Snack more healthily with these tips
Snacking can be the downfall of healthy, nutritious diet can't it? It's hard to not listen to your stomach at 11 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon when all it wants is some chocolate or crisp.
But that small little snack is not doing your insides or your waistline any good.
TV Nutritionist Lowri Turner shares with us her top five tips for snacking.
1. Swap a bar of chocolate for a Pink Lady apple just three times a week and you could save over 800 calories each week*. Add that up over a month and you could lose almost a pound of fat.
2. Many people crave sweet things in the evening. This is partly about the brain needing sugar to raise the happy hormone serotonin which is important for sleep. If you're a night-time snacker, have a piece of fruit before bed. It will satisfy your sugar craving and help you sleep.
3. Healthy snacking is not just about looking after yourself. If you have kids, it's also about setting an example to them too. At home time, rather than handing out biscuits or taking a trip to the sweet shop, hand out Pink Lady apples. Kids love the bright pink colour and the sweet taste and if you all eat them together you're giving them a lesson in healthy eating too.
4. Successful snacking is slow snacking. It takes 20 minutes for your body to trigger hormones to tell your brain you're full. This is why you can inhale a chocolate bar and still feel hungry. Eating a fresh and crisp Pink Lady apple takes longer. You have to chew each bite, so your body and brain has time to get that satisfied feeling. Plus, the act of chewing triggers the release of specific hormones that switch your appetite off.
5. The body is built to be able to withstand periods without food pretty successfully. Much of the snacking we do is about emotions, not hunger. Stress is a major trigger as we reach for chocolate, cake of biscuits to comfort ourselves. You can short circuit this automatic response by always carrying a Pink Lady apple with you. Then you have something sweet and healthy to grab in a weak moment.
Tagged in Health Diet Healthy eating Diet tips