Diet and snacks?

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Snacks have never been as fashionable as in recent times. Everyone advises them, from doctors to dieticians, from newspapers to trade magazines.

But are they really that useful?

Those who regularly follow our articles will already have the answer in mind: "It depends".

The function of snacks is to regularize food intake.

We all happened to find ourselves in the throes of an insatiable hunger after a long period of fasting. In such conditions there is a tendency to take a much higher amount of food than necessary since it takes at least 20 minutes for the brain to receive the first signs of satiety.

The attack of hunger inevitably arises if too many hours are allowed to pass between meals. In these cases the only way to defend oneself is to consume snacks during the day. Being able to control one's appetite means keeping food temptations in check.

A snack should first have the following characteristics:

be justified and planned

be balanced and controlled from the caloric point of view

A snack is justified if there is a real need. Observing the following table it can be seen that on average it takes from three to four hours for a complete meal to be digested.

Food digestion times
Minutes	Food
Up to 30 '	Glucose, fructose, honey, alcohol, isotonic electrolytic drinks
30 '- 60'	Tea, coffee, low-fat milk, lemonades
60 '- 120'	Milk, low-fat cheese, white bread, cooked fish, mashed potatoes
120 '- 180'	Lean meat, cooked pasta, omelettes
180 '- 240'	Cheese, green salad, ham, grilled fillet
240 '- 300'	Grilled steak, cakes, roasts, lentils
360 '	Tuna in oil, cucumbers, fries, mushrooms
480 '	Sauerkraut, sardine cabbage in oil
(from Pitzalis G., Lucibello M., Food: instructions for use, Milan, Franco Angeli, 2002

Therefore it is a good rule to eat a snack when at least 2 hours have passed from the previous meal and at least 2 from the next. Obviously this period of time will depend on what and how much you ate previously. If after a wedding lunch we can leave 6-8 hours before taking food again when we are forced to skip a meal, we can consume more snacks at a close distance (90-120 minutes).

Snack planning is closely linked to daily caloric needs. If a sportsman can indulge in consistent and frequent snacks, the same cannot be said for a sedentary person, for whom a small fruit may be sufficient by mid-afternoon.

The food industry offers us a whole series of appetizing solutions to turn snacks into an appointment with taste. It is a pity that their good but light snacks actually provide at least 150 calories per serving and are so inviting and so little satiating that they cause us to consume more than necessary. Keeping hunger and gluttony in check in these cases becomes really difficult so it is good to fall back on better choices.

A good compromise between taste and satiating power is given by the diet bars. However, this option is also not without its contraindications. First of all, the choice should fall on bars with the right balance between carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Those with zone or added protein can generally be fine.

We must then evaluate the type of ingredients, too often lacking and even harmful (see hydrogenated fats). Often the consumer is faced with a simple piece of chocolate with added vitamins and proteins. And even in these cases the sweet tooth might not resist the temptation to discard another.

But then what could be examples of balanced snacks? Let's see them together:

semi-skimmed natural yogurt (not fruit, no milk cream)
a glass of milk
a fruit and a few slices of sliced, not too fat (bresaola, cured ham, turkey breast, cooked ham)
a fruit and a slice of low-fat or semi-fat cheese (lipid content less than 35%)
a fruit and some dried fruit (2-3 walnuts, 5 or 6 almonds, etc.).

In all five cases there is a fair balance between the amounts of fatty carbohydrates and proteins. Fruit consumption is justified by the fact that the fiber it contains helps to slow down digestion and determine the appearance of satiety.

Walnuts and almonds, albeit hyper-caloric and not very satiating in the immediate, if consumed in small quantities, provide very useful elements for the body (such as unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids) without weighing it down.

Obviously the quantities are related to the energy needs of the body and care must be taken not to go too far from the limits of daily caloric intake. A bigger fruit and an extra walnut can easily let us spend 100-150 calories.

It is not necessary to consume both snacks during the day and much depends on eating habits. If, for example, you eat a large breakfast at 7:30 and have lunch at 12:30, a mid-morning snack for a sedentary person is completely superfluous.

More important is the mid-afternoon or late-afternoon snack. At dinner, in fact, it is advisable to limit the intake of carbohydrates, especially simple ones (or those with a high glycemic index).

Vegetables to taste and some meat or fish, combined with a small portion of bread are generally more than enough. If the dinner is consumed far from the night rest, consider the possibility of eating a small snack 30-60 minutes before going to bed. The ideal in these cases is to drink a glass of milk since the tryptophan it contains once transformed into serotonin will promote relaxation and night rest.

The proposed examples have also been chosen for their practicality and speed of preparation. Too often, in fact, you don't have much time to prepare the foods to take with you during the day.

However, if for one reason or another we are obliged to eat a snack at the bar it becomes very difficult to find a healthy alternative to pre-packaged snacks. To limit damage to the bar you can order, for example:

orange juice and small toasted ham cheese

or a glass of fresh milk

or a small sandwich with a few leaves of lettuce and thin sliced meat