Is there an ideal snack? There probably is, if not we will not come across those who are on diet or at least they are controlling their meals.
Whatever it is, I believe most of us will either cut out snacks or to skip a meal if we want to cut back on the calories intake. A meal that we take will take about four to five hours to digest, hence, if we take breakfast but skip lunch, we risk running on an empty tank for several hours. So, when hunger strikes, we run the risk of starving off pangs by eating whatever is available, with that we likely will overeat as well. Not only that, if we starve ourselves periodically, our body metabolism will then adjust, i.e. when food is in short supply, our body will stop to burn calories as quickly as it normally does.
What is the ideal way to regulate weight and intake then? One school of thought suggests eating sensibly such as to eat three meals and two snacks a day. However, snacking mindlessly on fast food can easily add thousands of calories in a few minutes. To my understanding, an ideal snack should contain fibre and runs roughly 200 calories such as from protein and mandarin oranges that can keep us feeling full with little fat.
Think: Two Mandarin oranges and seven walnut halves; a slice of wholemeal bread topped with a hardboiled egg and a teaspoon of low-fat dressing; a small banana chopped into natural yogurt; half a dozen tiger prawns wrapped in spiced seaweed; a cup of oatmeal with a dozen raisins.
Best,
Tan Kok Hui
Nutrition Made Simple, Life Made Rich