I have a new found love for seedless green grapes (especially when I refrigerate them!) When I find myself looking for something to snack on (esp. in the late hours) - I wil go for the grapes but I'm wondering if they are good for you?

I love to snack on grapes. So tasty, and surpringly, I find them filling. I like to keep a bowl in the fridge and grab a few whenever I'm in the fridge for water or meal prep.

I have to be somewhat careful with grapes, because I love them so much I can eat a lb or more in a day (and a pound of almost anything is usually a bad idea), and because it's a fruit it's one of those "good for you, but don't go crazy" foods because of the natural sugars. Natural sugars are still sugars, so the calories can add up quickly, and for me too many carbohydrates, but especially sugars increases my appetite and cravings.

Not to mention if I go too far overboard with fruit, I end up having to stay very close to the bathroom the next day (sorry for the TMI).

Anyway, back to the topic - grapes are great as long as you're watching the calories or portions. I love to freeze them, because they're really good frozen, and they take longer to eat. Usually I just clean, pull off the stems and freeze in a ziploc bag, but a while back on here, or maybe it was the Hungry Girl site, someone suggested tossing damp grapes with a couple teaspoons of dry sugar free jello powder, toss and then freeze. I don't do this very often, because why ruin a perfectly good grape, but in the middle of summer when I', craving popsicles (I'm not very fond of sugar free popsicles), I'll make a batch of jello dusted frozen grapes.

Of course they are good for you. They aren't calorie-free, however, so fit them into your plan accordingly.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...dspice&dbid=40

If you want to boost the healthy factor, try red-skinned grapes.

I'm trying to think of a food that's NOT good for you in the form that it comes off the tree or out of the ground, and I'm not getting anywhere. Everything has calories, of course, but I don't get the idea that random fruits or vegetables (served un-fried and un-greased) are unhealthy.

"Healthy" and "good for you" are terms that are virtually meaningless except in the big picture. No food is healthy or unhealthy except in the context of your entire diet. Eating nothing but _____ is unlikely to be good for you, no matter what the blank is. A huge slab of prime rib if you're starving (really starving, as in haven't eaten in weeks) - very good for you (and a Big Mac wouldn't be all that terrible, either because if you're starving calories are your first concern).

It's one of the reasons I love exchange plan dieting, it reminds me to aim for balance. My husband noticed that I tend to go on food group "jags," and I never noticed, until he mentioned it. There's nothing wrong with that either, because it doesn't really matter if your diet is balanced every day as much as that it balances on average, but I definitely notice that I feel better when I balance my day. Otherwise, I felt pretty lousy on my fruit or vegetable jags, because it's a lot easier on my digestive system (I have IBS) to have 5 to 7 servings of fruit and veggies every day as when I have 0 one day and 15 the next.