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Down Home Dietitian - Healthy doesn't have to be hard.
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Browsing Tag
snack
Wellness Tips

How to Build a Satisfying Snack

 

Snacks! Who doesn’t love a good snack? Snacking is a great way to stabilize your blood sugar and energy levels and stave off nagging hunger. Prevent being over-hungry is also a great way to prevent nighttime cravings or bingeing. So where to start?

 

When Should I Eat a Snack?

It’s pretty simple – if you are hungry and there isn’t a meal on the docket for the next 1-2 hours, it’s snack time! If you are hungry, your body is asking for more energy to meet its energy needs right in the moment. If it doesn’t get a response from you (aka – food!), it’s going to slow your metabolism down in order to economize. If you do feed it, it knows it can trust you to take care of its energy needs, and it will fire on all cylinders. Plus, you get to eat a snack…it’s a win-win!

 

What Makes a Satisfying Snack?

You want to make sure your snack addresses both physical hunger and biochemical hunger. Physical hunger is the actual emptiness in your stomach, while biochemical hunger is a declining blood glucose (which is your body’s fuel).

To satisfy physical hunger, include a protein because it is slow digesting. This will ensure that it stays in your stomach for at least an hour or two, getting you to your next meal. Proteins you might choose for snacks include:

  • cheese
  • cottage cheese
  • deli meat
  • nuts or nut butter
  • hard-boiled eggs
  • Greek yogurt

To satisfy biochemical hunger, you’ll need a food that raises blood sugar a bit to provide the energy you’ll need for 1-2 more hours until your next meal. The only foods that directly break down into blood glucose are carbohydrates, since they are made of pieces of glucose. Some carbohydrates are made of individual glucose pieces or short chains of glucose. These are called simple carbohydrates, and because they are small they digest very quickly, and therefore raise blood glucose very quickly. Other carbohydrates are called complex carbohydrates, and are made of long chains of glucose. The long chains take longer to digest, and therefore raise blood glucose much more gradually. The gradual rise in glucose means a more stable blood sugar, longer-lasting energy, and a lower likelihood of your body storing “extra” blood glucose as fat. Choosing a complex carbohydrate is a great way to go.

There are also a couple of carb-containing foods that have simple carbohydrates, but contain a natural nutritional “buffer” that slows their digestion, making them act more like a complex carbohydrate. For example, fruit is high in fiber (which slows digestion) and milk and yogurt contain protein. Here are some great carbohydrate options for snacks:

  • fresh, canned, or dried fruit
  • Greek yogurt (bonus: also contains protein!)
  • popcorn
  • whole grain crackers
  • whole grain chips

 

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Down Home Dietitian

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downhomedietitian

Healthy doesn't have to be hard.
Dietitian | Exercise Physiologist | Speaker | Youtuber
Serving clients in Oly and all over Washington State!

Becki Parsons
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Have you ever made homemade pasta? I was gifted th Have you ever made homemade pasta? I was gifted this KitchenAid pasta press and tried my hand at rigatoni! I definitely learned a couple things (I'll make the dough drier and make them smaller next time) but it was fun and easy and gooooooooood! #homemade #fromscratch #pasta
Snacks! Ever get hungry and wonder whether or not Snacks! Ever get hungry and wonder whether or not you should eat? Or what you should eat so you're not running hungry back to the kitchen in an hour? I've got you covered.

Click the link in my bio to check out my latest video to answer all your snack related questions.
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It's National Pack Your Lunch day! My packed lunch It's National Pack Your Lunch day! My packed lunches tend to consist of dinner leftovers with a couple quick and easy grab-and-go items like snacks and fruit. Today, I've got chicken tikka masala leftovers with an apple and some chocolate rice crisps. Mmm... 😋🤤 What's usually in your packed lunch? #packlunch
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Welcome to all the new DHD followers and thank you Welcome to all the new DHD followers and thank you so much for joining me for wellness tips and info! Here are some things to know about me:

- I'm a registered dietitian and clinical exercise physiologist and I firmly believe that healthy doesn't have to be hard.

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