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snacks often get a bad rep but I'm here
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to tell you as a registered dietitian
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that snacks can actually be hugely
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beneficial in supporting us to lead a
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healthy lifestyle and have a balanced
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diet my name is l I'm a specialist
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Sports dietician and a fellow lover of
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snacks snacking often carries a negative
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reputation with many claiming that it's
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not healthy or it leads to weight gain
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but I would argue that this is because
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of the types of foods that people think
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about when they hear the word snack
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snacking is also often associated with
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Mindless eating but snacking and
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Mindless eating are two completely
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separate things mindless eating as the
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name suggests is when we eat without
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really being aware of it we're often
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disconnected from our body maybe because
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we're distracted or caught up in our
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thoughts and so it is difficult to enjoy
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and be aware of what you're actually
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eating and know when you are full and
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satisfied this can mean that people can
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eat past a level of comfortable fullness
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and lead to overeating if we often
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engage in Mindless eating and eating
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past the point where we you're full it
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can become a habit and it may lead to
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weight game it doesn't make us feel
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great either many people believe that
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the best way to avoid the Mindless
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grazing on all of the office snacks
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throughout the afternoon or eating
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through your snack cupboard in front of
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the TV in the evening is to cut out
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snacks completely ironically though
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having set snacks can actually help to
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reduce the likelihood of mindless eating
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and overeating in the evening snacks can
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prevent hunger from building up which
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reduces the likelihood of overeating at
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your next meal they can also help to
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keep your blood sugar level stable
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throughout the day and in between meals
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which can prevent intense cravings and
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relying on biscuit after biscuit to get
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you through the afternoon our brain
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knows that carbohydrates sugary ones in
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particular provide fast acting energy so
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when our energy levels are low it is
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common to find that you're drawn more
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towards these Foods in the moment
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however because these foods provide
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energy fast it's often not long lasting
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this can lead to a dip in our energy
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again which will leave us reaching for
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more of those sugary Foods this can lead
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to a cycle of needing more and more
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foods to keep us energized however if
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you were to have a balanced snack it's
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likely that you wouldn't need to engage
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in this endless cycle of grazing so what
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do I mean by a balanced snack we know
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that when we pair different nutrient
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groups together that they provide a
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slower and longer lasting release of
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energy specific nutrients are also
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helpful when it comes to satiation such
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as protein and fats whole grain carbs
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can provide us with longer lasting
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energy and fiber can make us feel Fuller
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for longer too snacking is also a great
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opportunity to get more nutrients into
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our diet like fiber vitamins and
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minerals to build a balanced snack that
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helps you to avoid that 300 p.m. crash
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and fuel you through until dinner I
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recommend basing the snack on a protein
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carb or fat and adding an additional
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food group plus some source of fruit or
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veg for example if you're having whole
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grain crackers you could add cheese
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tomatoes and Rocket or if you're having
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some yogurt you could add some seeds and
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chop fruit snacks are meant to keep you
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full and energized until your next meal
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they're not supposed to just delay
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hunger one of the biggest mistakes I see
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is this concept of curbing hunger by
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chewing gum drinking coffee or Diet
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fizzy drinks or eating a low calorie
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snack by doing this it might take the
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edge off a little bit but we are not
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actually satisfying our hunger we're
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simply delaying it this means that you
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may be going into your next meal
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starving and when we eat when we're
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starving we're a lot more likely to
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overeat so don't be afraid to make a
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snack more like a mini meal it may
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actually mean that you don't end up with
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your head and the food covered in the
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evening it's also really important to
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consider what foods you would enjoy
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rather than simply just what physically
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fills you fullness is a two-way street
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between physical and mental Satisfaction
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by this I mean that you can eat
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something that will physically fill you
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but it wasn't what you wanted and you
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might then be left feeling as though you
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want something else or something a bit
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more quite often when we try to curb
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Cravings with something else we are left
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feeling unsatisfied and still wanting
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the food we were craving in the first
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place you might try to curb that craving
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Again by having something else but this
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is likely not going to get you anywhere
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other than wanting that food you're
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craving even more for example in instead
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of having that cookie that you were
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looking for you reach for some fruit in
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the hopes that that will satisfy your
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craving for something sweet but you
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still fancy that cookie when you
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eventually allow yourself to have that
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cookie you might have to eat a lot of
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cookies to satisfy the original craving
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so instead of one cookie you've eaten
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four or five although some foods are
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less likely to keep us full for very
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long it doesn't mean that we shouldn't
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include them but maybe we just need to
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be a bit more mindful of it if you're
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really craving something like chocolate
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or crisps you could pair it with some
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other foods that will keep you full frh
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a little bit longer like a yogurt or
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fruit or some hummus and veggie sticks
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you could also accept that this food is
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unlikely to fill you and you may need
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something else a little bit later which
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is perfectly fine too but the awareness
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of this can help to prevent that
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mindless eating cycle that we spoke
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earlier about my protein have a great
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range of snacks that can help to keep
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you energized for longer and also help
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you to get more nutrients like protein
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and vitamins into your diet which is
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another great reason to snack we've also
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included some snack ideas in the
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description of this video so be sure to
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check those out snacks are a great way
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to get more more nutrients into our diet
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to meet our overall energy and nutrient
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needs which are commonly higher in those
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who are active they can also help you to
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stop overeating at Main meals and
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Mindless grazing throughout the
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afternoon or into the evening are you
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team snack let me know in the comments
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below and don't forget to like this
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video And subscribe to the my protein
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YouTube channel for more great
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evidence-based nutrition
