--- title: Healthy Snack Foods description: Munchies to improve your wellness canonical: https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-18T10:53:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:19:14.340Z article:section: Health og:title: Healthy Snack Foods og:description: Munchies to improve your wellness og:url: https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Healthy Snack Foods twitter:description: Munchies to improve your wellness twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Surprisingly Healthy Snack Foods  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 18, 2015 10:53 AM UTC  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 18, 2015 10:53 AM UTC New research suggests that people who eat a handful of nuts each day have a lower risk of dying from certain chronic diseases, compared with those who don’t. Alas, the link doesn’t stick for peanut butter. But there are several other popular munchies that experts now believe can improve your overall wellness–when eaten in moderation, of course. CHOCOLATE Snacking on chocolate (including milk chocolate) has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke, possibly because its flavonoid antioxidants help strengthen blood vessels. CHIPS AND SALSA Salsa is packed with the anti-inflammatory compound lycopene–and you’ll get four times as much if you eat it with avocado, one study found. Lightly salted chips, for scooping, are naturally rich in fiber. BEEF JERKY There are now grass-fed versions of the gas-station staple, offering high-quality protein sans artificial preservatives. –MANDY OAKLANDER ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/"},"headline":"Surprisingly Healthy Snack Foods","datePublished":"2015-06-18T10:53:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:19:14.340Z","description":"Munchies to improve your wellness","url":"https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/","keywords":["Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nutrition/","name":"Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3926051/surprisingly-healthy-snack-foods/","name":"Surprisingly Healthy Snack Foods"}}]}] ```