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As people remain quarantined in their homes, one thing has become apparent; snacking can seem like a great way to pass the time. However, snacking can be critically detrimental to your long-term health in a multitude of ways. In other blogs, we have written about how to maintain a healthy diet and healthy amount of physical activity. In this blog, we will look at how you can snack smart without overdoing it.
Snacks can add unnecessary calories, sugar, sodium, and fat that could otherwise be avoided. However, choosing healthy snacks can be part of a nutritious diet which can be maintained on a day-to-day basis. This is primarily due to an appropriate means of snacking; to avoid overeating at mealtimes and throughout the day. Additionally, depending on your snack of choice, you could actually be adding much needed nutrients to your body that you wouldn’t otherwise get, but that depends on the correct types of snacks, such as fruits and vegetables. This is particularly meaningful for children and young adults, who are often more active than their older counterparts. With growing children who may need to consume more calories per day, snacking is a great supplement to the traditional three meal a day paradigm. Alternatively, for adults, snacking can provide a natural energy boost by bringing your blood sugar level up for optimal energy. This is similar to eating several small meals a day rather than three bigger meals. Throughout the rest of this blog, we will look at various types of snacks that are both healthy and enjoyable.
The first and most important step towards healthy snacking is to plan your snacking. By keeping a variety of tasty, nutrient filled food available, you avoid unhealthy options you could get from a vending machine or local deli. These include fresh fruit, air-popped popcorn, whole-wheat crackers, almonds, and fat-free yogurt. These are the main types of snacks you should focus on as they not only fill you up, but provide essential nutrients that your diet might be missing. Thus, you are snacking to both fill your hunger in between meals, and add healthy nutrients to your body; it’s a win-win. From a more general standpoint, you should pay attention to the calories in your choice of snack. Do your best to avoid high-calorie snacks like candy and chips, which also may have high levels of fat and sodium. As I mentioned earlier, quarantine has led to a lot of boredom snacking. If you do your best to be aware of your hunger, you will know when you are snacking purely out of boredom, as opposed to snacking to satiate your hunger and add nutrients to your body. This is important especially when choosing the portions of your snacks. By choosing sensible portions, you can be more actively aware of the level of hunger you are experiencing. We at Pinnacle want nothing more than our friends and family, which we consider all of you to be as healthy as possible, especially during such scary times. Snacking awareness could be the first step towards boosting your health, and therefore, your immune system!
