It is natural, in fact biological, a factor that in between your meals you will feel hungry especially if you lead a more active lifestyle or you are involved in some activity that needs a lot of effort and consumes a lot of energy. It is good to eat something light during these times to restore energy in your body.
However, eating anything and everything that is available in front of you is not a good thing to do. Ideally, you should eat something light that will satisfy your hunger but will not kill your appetite for your next meal. This is snacking.
There is an ever going debate on whether or not one should snack and how it may affect your health. Well, if you eat proper food and in the right proportion, there is nothing bad in snacking. In fact, it is a way of healthy living or eating to be precise. The problem starts when you overeat when you snack or eat anything that you should not eat ideally.
To know more about snacking and before you order snacks online here are a few basic things that you should know about snacking.
The basics
Snacks are ideally the new meal of today and that is what makes most people think whether snacking is good for their health. Well, to start with you must know that eating three square meals a day is so 2010. These days when you have to move fast and work more your body will need much more food than that. As you may know, food is the only source of vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients to your body that will keep you energized and help you to work.
Therefore, 2019 is the time when you will need to eat a couple of times more than the traditional ‘three square meals a day’ concept. According to the research report of the Hartman Group, it is found that:
- More than 50% of the Americans resort to snacks as their eating occasions and
- 91% of the people snack several times a day.
Now the question is whether or not eating so many times is healthy? Well, the health factor of snacking depends on people, their choices and the situations as well. This includes:
- People who are with specific health conditions and suffering from medical issues
- who are trying to lose their weight or maintain their figure and current weight
- People who are involved in active sports such as athletes and even
- who are crunched for time?
Therefore, you will need to know each of these factors well before you decide on what snacks to eat or order.
Snack options for different people
If you have any specific health condition such as high cholesterol or diabetes, you should have smaller and more frequent eating occasions. This will help you to control the cholesterol and glucose level in your blood. Having mini-meals is the best option as that will help you to ease the digestive symptoms especially if you suffer from gastrointestinal disorders such as gastroparesis. In these specific situations as well as the other situations where you would like to eat something to regain energy and maintain the health you may have:
- Beverages and foods without a lot of sugar
- Drinks without caffeine
- Foods are rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, healthy fats, minerals and phytonutrients.
You may also have specific foods such as:
- Yogurt
- Unsweetened cappuccino or latte
- Cheese
- Fruits and nuts
- Meat
- Crackers
- Cottage cheese with cherry tomatoes or fruits
- Cups of cereal with milk or yogurt and
- Bean dips with bean chips
If you are focused on your weight then you should have packaged foods as that will help you to keep control of the portion of food you take and stay well within your calorie cap. Your ideal snacking options may also include:
- Salsa with raw vegetables
- Whole fruit
- Kale, roasted carrot or beet chips
- Freeze-dried fruits
- Roasted chickpeas
- Fava beans or soybeans
- Bean dip
- Hummus with veggies and
On the other hand, if you are super active or an athlete you will need to distribute nutrients to your body all through the day to provide energy. This will help you to avoid taking too much food and subsequent digestive distress. Taking food at the right time will also help in repair from a workout. Snacks like smoothies that come in liquid form can be a great option as that will provide both nutrition and hydration. Other snacks to try out to fuel a workout include:
- Fruit and yogurt-based smoothies
- Yogurt Parfait
- Energy bars made with fruit and nuts
- Peanut butter and banana wrap
- Chocolate milk
- A granola bar
- Cheese
- Crackers
- Small bottle or can of juice
- Jerky and
- A small handful of pretzels and water
If you do not have much time in hand for all these and sit down to a meal or you are on a deadline at your work snacks that will provide you with an energy boost till the next eating occasion include:
- A pack of nut butter
- 1-ounce pack of nuts or seeds
- Fresh fruit such as apples, pears, bananas and oranges
- Dried fruit such s prunes and raisins
- Freeze-dried fruits
- Jerky
- Meat-based bars
- Trail mix
- Cereal
- A can of soup and
- Whole-grain crackers
These are foods for people having special needs according to the conditions. However, for any average and normal person who wants to stay healthy, fit and find a balanced diet will suffice their healthy eating endeavor.
The list of best-balanced diet in chronological order will be as:
- Mediterranean diet
- DASH diet
- The Flexitarian diet
- MIND diet and TLC diet
- Mayo Clinic Diet and Nordic diet
- Volumetrics diet and WW or Weight Watchers diet and
- Asian diet
All you have to do is visit one of the sites on the internet to find the most suitable site plan for you and be committed to it to maintain a healthy life. The secret for healthy eating is to have a simple plan and enjoy your food to stick to it.
