Safe snacking

Eating five to six smaller meals or snacks daily may be the key to optimum all-day energy, say dieticians — which is great news for those of us whose days seem to run at warp speed.

But beware what you grab on the run, even when trying to stick to the good stuff: the snacks we consider healthy may actually be laden with sugar or fat, and thus kilojoules. So read on before biting into that health bar…

“Health bar” says the label and so, being health conscious, you pop it into your shopping basket, alongside the vegetable crisps and fat-free yoghurt. But these so called “health” options may be just as high in sugar and/or fat as other sweets and snacks, so don’t be fooled by the labelling, warns dietician Maya Naumann. “Vegetable chips, for example, are also fried in oil, and are as high in fat as regular potato chips. And most health bars contain a lot of sugar and fat.”

Dietician Minette Zietsman says a 100g packet of jelly sweets is equivalent in carbohydrates to about five slices of bread — but it will cause your sugar levels to spike and plummet far more quickly, leaving you hungrier sooner. So what do you doo

The ideal snack, says Naumann, should:

• provide a lasting energy boost. A good source of carbohydrate should form the basis of any snack.
• keep you feeling full for as long as you need it to. Unrefined carbohydrates enter the bloodstream (in the form of glucose) too quickly and leave you feeling hungry again soon afterwards. Protein, fat and fibre delay this process, so for a snack that lasts longer, simply add a source of protein such as nuts, peanut butter, cheese, cold meat or eggs to your carbohydrate.
• leave you feeling satisfied. Satisfying food is appealing to the senses; it looks and tastes great so we enjoy eating it. Try to take a little time preparing your snacks where possible — chopping up a couple of different fruits and eating them as a fruit salad is a lot more appealing than simply biting into an apple, for example.

Best fuss-free snack options:

• Low-fat, high-fibre crackers with salad and cottage cheese or hummus.
• Any piece of fruit with a handful of raw nuts (not roasted or salted) or a piece of cheese.
• A high-fibre rusk (preferably with nuts and seeds) with your mid-morning tea.
• A slice of toast with egg, cheese or peanut butter.
• Chopped fruit with yoghurt.
• A sliced apple, spread with a little peanut butter. You don’t have to snack between every meal, Naumann says.

If you’ve had a balanced, satisfying breakfast and don’t get hungry again until lunch, there’s really no need to eat in between. “Snacking (and any eating) should be about satisfying hunger. If you’re not hungry, ask yourself why you feel the need to eat. Whether it’s celery sticks or a box of chocolates, consuming food for emotional reasons is never part of a healthy eating pattern,” she says. However, holding out until the next meal when you are hungry is not a good idea either, and can lead to headaches, nausea, lack of concentration, and eventually binge eating.

Snacks for a sweet tooth:

• Make a healthy chocolate spread by mixing 1 T soft butter, 1 T sweet molasses, 1 T fl axseed oil and 2 T cocoa powder.
• Make your own “ice cream” by mashing 2–3 bananas and mix with 5 ml lemon juice. Freeze until ready to serve, then process with a hand-held blender or mash it until smooth. You could also add a few teaspoons of cocoa before freezing or use the chocolate spread as a sauce. Other fruits that work well include mango, and tinned peaches, pineapples and pears.
• Make your own nut and seed toffee bars. Heat 100 ml sweet, de-sulphured molasses in a pan until bubbling. Add 1 cup chopped nuts and seeds (you could also add raisins, oats, carob or cocoa powder). Turn off the heat and keep stirring until the toffee becomes sticky and smells like caramel. Tip the mixture into a greased tray and slice into squares as it starts to cool and harden.

Simple changes for healthier office snacks: