free Facility space and it’s great! The amount of options available now than when I was a child is completely different … but let me say one thing. Just because they have the Peanut Free Facility symbol, yes it makes me feel safe, but it doesn’t mean clean ingredients (of course not duh it means nut free). But as someone who looks at ingredient labels and tries my best to avoid certain additives, navigating the Health Food Section was once an overwhelming nightmare - there we so many options but so many contained nuts. I had to navigate this new world of holistic nutrition through a unique nut-free lens. Also, is it just me or when a product says may contain and its specific nuts like pecans, cashews, etc - why does that scare me more than just the generic may contain peanuts & tree nuts line? Just me? maybe.
Well, I’m here to guide you and tell you - you can still enjoy so many fun snacks! When I began navigating the ‘clean eating’ world, looking for snacks without harmful additives, sketchy ingredients or simply looking for an alternative to heavily processed snacks … I found the land of gluten-free and dairy-free … but the most used swaps were nut based.
The common ingredient swaps I found were:
All-purpose flour → Almond Flour
Dairy Milk → Nut-based Milks
Dairy Cheese → Cashew Cheese
Processed Thickeners → Almond & Peanut Butters
Safe to say I was not going to dabble in ANY of those - they weren’t safe and even if the same brand had a product that didn’t necessarily include a nut based ingredient … I didn’t feel safe.
But you see I LOVE a snack. But, what I don’t love are harmful ingredients that make me feel like crap, harm my gut health and lead me to feeling shaky due to all the processed sugar.
Over my years in this holistic health space as my own advocate and now as a practitioner I have witnessed so many new brands and old brands I’m just discovering that either have our beloved Peanut Free Facility symbol or their entire product line does not contain a single nut! Yay us allergy children!
I developed a love for baking based off going to all these beautiful cafes and not being able to enjoy, and I will share my favourite baking swaps but for now, when a girl is short on time or simply lazy these are my favourites:
Allow me to walk you through my favourites:
Made Good Granola Bites so great to grab on the go or add to morning yoghurt bowls!
Made Good Morning Bars my favourite when I’m running late or simply as an afternoon pick me up
Made Good Variety Pack can’t decide? that’s why I love a variety pack!
Three Farmers Snacks On-The-Go absolutley amazing, and with 6g of protein and 5g of fibre per bag how could you not love?!
Three Farmers Protein Snack Mix love a snack with different textures - love the ranch! 15g protein, 12g fibre!
Cedar Valley Pita Chips baked in coconut oil, a must try so so good with dip!
Healthy Crunch Dark Chocolate Superfood Cherry I cannot get enough of these, a must try
Bob Snail Fruit Roll Ups literally the only ingredients are fruit. that’s all no hidden nothing
Chocolate Snap Cookies these are delicious.
Safe Sea Friends Animal Crackers try the chocolate chip ones and thank me later!
The BEST Soft Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies if you haven’t tried FreeYum you’re missing out! Blueberry bars are also great!
Naturally Sweetened Brownies nut-free brownies and 3g of fibre per brownie? yes please!
Healthy Crunch Trail Mix a nut-free trail mix? sign me up!
Healthy Crunch Protein Seed Mix love all Healthy Crunch has to offer!
Chocolate & Strawberry Granola Bars yum, yum, yum! So great for on the go
Lundberg Rice Cakes one of my favourite alternatives to chips!
The Best Chips these aren’t fried and they used Olive Oil! No refined seed oils here! the Dill Pickle are also amazing
My Favourite Protein Powder for Baking had to sneak this one in! If you use any protein powder this is my absolute fav!
Spudsy Sweet Potato Fries remeber those veggie straws in your lunch box? Ya, the Ranch is another favourite
Seasnax BEST seaweed crackers, the Chipotle flavour is also amazing. Love love love that they use olive oil
YUM Earth Candies I’m not the biggest candy gal but had to share these, perfect for kids since they’re free from artificial food colouring
Allergy Smart Mini Cookies come in little packages so great for lunch boxes AND they just released a lemon drop flavour!
I absolutley love having a quick and easy snack to pop in my lunch box or grab on-the-go. Finding core brands that believe in quality over quantity and have nut-free standards have made it so much easier to fuel my body on busy days or have options when going to school, packing a lunch for office work or when you get that mid-day blood sugar crash - just knowing I have a snack that does not provoke a stress response brings me so much joy.
Whether it’s you struggling with a nut-allergy, a friend or your kids - creating a safe environment not only to decrease your stress but keep your loved on safe, and if that means doing a little more research than you’re used to - I’m glad you’re here and I’ll say it for them - we appreciate you!
Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried or loved any of these snacks or comment ones I haven’t tried yet!
