The Importance of Healthy Snacks

Many individuals who seek assistance from a nutrition coach want to know if snacking is a healthy or unhealthy habit. While snacking mindlessly when you’re not hungry or just because you’re bored is not a good thing, well-timed, healthy snacks can play an essential role in a healthy diet. Healthy snacks help keep your metabolism revved while satiating your hunger. This can help you avoid letting your stomach get to the point where you’re so hungry that you overeat when you do sit down to a meal—a common problem that leads to volatile blood sugar levels, and ultimately, weight gain.

Obviously, junk food and baked goods are not healthy snacks. But when you choose high-protein snacks or fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, snacking can be a healthy habit that helps you maintain a balanced diet.

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Snacks Stave Off Cravings

Most individuals start to feel hunger pangs after three to four hours, which is an appropriate time for having a snack. Your metabolism is like a furnace, and when you keep it stoked with healthy snacks, you’ll avoid cravings for unhealthy foods that cause blood sugar spikes, weight gain, high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol and other health issues.

2. Snacks Can Prevent Overeating

Snacking helps you avoid going off track and eating too much. If you don’t snack, and instead try to last five or six hours without a snack in the middle of a busy day, chances are very likely that you’ll completely overeat when it’s time to have a meal. In addition, snacks help regulate your blood sugar levels so that you don’t experience the spikes and crashes that typically lead individuals to overeat or binge.

3. Snacking Helps You Incorporate Healthy Foods

Snacking gives you the opportunity to work more nutritious snacks into your day, such as fruits, vegetables, “good” fats such as nuts and seeds, and beneficial sources of protein, such as a hard-boiled egg, hummus, Greek yogurt, smoked salmon, and protein shakes or bars.

Strive to squeeze healthy snacks into your meal plan on a daily basis. Consult with nutrition coach Maria Mizzi to help discover some of the best snack choices for your lifestyle.