Benefits of Healthy Snacking
What are benefits of healthy snacks? Well, snacking is one of the most important parts of our dietary habits. A day without snacks is like being on a hunger strike and no matter how full the stomach is after a meal, snacking just cannot be avoided. Most of the problems related to obesity and fat bellies are a result of snacking. However, snacking can be changed to a healthy activity that will not only end the weight gain problems but will also help in reducing weight.
As a rule, snacking should be done only in the afternoons and not between breakfast and lunch. From health point of view, a person should eat a healthy breakfast that includes boiled eggs, cereals, fresh juice, milk, tea and a slice of bread and then eat lunch when his/her stomach is empty and he/she is really hungry. Ideally the time between meals should be 4 – 5 hours as the ideal time for the digestive system to finish digesting is 4 – 5 hours.
Why Snacking is Important
If we have breakfast at 8.00 A.M and lunch at lunch at 1.00 PM and dinner at 8.00 P.M then we can see that there is 7 hours duration between lunch and dinner and 5 hours difference between lunch and breakfast, so a snack between lunch and dinner looks like a better option. Even the people on a diet are allowed a low calorie snack like fresh fruits, low calorie wheat biscuits, handful of almonds or walnuts, green/ black tea without sugar.
Always remember that snacking is only for a short duration as it is between meals so try to avoid eating to fill your stomach to its max, but eat only to treat the temporary hunger pangs that you are having. If properly planned and monitored, snacking is healthy and helps in weight reduction as it gives energy to the body which is utilized in burning down the food. Eating junk food, cream filled biscuits or fried foods as snacks will satisfy your hunger only till dinner time. Once the dinner time comes you will again start feeling empty and will eat again and so not only will you become fat, but will become more lethargic.
Hope now you would have understood importance of snacking. And remember to make low calorie, low fat, and healthy choices for healthy snacking and remain healthy throughout life because a life without snacks doesn’t sound too good, right?
