When I went to a urologist a year or two back for a prostate exam, they handed me a list of things that may be bad for my prostate that I may want to avoid now that I'm over 40. One was artificial sweeteners... (forgot the rest of the list, though I know decongestants were on there, too)
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Healthy snacks & drinks for gaming?
- Thread starter Kzach
- Start date
When I went to a urologist a year or two back for a prostate exam, they handed me a list of things that may be bad for my prostate that I may want to avoid now that I'm over 40. One was artificial sweeteners... (forgot the rest of the list, though I know decongestants were on there, too)
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
I serve tomatoes at games all the time (in fact I can't imagine eating all those other vegetables without tomatoes as an option). What I normally do is slice them up and sprinkle with a little salt an pepper. Everyone gets a little paper plate, and picks up each item with forks or tooth picks. It really isn't any more messy than dorito powder or salsa.
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
Had a very similar experience. The first think the urologist said to stop eating was artificial sweatener. I noticed immediate improvement once I stopped. I had a habit of chewing sugar free gum, and drinking diet pepsi. Turned out those were the root of my problem.
TarionzCousin
Second Most Angelic Devil Ever
Don't get these drinks:
Tinker Gnome
Adventurer
Yeah, I would never let someone who has just eaten Doritos touch any gaming book. I like Doritos, but I have to practically scour my hands clean with very hot water to get the scent off of my fingers.
Celebrim
Legend
Not fond of either of those options either, for the obvious reasons.
Hummus is a healthier alternative to salsa, and its less prone to getting watery in the bowl like salsa. Watery dips are to be avoided at all costs.
Bagel chips are preferable from a health food perspective to doritos and potatos chips, though really the whole chip concept is probably bad to begin with. Fortunately, I don't like chips much so they don't tempt me.
Popcorn is a good munchy, and as long as you don't heavily salt or oil it, its both a game friendly and healthy snack.
I've seen recommendations for sushi rolls, which would work well, but making enough veggie 'sushi' to feed a gaming army would take alot of time and effort and ordering them out would be prohibitively expensive.
Unsalted almonds are my current snack of choice, gaming or otherwise. More filling than sugary snacks - the protein and fat stays with you in a way that carbs don't - and relatively healthy. A little goes a long way though in terms of calories.
Grapes have a handy natural packaging (as the grape growers of America are fond of pointing out). Now that you can get good seedless grapes (I imagine only the older generation here can remember when you couldn't) they seem like an excellent choice. Too much reliance on fruit though would be bad, both from the calorie perspective and from the perspective of post gaming digestion.
I think the real problem here, and the real reason you see bags of chips, raw vegetables and the usual snacks is that for the most part people don't enjoy putting a lot of time into prepping snack food - whether for gaming or otherwise. I'm sure that there are some amazing snacks out there, some of them even healthy, but you'd probably have to spend half a day cooking to make them good enough to remove all temptation for the easy stuff.
Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
I think this is the heart of the issue. Money also. Not only does it take time to prepare these sorts of snacks, it takes money as well. So the host may want to coordinate with everyone to come to a satisfactory arrangement on that end of things.
I've found the prep for the tray I suggested (and we've done other variations on this) is getting the ingredients the night before or the morning of (we live 2 minutes from a grocery store so it only takes about 20-30 minutes to acquire the goods). Then you just need about half an hour to an hour before the game to prep. Really it is just cutting and seasoning the veggies. Luckily my wife likes to chip in and she usually takes on any prep or cooking duties before a game, making it easier for me to get organized.
But I think the bottom line is, if you want to eat healthy (not just low calorie), these are the kinds of steps that are needed (unless you are ordering delivery and get a salad or something). I may be coming at this from a slightly different angle, because my primary concern these days is digestive health. So I don't just want low calorie snacks, I want snacks that have a good mix of nutrients, fluids, fiber, etc. Dry snacks are just not a good idea in my case.
I totally agree on the humus by the way. One of my favorite things to snack on.
Crock pots are a good solution for prepping something that takes time ( i do this for tomato sauces) when you need to feed a lot of people.
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Scotley
Hero
Lots of good suggestions here. I didn't see much mention of tea and coffee, both have health benefits if prepared properly. Stevia is a good natural sweetener if you want to watch the calories. Check out Teavana if there is one near you.
Another thing to consider is moderation and portions. You can have some less healthy snacks at the table if you aren't eating the whole session. A batch of cookies with only a couple per person is a nice pick me up.
And remember beer is fat free!
Another thing to consider is moderation and portions. You can have some less healthy snacks at the table if you aren't eating the whole session. A batch of cookies with only a couple per person is a nice pick me up.
And remember beer is fat free!
RedTonic
First Post
Stevia sweetener tastes like artificial sweetener to me. Can't stand it. I'm a snack fiend as well. I don't like to eat a lot at once; I prefer to graze.
Given that, I do eat a lot of raw veg (or occasionally, if I feel less lazy, blanched): carrots, celery (though I don't like it, it's filling), cauliflower, broccoli, radish, celeriac, mushrooms, cucumber, bell pepper anything pickled. I find berries to be cleaner for eating when I'm perusing books and paperwork. Wash 'em, drain 'em, let dry. Sliced apples/pears aren't bad (I often have them with peanut butter) and are a sight less messy than anything you have to dip in salsa, hummus, mustard, or vinegar. If you're dead set on fingerfood rather than using utensils, and you want to avoid any prep time and chips of all types, these are the options you get (excluding nuts and dried fruits as previously noted). I'm not a fan of raw tomatoes at the table, myself. To me, they're a breakfast food. Cubed cheeses of different types are a party food for a reason, and if you ration yourself, you're golden. If your goal is not to ration yourself, stick to celery and water.
If you don't mind some minimal prep time or utensils, cut up melons and mangoes are nice. Lately I've been finding a particular small, virulently yellow color of mangoes at groceries & cost-co called "champagne" or "honey" mangoes which are incredibly intense. Boiled eggs, if you don't overcook them until the yolk turns greenish and sulfurous, are handy; prepeeled, they're an easy and clean snack, and the irritation of peeling them helps prevent overconsumption if you're worried about the cholesterol. Rice balls with seasonings or fillings are also handy (heh), but if you're avoiding carbohydrates they're not a top notch option. Low-fat beef or venison jerky is a perennial favorite around here, but obviously high in sodium despite its other pros (low fat, low carb, high protein). I find the gnawing endlessly satisfying.
You can go ultra crunchy and try kale chips (can't say either way, I've never done it--I prefer my greens cooked into a pulp).
Given that, I do eat a lot of raw veg (or occasionally, if I feel less lazy, blanched): carrots, celery (though I don't like it, it's filling), cauliflower, broccoli, radish, celeriac, mushrooms, cucumber, bell pepper anything pickled. I find berries to be cleaner for eating when I'm perusing books and paperwork. Wash 'em, drain 'em, let dry. Sliced apples/pears aren't bad (I often have them with peanut butter) and are a sight less messy than anything you have to dip in salsa, hummus, mustard, or vinegar. If you're dead set on fingerfood rather than using utensils, and you want to avoid any prep time and chips of all types, these are the options you get (excluding nuts and dried fruits as previously noted). I'm not a fan of raw tomatoes at the table, myself. To me, they're a breakfast food. Cubed cheeses of different types are a party food for a reason, and if you ration yourself, you're golden. If your goal is not to ration yourself, stick to celery and water.
If you don't mind some minimal prep time or utensils, cut up melons and mangoes are nice. Lately I've been finding a particular small, virulently yellow color of mangoes at groceries & cost-co called "champagne" or "honey" mangoes which are incredibly intense. Boiled eggs, if you don't overcook them until the yolk turns greenish and sulfurous, are handy; prepeeled, they're an easy and clean snack, and the irritation of peeling them helps prevent overconsumption if you're worried about the cholesterol. Rice balls with seasonings or fillings are also handy (heh), but if you're avoiding carbohydrates they're not a top notch option. Low-fat beef or venison jerky is a perennial favorite around here, but obviously high in sodium despite its other pros (low fat, low carb, high protein). I find the gnawing endlessly satisfying.
You can go ultra crunchy and try kale chips (can't say either way, I've never done it--I prefer my greens cooked into a pulp).
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