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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I’ve always suggested to my clients to snack their way to weight loss, and now science confirms it! Yes, let’s “Eat Often” by adding snacks and mini meals in-between our meals, because when we do we’re more likely to have “self-control”. With summer on the horizon, I hear “I really want to lose some weight, but snacking just means more calories. But, when we go too long without eating, guess what happens then? We become really hungry and wind up eating too much or we wind up eating the wrong foods or too much in the late evening. Sound familiar? I suggest we snack often not just to be healthier, but to lose and feel better too.
Okay, the science that was recently published in Psychological Science stated, “Studies have suggested that self-control in humans depends on blood glucose levels, and there is new evidence that this may not be unique to humans”. Here they are referring to our companion animals, dogs. I have often heard people claim that they just need to exert more willpower, and more self-control when it comes to losing weight. While there is some truth to this, I have always claimed that we set ourselves up to have cravings when we go too long without eating. Hence, my tool “Eat often”.
The article also states ” There is reason to believe that human and nonhuman self-control processes rely on the same biological mechanism—the availability of glucose in the bloodstream”. Well, when two studies tested this hypothesis, feeding often to maintain blood sugar levels without highs and lows, they found that both we humans and dogs, performed better and exhibited more self-control. Now while the dogs were tested for performance on commands, we humans were tested on cognitive performance and self control refraining from eating tempting food! The study also showed that we use more blood sugar when we need to exhibit self-control, so keeping ourselves fueled may be key to resisting our cravings as well as performing better in general. Let’s snack our way to weight loss!
What’s a snack? When I ask most people to name a few of their favorite snack foods, they usually smile and mention chips, pretzels, cookies, and similar sweet foods. Some of us will add “fruits” to the list. Many of us feel guilty snacking, but we humans are in fact born with a sweet tooth as a survival tool based upon our evolutionary biology. Our bodies need fuel to supply energy and our brain requires and uses only sugar as its source of fuel (care to rethink the low carb craze?). If we were to ask most people to trace their sugar cravings or late night binges, we’d probably find that they hadn’t eaten for hours or ate sporadically throughout the day. Why? Our brain sends a signal that we need sugar when our blood sugar levels fall low, which results in our craving sweets among other things. Newborn infants exhibit this survival mechanism too, since studies show that our preference for sweets is innate versus learned.
So, this brings us back to our topic for this week, snacking, and weight loss! When we eat often, we maintain adequate blood sugar levels necessary for our energy requirements and cognitive functioning. This in turn helps us to maintain a positive mood. Ever experience hunger, fatigue and moodiness together? Ever go too many hours without eating only to feel like eating the entire refrigerator later in the evening? Snacking often can help our mood, energy and cravings. And now science says we need it for self-control.
Aside from these “snack often” benefits, our body acts as a furnace every time we eat, raising our metabolism. So, we’ll actually burn more calories when we eat more often, even if we take in the same number of total calories for the day. Lastly, because we are eating more often, we are using food as our energy source not our stress hormones. This means we will have a higher energy level and mood while we’re physically less stressed.
I have seen over and over again the positive physical and mental results clients achieve when they take the time to snack. When we start snacking more often, we usually eat less at each meal, and we lose some of the cravings for all those goodies (I didn’t say we need to give it all up!).
Now, the question remains, what do we snack on? My philosophy is that any food can be a snack, and any snack can be a mini -meal. It’s just that snacks are small portions of foods we usually eat as full meals. So, if we like cheerios (just an example), we can have a 1/2 cup as our 3 P.M. snack even though we usually think of cereal as a breakfast food! Note, I did choose a high nutrient dense food as my snack example! Want a few more examples? How about yogurt, fruit and low fat cheese, Junefit’s Trailmix, 1/2 turkey sandwich…….. just to name a few.
Here’s to “Let’s Snack our way to Weight Loss!
June M Lay M.S.
www.junefit.com
Follow me every Sunday on Twitter for a new tool taken my book. AND my screensaver program “Focus on the Tools” is now available for PC users. It features rotating flashing tools from my program with beautifully photographed healthy salads in the background. There’s even a calendar that shows the month and date! Reinforce healthy eating habits and stay motivated to change while at your computer. Click here for more info http://www.junefit.com/serviceshp.htm
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June is Lifestyle Columnist at www.healthnewsdigest.com/
Source:
Miller, Pattison, et. al., Self-Control Without a “Self”? Common Self-Control Processes in Humans and Dogs, University of Kentucky, Holly C. Miller, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044 Reported in Pyschological Science April 2010
Copyright, all rights reserved, Junefit 2010
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