Is snacking healthy for you?

February 04, 2019

If you’re trying to make healthier choices about food, the question of snacking will eventually come up. Very often snacking consists of mindlessly munching something we just grabbed without thinking, so it’s no wonder it’s often associated with bad habits. To many, snacking means eating when you’re not hungry, which of course, is not a good idea.

This said, snacking, when done right, can actually be beneficial and healthy for your diet.

Here is what Dr. Reuben Chen, a board-certified Physical and Rehabilitation Physician has to say about snacking:

‘’Small, healthy bites can help you maintain, and even lose weight. This means that you don’t have to sacrifice everything in order to get—or stay in shape. In fact, you need fuel, and that includes snacks! Snacking provides energy, reduces how many calories you eat during your next meal, and aids your metabolism. It also increases cognitive function and helps you feel happier. But when you are ravenous, eating snacks like candies, muffins, or chips will not work for you, but against you. And those snacks are the ones that will make you feel guilty.’’

Here are five good reasons why snacking can be a healthy habit:

1. Smart snacking can prevent you from overeating at mealtime. Most of us get hungry about every 3-4 hours. If there is too long a stretch between meals (more than 5 hours), you’re likely to get hungry –which is when a snack would be appropriate. Without a healthy snack, there’s a good chance you’ll just make up for it by overeating at your next meal.
2. Smart snacking can help you reduce your overall calorie intake for the day. Sometimes people figure that they’re just going to add snacks (and calories) on top of everything they eat. But a well-planned, healthy snack helps you eat less at mealtime, which means you’ll cut your daily calories overall.
3. Smart snacking can help you to work more healthy foods into your day.  The more often you eat, the easier it will be to work in your daily servings of healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, and calcium-rich dairy products.
4. Snacks can help you maintain your physical and mental energy. When you eat regular meals and snacks, it can help keep your blood sugar more stable throughout the day. That’s a good defense against between-meal dips in blood sugar that can sap your mental and physical energy.
5. A substantial afternoon snack can help control portions at dinner. Lots of people manage to control their eating pretty well during the day, but really cut loose at night and eat a huge dinner. For those folks, a larger afternoon snack—almost a small second lunch—makes it much easier to cut back at the evening meal.

So what makes a good snack?

One reason snacking has gotten such a bad rap is because so many common ‘snack foods’ are high in fat, sugar, salt and calories. You’ll want to steer clear of those, and instead put together a snack that will provide a mix of low-fat protein and healthy carbohydrate. The carbs will get digested first and satisfy your hunger right away, and the protein will give your snack a bit more staying power.

• A good snack must fill the low-sugar, high-protein, nutrient-dense bill
• It must be around 100 to 200 calories
• Vending machines are not necessarily the best place to find good snacks
• Yogurt pretzels and "baked" chips could (and will) deceive you
• No artificial ingredients
• Mix of good carbs, healthy fats and protein
• Plant-based snacks made with real food and wholesome ingredients are the best

Here at Vegelia, we recommend a few snacks of our own:

SunBar®

Made with an exclusive blend of natural ingredients, SunBar contains no artificial sweeteners, colors, or preservatives. SunBar® gives you everything you want in a food bar—great taste, energy support, and balanced nutrition—without the bad stuff. Unlike typical energy bars that are full of sugar, sodium, protein isolates or whey protein (which can be hard on digestion), trans fat, preservatives, and artificial ingredients, SunBar is made from whole-food ingredients and herbs the body can easily absorb. SunBar delivers solid nutritional value without empty calories, and questionable ingredients.  

Click here to find out more about Sunbars: https://vegelia.ca/products/sunbar-vegan-energy-bar 

VitaShake

VitaShake® satisfies your hunger and powers your body with concentrated whole-food nutrition, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Each delicious sip helps fill in nutritional gaps in your diet, with the added benefit of whole fiber. This super shake is also formulated with coix fruit, a powerful antioxidant, and fructo-oligo-saccharide (FOS), a prebiotic soluble-fiber carbohydrate that supports the growth of beneficial bacteria. Healthy carbs and GMO-free soy protein further bolster VitaShake’s nutritional profile.

Click here to find out more about VitaShake: https://vegelia.ca/products/nutritious-balanced-meal-replacement-shake-powder

NuPuffs

NuPuffs help you pass up junk food, such as chips and other crunchy snacks that contain hydrogenated oils that add empty calories to your diet. The cocoa flavor satisfies your sweet tooth, and the cheese flavor fulfills your salt cravings without the high level of sodium commonly found in chips, crackers or pretzels. These snacks often have 300-600 mg of sodium per serving, compared to only 25 mg for cocoa NuPuffs and 160 mg for cheese NuPuffs. Best of all, NuPuffs contains Coix Fruit, a source of antioxidants.

Click here to find out more about NuPuffs: https://vegelia.ca/products/nupuffs-healthy-vegan-snack-alternative

SmartGummy®

Our favourite here at Vegelia! Sunrider's gummy snacks are so irresistibly soft, chewy, and delicious you‘ll want to eat them every day. And you can! Real mango flavour, vitamins, fiber, and no added sugar or gelatin make them a healthy everyday treat. Instead of gelatin (which is derived from animals), our Smart Gummy snacks are made with a soft pectin base derived from fruit. The pectin is 100% plant-based, and because none of the other ingredients contains animal derivatives, Smart Gummy is suitable for vegans/vegetarians.

Click here to find out more about Smart Gummy: https://vegelia.ca/products/smart-gummy-natural-vegan-fruit-flavored-gummy-candy

 

 

 

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