I recently had a few bakery-purchased cupcakes analyzed for a segment I did on National Public Radio and found that a 6.5-ounce vanilla cupcake (from the famed New York Crumbs bakery) has 780 calories, 107 grams of carbohydrates and nearly 36 grams of fat. Magnolia (another famous New York bakery) sells a 3-ounce cupcake with 389 calories, 52 grams of carbs and almost 19 grams of fat. So cupcakes are not exactly the best snack choices. But that doesn't necessarily make muffins a slam dunk. In fact, muffins can be calorie catastrophes, and, unlike cupcakes, we don't usually think of them as dessert.

Most muffins start in the 400-calorie range. For instance, a 4-ounce blueberry muffin is generally about 400 calories. And a Dunkin' Donuts Banana Walnut Muffin has 540 calories, 69 grams carbs, 25 grams fat, 10 grams protein and 520 milligrams sodium. At least when you pick a fruit-and-nut muffin, it will have some nutritional benefits (fiber, protein and some good fat) — however, that doesn't make it a "healthy" choice. Don't be fooled by muffins called "bran" or "whole-grain" — there could be very little bran or whole grain in the muffin, so you get lots of calories for little reward.

Fit tip: If you like the cake part of the cupcake and can forgo the frosting, you can save up to 140 calories. However, if you choose right, your better bet will still be a muffin. In fact, there are some great, healthy, low-calorie muffins on the market. Try Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Heart Healthy VitaTops from Vitalicious.com (only 100 calories) or make your own.

It's a toss-up. Fifty-five Goldfish (about 1 ounce) have 150 calories (3 calories each), 6 grams fat, 19 grams carbs, 3 grams protein and 250 milligrams sodium. As for Wheat Thins, 16 crackers (about an ounce), have 130 calories, 4 grams fat, 21 grams carbs, 2 grams protein and 260 milligrams sodium. But keep in mind that the Wheat Thins contain high-fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to obesity and diabetes.

What about 100% Whole Grain Wheat Thins Baked Snack Crackers? They're whole-grain, so they have to be good — right? Yes, it's better to have 100 percent whole grains, but that doesn't necessarily mean crackers are a healthy choice. Right after the whole-grain wheat, the next ingredients on the label are soybean oil, sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, salt, high-fructose corn syrup and barley malt syrup — which add up to 21 grams of carbohydrates. And interestingly, after eating about 16 whole-grain crackers (140 calories) you'll have made only a small dent (2 grams) in your daily goal of consuming 25 to 38 grams of fiber.

Fit tip: Go for Wasa Delikatess crackers. This Swedish import is an acquired taste, but once hooked, well, you're hooked. Just take a peek at the ingredients: rye flour (whole-grain), water, salt, skimmed milk — that's it — nothing else. Each cracker has only 26 calories, 5.3 grams carbs, 0.1 gram fat and 1.3 grams fiber. That's a lot of fiber for one cracker.

For some strange reason — maybe wishful thinking — I believed that CornNuts were a healthy choice. They have corn, right? Yes, in fact, the ingredients are corn, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or canola oil and salt — pretty straightforward. And they're really not as bad as they could be. A 1-ounce portion has 120 calories, 4.5 grams fat, 21 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 3 grams protein and 180 milligrams sodium. The only problem is that Corn Nuts are fried; however, the saturated fat content is still relatively low at 0.5 grams, whereas an ounce of potato chips has about 3 grams of saturated fat. And the CornNuts don't have sugar.

What about Combos? Yes, they're made with real cheese, but cheese is 10th on the ingredients list. The first three ingredients are flour, vegetable oil and whey. A 1.75-ounce bag has 240 calories, 11 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 31 grams carbs (7 grams sugar) and 490 milligrams sodium.

Fit tip: Looking for that cheesy combo taste? Try a pretzel cracker with some spreadable low-fat cheese.

There are many types of energy bars and trail mix. For instance, PowerBar Nut Naturals have 210 calories, 10 grams fat, 20 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber and 10 grams protein in one 45-gram bar. And while this particular bar has a more readable ingredients label, most don't. Energy bars do give you some decent nutrients like fiber, fat and protein at a lower calorie level than, say, a candy bar, but they still need to be consumed carefully.

Now take a look at Planters Trail Mix Mixed Nuts & Raisins, which has 150 calories per ounce (a small handful), 11 grams fat (mostly healthy fat), 10 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 5 grams protein and only 15 milligrams of sodium. The majority of the ingredients, other than the oil, (I'm not a fan of cottonseed oil) are decent: peanuts, raisins, cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios, peanut and/or cottonseed oil, salt. But not all trail mix is equally wholesome. Those that contain dried fruits and/or "yogurt-covered" anything have various preservatives and drying agents, which add many chemicals.

Fit tip: Go with an all-natural organic trail mix such as Bear Naked Pacific Crest Trail Mix, which has 140 calories with 2 grams fiber and 4 grams protein. It's a 100-percent organic combination of fruits, such as mangos and raisins, plus hearty nuts, including cashews and pistachios.

Charles Stuart Platkin is a nutrition and public-health advocate, and author of "Breaking the FAT Pattern" (Plume, 2006). Sign up for the free Diet Detective newsletter at www.dietdetective.com.