Need a healthy trail mix for all your on-the-go adventures this summer? I’ve got you covered with my favorite picks to make your own trail mix.

Why make your own Trail Mix?

There are TONS of different trail mix options when you start looking for them. I was at Whole Foods and the stock person chatted with me about how many more options there are in the past few years. Chalk it up to the Keto craze and everyone overindulging in nuts because of their low-carb benefits.

While I love nuts as a healthy snack, there are a couple of key things you can look for to make it a better-for-you snack.

Not all nuts are created equal. That’s why I started making our own healthy trail mix because I couldn’t find one made with dry-roasted nuts anywhere. (if you find one, let me know!)

Why choose Dry-Roasted Nuts?

The reason I pick dry-roasted nuts is that I am always trying to avoid the added vegetable oils. Anytime you see canola, sunflower, or safflower oil in the ingredient list, put it back on the shelf. Seriously.

Those vegetable oils become toxic during production and are one of the major reasons we are seeing so much inflammation in our society. (closely tied with sugar.) They mess with your brain and are being linked to neurological decline and diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia. Uh, no thank you.

The good news is that eating nuts offering numerous health benefits to those people in middle-age and the elderly. (source) (If only their teeth would keep up!)

“a high intake of nuts and emphasize their potential in preventing age-related diseases, validating the addition of tree nuts and peanuts in the diet of older adults. Therefore, increased consumption of bioactive antioxidant compounds from nuts clearly impacts many risk factors related to aging and can extend health span and lifespan.”