Snack On!
by Emily Anderson
"Don't snack between meals." "Here, eat this piece of candy for some quick energy for your dance class." "Don't ruin your dinner." Did you, dear reader, also hear these messages as you were growing up? And now, you say, you have a tendency to hide candy bars in your desk and gobble gigantic second helpings at dinner.
These messages have given snacking a bad name and led you to develop some bad habits. Unhealthy and stealthy snacking is a by product of the three-meal-a-day culture, created to fit the industrial life of long work hours away from home. Healthy snacking was a part of agricultural life. The ubiquitous enveloped sandwich bears testament to this: pasties, fleischkuechle, samosas, piroghis, empanadas, tamales, etc. One can easily assume part of hunting and gathering life as well - the occasional root, leaf or berry for sustenance.
Snacking implies an element of entertainment, but as it turns out, healthy snacking can have some very real benefits, also. Scientific studies have actually shown that snacking between meals is excellent care for the human body, as long as it is balanced by meals of a sensible size. Here is more good news about snacking:
- It may decrease your tendency to overindulge. If you eat a little nutritious delight, both your body and your mind will feel satisfied, and you are likely to feel less deprived
- It may help lower cholesterol. Researchers have theorized that large meals increase insulin levels, signaling the liver to make more cholesterol.
- It may slow the aging process. Since high blood sugar levels damage collagen and DNA, researchers have concluded that steady blood sugar levels may do less damage to these entities. Damage of collagen and DNA causes acceleration and visible signs of aging such as wrinkles, age spots and cataracts.
The key here is HEALTHY snacking. By now, you might have learned that giving up a bad habit is much easier if you give yourself a good habit to replace it. Here are some suggestions for retraining yourself and getting the next generations off to a good start:
Think of snacking as a "mini-meal", and look for nutrition as well as fun. Avoid refined and/or excessive sugar; it will give you a quick boost, but it's one that won't last. Put the appropriate snack portion on a plate or into your "to-go" container. Don't feed yourself from a 16-ounce bag. Choose organic and seasonal fruits and veggies, their heavenly taste will reinforce your good habit.
Enjoy your snack. Pause and breathe while you eat it. For greatest satisfaction, give your snack your full attention. If you are not paying attention to your snack (this goes for meals, too), you will not realize you ate something, and you may be in great danger of eating more and more and more. Therefore, performing other activities while snacking is unadvisable. Yes, this includes driving, working, and watching TV. Please, take a break!