A correct diet is more than just a diet designed to lose weight. Eating healthily and taking in all the nutrients our body needs must become a habit, or rather, a lifestyle. To have a balanced and rich diet from this point of view, in fact, it is essential to balance foods and divide our day into 5 meals.
Snack yes or no?
The 5 main meals of the day are breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, at least two a day, one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon.
Well yes, snacking is also part of a correct diet and is essential to keep your metabolism active and avoid bingeing during lunch or dinner. You shouldn't think of this meal as the typical chocolate snack full of fat and in the same way, you shouldn't think that skipping the snack is a positive thing and that it could be an advantage in terms of weight loss.
Often, we have the idea that skipping a meal can benefit our body shape, but this is not the case. This behavior is very dangerous and must be kept under control before it leads to something more serious, such as an eating disorder.
With the advent of social media, in particular, this idea of ''perfect'' physicality was born, especially for the female gender, characterized by a spasmodic attention to one's body and weight which must conform to the standards proposed by the internet and from traditional media.
The benefits of snacking
A healthy snack will not only give us more energy, it will help us to be efficient during the day and will prevent us from being very hungry between lunch and dinner. This will lead to taking the right amount of food during these 2 meals, avoiding overdoing it due to excessive hunger. During the meal, in fact, we do not realize that we are taking in too many calories, but afterwards, we may feel bloated and tired.
For this reason, the choice to eliminate snacks from your diet could lead to the opposite effect to the desired one, i.e. that of gaining weight rather than losing it. This result will probably not be seen immediately, i.e. during the ''restriction'' days, but as soon as it appears even in minimal quantities. Furthermore, we may feel decidedly less energetic, given that our body will not have taken on the nutritional properties necessary to make us active and profitable during the day.
Have you ever felt tired while on a diet for no particular reason? Well, the reason could be an extremely low-calorie diet. Let's remember that our body must be trained constantly, eating often and the right amount of food.
The calories consumed during the snack will vary based on each individual's lifestyle; a person who trains daily will need a higher daily requirement than an individual who leads a sedentary lifestyle. The basis of this is the fact that those who carry out physical activity burn more calories, consequently they will need to take in nutrients that provide energy to their body.
We do not recommend taking as a snack the classic snacks found on the market and which perhaps promise lightness, satiety and well-being. The feeling of satiety will probably be given by the quantity of sugars present in them. It is preferable, however, to eat wholesome foods, with sugars considered ''good''. Spirulina, for example, as we will see later, is a totally natural food supplement and, being rich in proteins, activates the metabolism and guarantees a sense of satiety useful for not overeating during lunch or dinner
Hunger-busting foods
Among healthy hunger-busting snacks we can certainly include dried fruit. In fact, dried fruit is rich in nutrients such as proteins, fibre, calcium, phosphorus, iron and magnesium. All this offers our body a high energy supply.
Furthermore, it helps concentration and therefore greater efficiency during work or study commitments.
When we talk about dried fruit, the first thing that comes to mind is nuts or oily ones, such as walnuts, almonds, peanuts and so on. But pulpy dried fruit, such as figs, raisins, plums and apricots, also has the same benefit for our body and mind. You therefore have a very wide choice in order to vary every day and make the healthy snack much tastier.
Based on everyone's lifestyle and the activities they carry out during the day, there are ideal combinations of dried fruit. In fact, a student, a worker and an athlete will have different needs and therefore the nutrients taken could vary slightly, supplementation with spirulina is however always indicated both for the energy needed by an athlete and to find the right concentration in case of a student or worker.
In the case of an athlete, who needs a lot of physical energy as he ''works'' with his muscles, an excellent option could be peanuts. This type of dried fruit, in fact, contains phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and vitamins, which are essential for those who practice sports. Moving on to pulpy dried fruit, choose dates, which are also rich in mineral salts and simple sugars. By eating them, therefore, you will immediately feel energetic and active, as if you had eaten a piece of chocolate.
A student has to work with his mind. This represents an activity that requires a high energy intake, perhaps equal to that of an athlete. In fact, if energy and natural sugars are lacking, consequently the concentration necessary for studying will also be absent. It often happens that due to lack of time one neglects one's diet, but there is nothing more wrong. You will see that if you eat correctly and take the right foods, mental tiredness will also decrease. In this case, blueberries are preferable, as they are particularly nutritious, given that they contain many antioxidants, which are fundamental for brain activity and concentration. Phosphorus, polyunsaturated fatty acids and selenium must never be missing when studying; such nutrients are found in abundance in cashews.
An excellent option for a healthy snack with benefits for your body is the use of spirulina algae which has a slightly savory taste and can be used to season many foods, both savory and sweet. In fact, despite its characteristic flavor it is also used in dark chocolate to increase its beneficial properties. In short, spirulina algae gives an extra boost. Especially for those who need a high energy intake it is ideal, given that it has the ability to counteract tiredness.
Other hunger-busting foods are the tomato, given that it has the ability to ''inflate'' the stomach. At the same time, however, it is a low-calorie and healthy food. A slice of wholemeal or cereal bread, rich in carbohydrates, with tomato and a drizzle of oil, could be a healthy idea for lovers of savory snacks.
Milk and dairy products are also excellent foods for a snack that helps avoid hunger pangs. Obviously, you will need to choose cheeses or yogurt with a low fat content, otherwise if consumed consistently they could have a negative effect. In themselves, however, dairy products are excellent allies for a healthy diet and for taking in nutrients.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away: and it's true. Also in this case it is a hunger-suppressing food and being a fruit you don't have to worry about calories and fats. Indeed, apples regulate the intake of cholesterol in the blood and help ''burn'' fat.
5 ideas for a tasty and light snack
As we have seen, there are many healthy and tasty foods, so we have a wide choice to create excellent snacks when we are at home. Just let yourself go to your imagination. But to get started, here are some ideas on what to eat for a mid-morning or afternoon snack.
1. Chickpea hummus Vegetables and legumes are also very important in a healthy diet, but they do not necessarily have to be eaten for lunch or dinner. An original and tasty snack is in fact hummus. You will simply have to boil some chickpeas previously soaked for a day, which you will then blend with lemon juice and a clove of garlic. The result will be a tasty cream that you can eat with rye bread and a drizzle of oil. As an alternative to chickpeas you can use carrots.
The trend of the moment is the famous smoothie bowl, a "basin" of yogurt blended with fruit to make it thicker and then decorated with other fresh or dried fruit. In this case you can play with various color combinations to make your smoothie bowl more appetizing not only for the palate but also for the eyes. Use fat-free Greek yogurt and a banana, blend everything adding a spoonful of spirulina algae powder. Finally finish with a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts and some red fruit for a little colour.
3. Fruit pancakes
Do you like pancakes but feel guilty if you eat them often? No problem, try the mini fruit pancakes, without butter, without eggs and without sugar. From the description they don't seem very inviting but you'll think again. All you need to do is blend a banana with 60 ml of milk, 50g of flour and a pinch of yeast and cook them like classic pancakes. Melt a small piece of dark chocolate, perhaps with the addition of spirulina and you're done.
4. Rye bread and avocado
Savory lovers can opt for something tasty and healthy at the same time, especially after a tiring day. In fact, avocado is a source of energy and has good fats. Take the avocado pulp, mash it and season it with salt and lemon. Spread it on a slice of toasted rye bread and enjoy a tasty snack.
5. Greek yogurt, honey and dried fruit
Greek yogurt lovers, as an alternative to the smoothie bowl, can simply add a teaspoon of honey, perhaps organic honey with Spirulina Becagli, and some walnuts or other dried fruit and enjoy it plain.
