4 Best Snacks to Eat When DietingFamily Medicine Specialist Hyuna Park

 

Functions of snacks

 

A snack is a simple meal between meals. Eating more snacks than rice, or skipping meals to snack, is harmful to the body, but light snacks add joy to our eating habits.

 

The function of a snack is twofold.

 

First, snacks make up for the lack of nutrients in rice. In fact, when we examined the nutritional intake of Koreans over the age of 60 according to whether they had snacks or not, it was found that those who ate snacks had better nutritional status than those who did not.

 

And secondly, snacks regulate appetite. When you hear the word appetite control, the first thing you think of is suppressing what you want to eat and holding back. On the other hand, it can be said that controlling appetite includes being able to eat foods that you don't want to eat or reviving your appetite that has been lost.

 

The best snacks to eat when dieting

 

(1) Dairy products

 

The first of the best foods to eat as a diet snack is dairy products.

 

Dairy products help prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, and most all diseases. In particular, the nutrients that people in Korea lack the most are calcium and protein. Dairy products, as is well known, contain a lot of calcium, proteins and fats. Most of the protein powders on the market are also made from milk. When dieting, it's important not to binge eat because you're hungry, but dairy products stay in your stomach for a long time and help you feel full.

 

However, some people have a stomach ache when they drink milk. For such people, it is recommended to choose milk that has broken down lactose, which makes your stomach hurt, or to eat yogurt products made by breaking down milk protein. Yogurt products are sometimes so rich in probiotics that they are better than probiotic preparations during the fermentation process.

 

However, when it comes to yogurt products, it's best to choose "tasteless yogurt." Delicious yogurts on the market add a lot of sugar to cover up the natural acidity, which can be bad for the body. Ordinary yogurt contains more than 10g of sugar, but it is better to reduce the sugar to about 5~7g or choose unsweetened yogurt.

 

(2) Nuts

 

The second of the best foods to snack on is nuts. Nuts are foods that contain proteins as much as meat. It's rich in unsaturated fatty acids such as omega-3 and omega-6, fiber, and vitamin E, which also strengthen the skin.

 

However, nuts are half made up of oil, so they are quite high in calories, and many sweet and salty products coated with salt or sugar are also sold. Try to choose plain roasted nuts as much as possible, and eat a handful of them when you hold them lightly in your fist.

 

In addition, it has a lot of unsaturated fatty acids, so it goes rancid easily at room temperature, so I recommend buying it little by little and eating it in small portions in the freezer.

 

(3) Fruits

 

The third of the best foods to snack on is fruit.

 

Fruits are a great snack, especially for those who don't eat vegetables. However, it is recommended to eat the fruit once or twice a day.

 

(4) Nutritional beverages

 

Lastly, a good snack is a nutritious drink.

 

For those who have not been able to eat properly throughout the day, it is recommended to consume half a can of nutritious beverages from the can between breakfast and lunch and half can between lunch and dinner, and one or two cans a day.

 

Advice on snacks

 

It is not recommended to have a snack late in the evening. If you go straight to bed after eating a snack, it will not only prevent you from falling asleep, but it will also make it easier for you to lose weight due to poor digestion. An easy way to control your snacking is to stick to a consistent portion size of your three meals. Why not pack breakfast, lunch and dinner in a 1:1:1 ratio and have a snack in small portions between meals?