But a smart snack
can prevent the kind
of unhealthy binge eating
that comes from hard-core
hunger. “Your body is always talking
to you—you just have to listen,” says
internal and functional medicine spe-
cialist Robert Graham, MD, MPH. “So
if you’re starting to feel a little hungry,
don’t wait.” He recommends a simple
approach: a three-meal plan inter-
spersed with two or three snacks.
But you can’t grab any old snack.
Chips, cookies, crackers, and other
simple carbohydrates boost your
blood sugar quickly, which ultimately
leads to the sugar crash we’ve all
experienced. Instead, try nuts, com-
plex carbs, and fruits.
Dr. Graham loves a fiber-rich apple,
in part because it’s the perfect snack-
ing size. “Nature has done a huge favor
for us,” he says. Pair it with protein-rich
nut butter and you’ll feel fuller longer.Overall Health
Snacking is a way to sneak a variety of
nutrients into your diet. Maya Feller, a
registered dietitian nutritionist in New
York, says you can’t go wrong with a
handful of mixed nuts. With polyunsat-
urated fats, fiber, protein, magnesium,
and calcium, nuts can help your heart.
The Journal of Nutrition reported thatrd.com 19