Snacking can be one of the best ways to support your health and wellness goals. Your body knows when it's time to eat. So when that certain time of the day rolls around, that antsy feeling may be trying to tell you it's time to treat yourself to something healthy and really good for you, a snack.
You may want to be strong and just tough it out until meal time, but if you love snacking as much as I do, here are some important reasons why you should go ahead and indulge. Research has shown that there are some real benefits to snacking. Of course the research was done with snacks considered healthy, not your empty calorie, high fat, high carb and sugar, low nutrition type of snack. Think of these reasons when you reach for your next snack.
1.Snacking can keep your metabolism, your calorie burning mechanism, running high so you continue to burn calories. Not eating when your body clearly indicates that you should signals the body to burn slower and conserve fat.
2. Snacking fights fatigue. When more than four hours go by between meals, your body's energy supply - your blood sugar, or glucose - dips low enough to allow fatigue to set in. Well-timed snacks give your body steady supply of fuel, so you're at your best physically and mentally throughout the day. Studies have shown that a snack between 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon can improve cognitive skills such as memory, arithmetic reasoning, reading speed, and attention span.
3. Snacking combats high cholesterol. Research comparing people who eat six or more mini-meals a day with people who eat the customary three squares has consistently shown lower cholesterol levels in the nibblers. In one study, consuming six mini-meals a day shaved cholesterol levels by 8 percent, which translates to 16 percent reduction in heart attack risk. To put it another way, a 1 percent reduction in cholesterol lowers the risk of heart attack at least 2 percent, according to evidence from several other studies.
4. Snacking fends off heart attacks. A small-meals-plus-snacks eating strategy can help reduce your risk of heart attack by keeping your heart's workload during digestion to a minimum. Whenever you eat, your heart has to pump extra blood to your stomach and intestines to aid the digestive process. One study demonstrated that meal size can make a difference in terms of cardiovascular demand.
When women ate 240-calorie of cornflakes and skim milk, their hearts pumped an extra 84 quarts of blood over the next two hours. When they ate a 720-calorie meal with added sugar, bread, and honey, their hearts pumped an extra 258 quarts of blood - enough to fill your car's gas tank five times over. This might help explain why doctors see an increase in the number of heart attack patients with in 24 hours after big holiday meals.
So go grab a piece of fruit, a light salad, a handful of raw or dry roasted nuts. Eat some lite yogurt or some turkey slices. Hey, even a bowl of your favorite whole grain cereal can stave off those hunger pangs and keep you sailing through your day in a healthy way.
Carolyn McClendon is an avid health enthusiast. She writes about health, wellness monitors and weight loss, concentrating on wellness tips, advice and product reviews for men and women of all ages. | |
