Healthy Snacking — Good or Bad?
“Snacking” as the name suggests — is something that may make you think of some mouthwatering, not so healthy version of foods! But believe it or not there is healthy snacking as well, which will also make your taste buds happy!
Healthy snacking does not mean, it’s going to be some boring dry and bland snack, branded as ‘diet snack’ in health shops. There are many nutritious low calorie snacks which will help you get rid of that 6 pm craving for samosas and pakoras or that 11 am desire for cookies and biscuits!
Healthy Snacking isn’t bad and keeps a check on your Weight: — Experts say that having small and frequent meals is the key to good health. We are used to eating 2–3 large meals in the day. Thus the calories consumed at each meal is very high and body may crave for sugary and fatty foods as it is getting fuel after very long gaps. While, on the other hand, snacking on healthy foods but small in quantity, frequently helps in avoiding the quantity of food eaten in the main meals. Calories consumed through snack should be less, while it should be of high satiety value. This indirectly helps in a better weight control.
How frequent your snacks can be? Experts suggest have small to moderate amount of foods every 2–3 hours. This may lead to a decrease in calories eaten in the main meal. Thus may lead to a reduction in the total calories consumed in a day. By eating small but healthy snacks frequently does not let an individual be extremely hungry at any point in the day. Thus the sugar levels in blood remain steady throughout the day. Thus providing a sustained release of energy to maintain a balance. If the blood sugar level drops to a very low level, the person feels uneasy, tired and fatigued. Not only that, but also very hungry which might cause overeating in the next meal and the likelihood of choosing wrong foods may also increase. For e.g. choosing foods which contain high amount of added sugars or saturated fats! Thus eating small to moderate amounts of foods at regular intervals, increase the chances of eating nutritious foods and so may help in full filling the nutrient requirement for the day.
Unhealthy Junk Snacks: — Snacks which are high in fat content and sugar should be strictly avoided. Or else having such foods frequently in the day will make you gain weight and may even increase your bad cholesterol levels. Foods such as fried samosas/vadas/bhajiyas/colas/ice creams/mayonnaise containing sandwiches etc. are too high on calories. Hence junk snacks are a complete no-no when you are considering frequent but small snacks throughout the day. Sugar laden snack causes sudden peak in the blood sugar levels after consumption, which causes insulin hormone to secrete in the blood to clear off the extra sugar. If the quantity consumed is more or consumption is often, it may cause high amount of insulin to keep on secreting in the blood which is not good for health.
Increased insulin the blood in turn leads to accumulation of fats in the body. These extra accumulated body fats are harmful for health, which may lead to various disorders such as obesity, bigger waist, insulin resistance, high cholesterol levels, diabetes etc. Now as you know the ill effects of snacking on unhealthy foods, skipping these snacks would be the best thing to do!
Quality of snacks: — As mentioned earlier your snack should be small, nutritious while low on calories. The main meals such as breakfast, lunch and dinner can be moderate in quantity while the in between snacks needs to be lighter, smaller and low calorie and high on nutrition! Your snacks should contain protein, complex carbohydrtes such as fiber, and micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants which are extremely essential for the body’s working and also healthy fats.
Some healthy snack options
A bowl of raw salad with a tinge of lime juice or curd dressing
100g fat free yogurt
1 handful of mixed nuts
1 cup of roasted chana and puffed rice dry bhel (no sev/no puri)
1 cup of sprouts with chopped tomato/onion/coriander and some lime juice- to taste
1 cup of cut fruits
1 cup popcorn (no butter)
1 cup of fresh fruit, low fat smoothie
1 non fried khakra topped with chopped raw veggies
Cucumber/Carrot sticks with 2 teaspoon curd dressing/green chutney
A whole grain open sandwich with veggie slices on top (no mayo/no cheese)
1 medium sized fruit
These are just a few examples. You can make your snacks interesting and yummy by making your own combinations. Remember to use veggies and fruits with different colours — such as: apple/strawberries/carrots, capsicum, bell peppers, green lettuce, tomatoes, oranges, black grapes, jamuns, peach, red cabbage, blue berries etc. — as they contain different types of nutrients required by your body. Also it’s always better to include veggies and fruits as most of them are low in calories. To list a few are cucumber, spinach, watermelons, lettuce etc.
Healthy snacking and metabolism — Metabolism is the power house of the body. Body intakes and burns the calories to perform all its function, all of which happens at a particular rate. This metabolic rate should not slow down as it may harm the process of metabolism i.e. producing and expending calories which may indirectly lead to negatively affect the functioning of the body. Food intake activates the process of digestion. Now this process requires calories. Digestion is nothing but, breakdown of foods into smaller parts and forms, thus making the nutrients in them available to the body to absorb. When you eat small and healthy low calorie snacks more frequently, you compel your body to digest and breakdown foods thus burning calories each time. This, in turn, can cause an increase in your metabolic rate.
Thus healthy snacking improves overall health, manages weight, curbs cravings and helps you provide consistent doses of energy required throughout the day!
References
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/meal-planning/healthy-snacking-benefits.aspx
Originally posted on Youthberry http://youthberry.ng/healthy-snacking
