Snacks: the pros and cons

Snacks are meals between breakfast, lunch and dinner. Someone can calmly do without them, but for many, snacking remains an important element of nutrition. Nutritionists reassure – you need to have a bite if the body requires it, but only if products are healthy .

Two approaches to nutrition

So, we have two equivalent camps, the main purpose of each is same – health. Why is there such a paradox? The fact is that when the body is absolutely healthy, it really does not need to often “meet” with food: three full meals a day are enough. Full meals – means containing all the necessary nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber. The daily diet with this nutrition should contain the necessary calorie content, corresponding to age, gender and occupation. With three meals a day, it is difficult to overeat, so this scheme allows you to stay in great shape.

Another nutritionist camp insists that it is difficult to meet perfectly healthy people from a certain age, so the body must be spared, giving it the opportunity to receive additional nutrients outside of main meals. Thus, the stomach suffers less from hunger cramps and easily tolerates the active phase.

The first and second nutritional options are largely dependent on habits, and not just on health status. Therefore, supporters of the first scheme easily go into the second, but not according to indications. Snacks just become a habit.

Snack is needed

And here the most important thing should be discussed. Nutritionists once again say that snacking itself is not a bad habit. On the contrary, this is our assistant and if we break down to frequent meals – it is not so dangerous. The most important thing is what we eat at such moments. Review your diet when you can’t lose weight, though you do not abuse snacks, while the total number of meals does not exceed six times a day. Perhaps you are snacking on the wrong foods.

For eating between breakfast, lunch and dinner, the following are perfect:

• Kefir
• Cottage cheese
• Dried fruits
• Juice
• Smoothie
• Nuts

Fruits are not a snack

A common mistake is eating fruit as a snack. The fact is that they contain simple sugars, which quickly raise the level of glucose in the blood, but also quickly and lower it. Therefore, an hour after one eaten apple you really want to eat again. It is advisable to eat fruits before the main meal, that is, on an empty stomach. It is then that they will be completely absorbed and will not start fermentating

Genetics and habits

Nutritionists say that the number of snacks still depends on the genetic predisposition. After all, it is genes that are responsible for metabolic processes, including the rate of absorption of glucose from the blood and its transformation into glycogen – a nutrient for the liver. Indeed, someone needs from three to five hours to digest and assimilate food, and for someone two hours is enough and very soon they feels hungry again. Therefore, nutritionists do not give universal advice to everyone, but only ask them not to abuse snacks and carefully monitor what you eat.