10 Nutritionist-approved office snacks to eat at your desk

Roasted / boiled sweet potatoes with tuna

1/10
Roasted / boiled sweet potatoes with tuna
Sweet potatoes make for a great filling and nutritious snack - and the best part, boiling them before work takes practically no time at all.

Nutritionists recommend preparing a batch of sweet potatoes before a work week and keeping them in the fridge. When boiled, sweet potatoes become a deliciously soft and sweet treat. To make it even tastier, stuff it with a little tuna for a perfect healthy mini-meal.
2/10
Tomatoes
Prepping your office snacks for the week doesn't have to be a time-consuming affair. If you're pressed for time to do any cooking, just grab a few tomatoes and take it to work as a snack! For a more travel-friendly alternative, you can also try cherry tomatoes. Tomatoes are not only low in calories but rich in antioxidants, which help reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease. Although they're refreshingly juicy and tasty on their own, you can try eating it with hummus, peanut butter or almond butter if you find it too bland on its own.
3/10
Almond butter sandwiches
Switch out your sugary chocolate hazelnut spread and opt for a delicious almond butter sandwich at work instead! Just 2 tablespoons of almond butter provide 30 percent of your daily magnesium requirement and it's a good source of calcium, too
4/10
Baked apples
Take your basic apple to the next level by trying a simple baked apple snack recipe! Simply slice the apples half along its core, and scoop out the core with a spoon. Mix oatmeal, peanut butter and cinnamon in a small bowl - this delicious crumbly mixture will be your baked apple filling. Bake the filled apples for approximately 20 minutes, until the apple skin starts to wrinkle.
This is a perfect, easy way to re-interpret an otherwise basic apple as a delicious snack you'll definitely look forward to munching on at work.
5/10
Almonds
Almonds are a great easy, tasty snack to keep on hand on your desk when you need a quick munch. An ounce of almonds (about 12 nuts) has 184 calories, plenty of fibre and protein, and good omega-9 fatty acids.
6/10
Douhua / ‘tau huey’ (without sugar)
Yes - 'tau huey', our local Singaporean favourite dessert, actually makes for a great snack; just order it without the sugar!
The delicious, silky texture of this protein-rich dish makes for a healthy snack alternative when you're still getting used to switching out your sugary office snacks. It's also a particularly good tea-time snack that nicely fills you up in the meantime, without getting you too full for dinner.
7/10
Hard boiled eggs
A hard boiled egg takes just between 4 to 6 minutes to prepare, making it the perfect easy office snack that nutritionists would recommend. A single hard-boiled egg has about 6 grams of protein and makes for a great savoury mid-afternoon snack to munch on at your desk.
8/10
Half an avocado
Avocados are, without a doubt, the ultimate unsung healthy snack hero. This deliciously creamy fruit is rich in fibre, with up to 11 grams of it per avocado alone! If that doesn't fill you up (while tasting so good), we don't know what will.
9/10
Dark chocolate
Because there is always sugar-filled office candy lying around in the pantry or your co-worker's desk, bring your own sweet snacks in single servings to avoid the temptation!

Opt for dark chocolate bars (with almonds or otherwise) instead of regular milk chocolate bars or candy. Dark chocolate is one of the best sources of antioxidants you can find and is proven to improve your health and lower the risk of heart disease.
10/10
Trail Mix
Keep a generous stash of trail mix on your desk. Vary your mix with an assortment of nuts, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower or flax seeds) and cranberries. This will ensure you'll have a variety of beneficial nutrients like fibre, protein, essential vitamins and minerals, on hand at all time.

We are all partial to that mid-afternoon office snack to beat that dreary post-lunch slump at work. However, before you bust out your chocolate bars or caffeine from the pantry for a much-needed energy boost, consider this: these snacks are not only going to leave you in a worse energy slump, but eating them as your daily staple snack will actually affect your health in the long run.

The Ideal Office Snack (And those to avoid!)

It is high time we clear out our office desks and pantries of chocolate bars, cookies or other sweet treats we typically grab for an energy boost. As tempting as sugary snacks may be, they will only cause a spike in your blood sugar levels, causing you to feel that short-term ‘sugar high’ boost. In mere hours, you’ll find that your sugar and energy levels will come crashing even lower than before.

Instead, nutritionists recommend that the ideal office snack should provide at most 200 calories, be protein-rich, with a little bit of healthy fat and some fibre too. Consider fuss-free snacks that take little to no time to prepare before a work week – like hard-boiled eggs, delicious baked apples, or a bowl of protein-rich ‘tau huey’ (note: without sugar) at your nearby Kopitiam.

Need more ideas? Head up to our gallery above to get inspired on how to switch out your unhealthy office snacks for 10 incredibly tasty and easy alternatives!

Sarah Khan

Photos: Getty Images

Coffee Addict: 7 Easy ways to reduce caffeine withdrawal symptoms

Cocktails, Caffeine & More: 7 Foods to avoid after 7 p.m.

Zero Caffeine: 5 Herbal teas and their secret health benefits

Clean Slate: 10 Effective makeup removers to make...