FEATURES

Snacks Get a Bad Rap...

Saturday, 25 April 2015 00:10

By Susan Kitchen (usatriathlon.org)

What comes to mind when you think of a snack? A glass of milk and a cookie, a bowl of ice cream, a handful of pretzels, a piece of fruit or a small bag of chips? Maybe instead of food, you count on an afternoon coffee to get you through the workday, or you reach for a sports bar to fuel your after-work workout.

Snacks are intended to be mini meals that provide valuable nutrients and help maintain blood sugars when meals are more than four hours apart. When you go more than four hours without eating, your blood sugars drop, and you get hungry. You might also feel headachy, dizzy, lightheaded, weak or grumpy....

When you are reactive (you’ve waited too long to eat), you crave a carbohydrate-rich sugary snack because it raises blood sugars quickly and increases serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with calmness and anxiety reduction. The good news is you will feel better, calmer and more relaxed within 20 minutes. The bad news: soon enough, your blood sugars will crash, you’ll be hungry again, and you’ll reach for another sugary snack.

This cycle can be frustrating on several levels. You may feel your cravings are out of control or that you lack willpower, and it becomes difficult to achieve optimal body composition on this roller coaster. This is part of why snacks have earned a bad rap, but in fact, they’re a crucial part of our daily nutrition.

Let’s unpack this together, so lean in. READ MORE