What are some snack ideas if you have nut allergies?

My PT's recommended almonds as a great snack but I'm allergic to nuts.  Is there anything else I can have that's just as filling?

Absolutely!  Firstly though, are you allergic to all nuts?  Things like almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, pecans (to name a few) are tree nuts, whereas peanuts are actually legumes.  Some people are allergic to some tree nuts...but not all.

Let's assume that you are allergic to all nuts.  Nuts contain carbohydrate, proteins, fats and fibre and its mostly the last 2 things that satiate us (protein does also, but we're looking at fats and fibre here).  So when we're looking for an alternative for something that will keep us "full" but with little bulk, we're aiming for something as energy packed as a nut.

Are you allergic to seeds?  Seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, chia, flax and sesame can all be eaten on their own or mixed in with a little yoghurt if you wish.  Depending on the variety 2 tablespoons of seeds will give you approximately 10g of fat, 1g of fibre and 3g of protein and be around 100cals.  The great thing about seeds is all the other vitamins, minerals and secondary compounds they contain.  For example, pumpkin seeds are great for killing parasites and chia seeds are reportedly good for stamina.  Seeds are a good source of zinc which is awesome for our immune systems.  I would aim for seeds as a second option to nuts.

Here are some other ideas if seeds aren't your thing:

•·         ¼ avocado on 1 slice of toasted vogels bread (or rice/chia bread for a yummy gluten free toast) will provide around 10g carb, 3.5g fibre, 5g protein and 11g of good fats.  It's small, but will digest easily and keep you full.  It's approx 185-200cals.

•·         Similarly you could have a slice of toasted bread with a tablespoon of hummus with 4.5g of fat and 4.5g of protein and 2.5g of fibre.  This snack only packs a 133cal hit.

•·         A half serve of protein powder mixed with water and 2tsp of flaxseed oil is a good wee snack.  Protein powders are usually 30g of protein per serve.  So this snack would be 15g of protein, 10g of fat and to add some fibre we can add a tsp of slippery elm powder to add 1g of fibre.  This is approximately 150cals.

•·         Weetbix with marmite.  Remember as a kid we'd smear butter and marmite over a weetbix.  You can still do this!  But instead replace the butter with a tablespoon of avocado.  This snack is only 100cals with 3.4g of fibre, 2.7g protein, 5g of fat and 10g of carbs.

•·         Try mixing 4tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese with 1 tsp of pesto and have this on a Ryvita Cracker.  This snack is approximately 100-120cals, has 11g of protein, 3-5g of fat (depending on the type of pesto), 7g of carbs, and 1g of fibre.

In a nutshell (so to speak) shoot for foods high in fibre and essential fatty acids that take the digestive system a while to work on, while not overloading it.