What is Protein Snack?
By snack we mean a secondary meal, therefore different from the three main meals, which are breakfast, lunch and dinner. In a balanced diet, the snacks should be at least two a day (better three) and each supply 5-10% of the total daily kilocalories (kcal); to give a concrete example: in a 2000kcal diet the energy of a snack could oscillate between 100 and 200kcal.
Having clarified this, let us try to understand what the function of the snack (or secondary meal) is and how it should be structured.
We say that, in general, the nutritional recommendations for a balanced snack derive mainly from the need to comply with the sense of appetite (and not of hunger!) That arises between the main meals. Snacks therefore serve to postpone the need to eat, but also to support the body during regular daily activities; the basic requirements are: practicality of use, ease of consumption and digestive lightness.
As with other meals, even snacks are subject to subjective nutritional needs, so their management / organization can change significantly intra and interpersonally. For example, a sportsman's snack is unlikely to be the same as a sedentary one, just as a single athlete's secondary meal cannot be standardized between training and rest days.
The chemical composition of a snack is to be established respecting the criterion of nutritional balance; for example, if in some cases it must comply ONLY with energy requirements, in others it has the function of compensating for plastic (protein) needs. Obviously, it is good practice to always avoid junk foods and food supplements, preferring NOT processed and natural foods; for example, rather than crackers (containing refined flours and hydrogenated fats) it is better to prefer fruit and oilseeds (which include fructose, polyunsaturated fats, water, more mineral salts, different vitamins and dietary fiber). In the same way, instead of a drink based on isolated proteins (which provides nothing but peptides) it is better to opt for protein foods (also rich in mineral salts, vitamins, probiotics, etc.).
In the next section we will try to understand better WHEN the snack should be predominantly protein (plastic).
Protein in the Snack: When and How ...
As anticipated, the snack varies according to need. It is often used to support main meals with fiber, potassium, magnesium, water and energy (through the consumption of fruit and cereal derivatives); other times it helps to prevent muscle catabolism (in adult athletes, people with defects in intestinal absorption, etc.) and to promote anabolism (in bodybuilders and in growing subjects who practice sports).
The protein foods to be used comfortably in the context of a snack are: low-fat yogurt (traditional, thickened, Greek, etc.), milk flakes, cooked egg whites, roast beef, canned tuna ( less advisable than the previous ones), etc. .; these foods, in addition to containing high amounts of protein, also have an excellent biological value.
The protein snack therefore plays a fairly important role in achieving the plastic requirement ... but this does not mean that it ALWAYS represents the most correct choice! Essentially, people who do not tolerate main meals that are very rich in proteins (for digestive reasons), those who sin in intestinal absorption (elderly, subjected to partial bowel resection, etc.), diabetics (to ensure an index and a load) can be beneficial. glycemic contents), overweight people (who benefit from a higher specific dynamic action) etc.
Outside of these contexts, in different circumstances the intake of protein in the diet is even excessive; clear examples are the dietary regimes of bodybuilders and those who practice high-protein diets for aesthetic purposes (diets aimed at reducing fat mass beyond individual predisposition or regardless of health). In these cases the plastic requirement is largely covered by the main meals and, through the use of protein snacks, can become EXCESSIVE by subjecting the liver and kidneys to an unnecessary workload.
Based on the aforementioned, secondary protein meals can be of different kinds; therefore: "How to choose them?"
Breakfast: Importance of Meal
Breakfast is one of 5-6 ordinary meals of the day. It is customary to call it "the most important", although most people cannot justify the real reason. From the "quantitative" point of view, breakfast brings (or rather should bring) about 15% of the total daily calories. On the contrary, the other two main meals (ie lunch and dinner), should provide about 40 and 35% of the energy; in parallel, secondary meals (2-3 snacks) are limited to contribute altogether for the remaining 10% (up to 25%) of calories. So, if mathematics is not an opinion, respecting the criterion of "caloric quantity", breakfast seems much more like a secondary meal than a main one. However, its importance lies in a metabolic and non-mathematical mechanism.
Breakfast aims to refresh the body after a fast that lasts from the end of the previous dinner. In principle, assuming that the last meal of the day is consumed between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, and that the next breakfast takes place between 7.30am and 8.30am, this time frame should correspond to about 11-13 hours. It goes without saying that, logically, it would be appropriate for breakfast to provide much more than 15% of daily calories (remember the saying: " eat a king's breakfast, a prince's lunch and a poor dinner "?); also because, by scanning circadian cycles, insulin secretion and its peripheral uptake are greater at this time of day than in the afternoon or night. Nonetheless, in the morning (perhaps due to nervous or time-related issues), the average person does not easily tolerate large portions of food and prefers to consume them for lunch or dinner. Furthermore, it should be remembered that fasting at night occurs in conditions of deliberately limited energy expenditure (in substance, it corresponds to basal metabolism); the nocturnal one, therefore, is certainly not comparable to a morning abstinence, afternoon or evening, periods in which the organism is more active and expensive. It must then be specified that, being the first meal, reducing its size or eliminating it completely, there is the risk of accumulating appetite (which turns into FAME) and exceeding the portions in subsequent meals; in practice, not assuming this energy at breakfast, this is then added to lunch or dinner, increasing the fat deposits due to excess calories.
These are the reasons that justify the importance of the morning meal and that, in parallel, limit its size to a modest 15% of the total.
Protein Crisp - Proteins in Puffed Rice Flakes
Breakfast and Protein Snacks
With 52% of whey protein isolate on the dry weight, 40% of complex carbohydrates and with very little fat (1%) and sugars (1.2%), protein crisp is particularly suitable for the protein breakfast of sportsmen or those who follow weight-loss diets with a high protein content ( high-protein diet).
Its crunchy texture, reminiscent of puffed rice, makes it perfect for mixing with milk and yogurt, but also for preparing protein desserts and desserts. Click here for more detailed information
Which Protein Snack to Choose?
The choice of the type of protein snack is rather trivial; it is a matter of taking into consideration: the nutritional needs (especially of mineral salts and vitamins), any particular physiological conditions (such as food allergies and intolerances), respecting the principle of food variety and not forgetting the specific personal tastes.
To give some examples, the ideal protein snack for a person who does not reach the quota of omega3 and / or vit. D in the diet could be canned tuna or mackerel, as long as the subject does not suffer from hypertension (as the preserved fish is always rich in sodium).
At the same time, the growth phase requires high concentrations of calcium (Ca) and the contribution of this mineral can be guaranteed by taking dairy products (for example: yogurt, cottage cheese, spreadable cheeses, ricotta, etc.); the same category, if characterized by an excess weight, will certainly favor skimmed foods.
The alternation of fish and dairy products could help moderate the progression of osteoporosis (thanks to vitamin D and calcium), therefore it lends itself more to the diet of menopausal women (more subject to this pathology of man).
Those who practice low-calorie diets and need a good plastic supply, can now find commercially available low-fat (skimmed) and thickened-concentrated (richer in protein) yoghurts. The peptide intake is much higher (sometimes almost double) compared to the traditional one and, like the other dairy foods, boasts a pool of COMPLETE essential amino acids. The only problem with the use of these foods is the presence of lactose which, in subjects with food intolerance, can give rise to a rather annoying gastro-intestinal symptomatology; on the other hand, when intolerance is small or transient, yoghurts are among the few foods used for the gradual reintegration of dairy products into the diet.
