- Vegetables and fruits such as an apple or pieces of carrot
and celery. - Raw almonds or cashews, or combine almond butter
with apple slices. - Leftovers are always easy snacks.
- Plain yogurt and fresh fruit.
- Cheese and fruit.
- A boiled egg.
- Homemade energy bar or healthy smoothie as discussed
later.
The benefits of healthy snacking are many. They quickly suppress
cravings, especially for junk foods, they improve physical and mental
energy, and can even stimulate fat-burning by changing your metab-
olism. Since snacking stabilizes blood sugar and prompts your body
to produce less insulin, your body will store less fat and use more of
it to fuel all your daily activities from work to play. Many people find
that they have much more energy when following a program of
healthy snacking.
Snacking can also help your body counteract the harmful effects
of daily stress. In this way you reduce the over-production of the
stress hormone cortisol, as well as insulin. Both prompt your body to
store more fat.
Snacking also helps to reduce cholesterol. Studies show that eat-
ing more frequently can lower blood cholesterol, specifically LDL, the
“bad” cholesterol. In addition, studies show a staggering 30 percent
increase in heart disease in those eating three meals or less per day.
While snacking has received a bad rap over the years, experts
now agree that it was the type of food, not the frequency of eating,
that caused problems. In addition, just piling on the calories by
adding snacks to an already unhealthy diet is clearly dangerous. Now
we know that eating healthy, balanced snacks throughout the day can
help you improve your health in many ways.
A favorite snack food is my homemade Phil’s Bar. Use it as an in-
between meal snack, as a meal when traveling, and even as a healthy
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY • 159