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Fewer snacks and snacks
Three main meals and three snacks a day has long been regarded as the ‘gold standard’ in the food industry. But this rule is increasingly being questioned. Are snacks still necessary?
The RIVM Food Consumption Survey shows that we love snacks. On average, the Dutch eat and/or drink no less than 9 times a day. Most people eat three main meals. Children eat or drink something between meals 4 times, adults do this on average 7 times a day. Yet – and this may surprise you – snacks are not necessary at all. The Nutrition Center says: “Your body basically doesn’t need snacks.” If you eat three satiating meals a day, it is best to bridge the time between meals without fruit, cookies, nuts or other snacks. What are the pros and cons of snacks?
Benefit: extra vitamins and minerals
Snacks give you a chance to get extra nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins and minerals. The Nutrition Center even takes this into account: according to the Wheel of Five, whoever eats still has about 400 kilocalories “left” in extras. You can spend that on a piece of fruit, a handful of nuts, a sandwich or a bowl of yogurt. Those are the wise choices. The website of the Nutrition Center states: “If you do feel like something in between, healthy snacks from the Wheel of Five can help prevent you from snacking and snacking too much. You can also eat part of your meals in between, such as bread, vegetables, fruit or yogurt. Healthy snacks prevent you from snacking in between and that you become ‘faint’ from the appetite.”
Disadvantage: easier storage of fat
If you eat three (or more) snacks and three meals a day, your body is busy with digestion all day. This also means that your body is constantly producing insulin. This hormone is needed to absorb the sugars from snacks into your body cells. Insulin is a hormone that also stimulates fat storage. This makes it easier to gain weight. Internist Frank Visseren puts it this way on Foodlog: “After a meal, your body needs two hours to get carbohydrates from the food. After those two hours, your body switches to burning fat. You also notice that a bit in yourself: then you become a bit fainter. Many then grab a snack. Cookie, apple, whatever. Do not! Because this means your body does not switch to that required fat burning. Behold the insidious increase in fat.”
Advantage: it’s nice, tasty and cozy
Many people find it fun, tasty and cozy to eat snacks. We love a biscuit with coffee, chocolate with tea, cake for a colleague’s birthday, an apple at work or some crisps while watching TV. Snacks give your day something extra. But…
Disadvantage: you will be tempted
The snack industry is “big business” in the Netherlands. Just look in the supermarket: most shelves there are full of snacks. Think of in-between cakes, snacks, biscuits, sweets and soft drinks. Not to mention the offer in vending machines, canteens, stations and gas stations. As professor Jaap Seidell says in an interview with HP/De Tijd: “Stations are eating barns where a train stops now and then”. For example, we are tempted to eat every moment of the day, while the commercials tell us that we need snacks.
Disadvantage: your teeth don’t like it
For your teeth, it is better not to eat or drink anything more than 7 times a day, so 3 meals and something in between at 3 to 4 times. Water, tea and black coffee are not bad for your teeth, so you can always use them.
Conclusion: time for rest
Your teeth, your weight and your wallet can all benefit from eating snacks and snacks less often. In any case, you don’t need them for your health. Do you want to kick your habit of eating outside of meals? Make sure that your meals satisfy you sufficiently and that they have a healthy composition. This way you can easily get through the day.
Liesbeth van Rossum is an internist and endocrinologist and Mariette Boon is an internist in training and researcher into brown fat. Together they wrote the bestseller ‘Fat important‘. This duo knows all about body fat and how you can influence it. Do you want to lose weight? Listen to the podcast below before you start a diet, because then you can avoid common mistakes.
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