Will snacks affect our health?

The science of eating snacks will make you healthy and happy! The following expert knowledge should provide you with a comprehensive view of snacks!

Snacks: How to be delicious and healthy?

In the traditional concept, snacks, as a supplementary food for three meals a day, have always been considered as children's business. As far as children's preference for snacks is concerned, adults often hold a negative attitude, thinking that eating snacks will not only affect their normal diet, but also be harmful to their health. In fact, the intake of snacks, as long as we grasp the choice of varieties, the amount of food and the timing of eating, is not only beneficial to children, but also beneficial to adults.

Snacks are "one third" in the diet.

Snacks, as the name implies, are food eaten sporadically. According to nutrition experts, our diet includes staple food, non-staple food and snacks. Among them, snacks, commonly known as "snacks", include candy, cakes, nuts, fruits and so on. , mainly meat and vegetables, accounting for about 5% to 10% of the dietary structure.

Comparatively speaking, although snacks are not as important as staple food and non-staple food, their position in the diet structure has never wavered. Snacks, in people's diet, are becoming an indispensable "extra food"; Snacks play the role of "tourist food" when people go out to travel; Snacks play the role of "convenience food" when people are busy with work; In people's leisure time, snacks are still "leisure food" to kill time.

Health-keeping efficacy of snacks

In recent years, nutritionists have found that snacks can not only supplement human nutrition, but also play a certain role in health and fitness. Scientific research has proved that eating some snacks properly will not only affect health, but also benefit the body.

First, eating snacks can achieve the effect of health preservation and disease prevention. Under normal circumstances, eating snacks is to chew slowly, that is, chew slowly. Scientific research has proved that slow food is very beneficial to human health, which can strengthen the brain, resist aging, prevent diseases and beautify the face. In today's society with more and more leisure time, the function of snacks is more to meet a taste demand during leisure. Eat easily, experience unique leisure, comfort and delicacy in a cordial, free and pleasant mood, and play a role in health preservation and disease prevention in "moistening things silently".

Second, eating snacks can temporarily satisfy hunger. Under special circumstances, if you can't eat the dinner, or the quality of the dinner is not good, and you have snacks on hand, you can eat your favorite snacks during the work of adults and the recess of students, which plays a temporary role in hunger relief and health care. Snacks are common when traveling abroad.

Third, eating snacks can exercise your teeth and beautify your face. Most snacks are "chewy" and can play a role in strengthening teeth, not only exercising teeth, but also strengthening the brain. If you insist on eating dozens of melon seeds every day, you can make your skin bright and beautiful.

Fourth, eating snacks can adjust the mood. Snacks can make people's spirit into the best state. Psychologists at Yale University in the United States have found that eating snacks can relieve tension and reduce inner conflicts. When holding a snack in hand, the snack will convey a beautiful and relaxed feeling to the brain center through hand contact and vision, resulting in an irreplaceable sense of comfort, which is conducive to relieving inner anxiety and tension. Neurologists often suggest that eating snacks between intense work or study can divert people's thinking and make people's spirit more fully relaxed.

Look at the ingredients list before buying snacks.

For healthy snacks, they are low in sugar, fat, calories and cholesterol, and do not contain chemical additives (such as artificial colors, preservatives and monosodium glutamate). ) are all prerequisites. Looking at the snack market, most of them contain these elements to varying degrees, but some snacks basically meet the above conditions and can be regarded as healthy food.

Experts remind that the reverse side of the snack packaging bag is the first thing we should look at before buying. For people with high calorie and high fat content, it is better to put it down quickly, so as not to worry about losing weight and fitness.

Special people who must eat snacks

Under normal circumstances, we can meet the physiological demand for nutrients through three meals a day, but some special people need to supplement some snacks to keep healthy.

Old people. The digestive system function of the elderly is decreased, such as the decrease of gastric juice secretion and digestive enzyme secretion, which leads to the decrease of digestion and absorption function to a certain extent. Because of the decline of digestive function, every full meal is difficult to digest and absorb. On the contrary, it will become a burden and have symptoms such as indigestion. If you eat 70% to 80% full every meal and feel hungry between meals, eating a little digestible and nutritious snacks can not only ensure the normal nutritional needs of the elderly, but also not cause excessive burden to the gastrointestinal tract.

School-age children. Children at this stage are in a period of long knowledge and long body; However, due to the tight school time, the simple breakfast is poor in nutrition, or the monotonous taste affects children's appetite, which directly affects the learning effect. In this case, if you eat a snack around 10 in the morning, not only will the students' learning effect be good, but their physical fitness will also be improved.

Pregnant women. Due to special circumstances, the nutritional needs of pregnant women are higher than those of ordinary peers. However, because the fetus oppresses the digestive system in the third trimester of pregnancy, it feels full after eating, which affects the food intake. The nutritional demand in this period is quite large, and insufficient nutrition will directly harm the fetus and pregnant women. At this time, you can use the method of eating snacks, that is, you often use the method of "small meals" to solve it.

Diabetic patients. Eating too much at one meal will lead to a rapid and sustained increase in blood sugar, which is not good for the condition. Dividing the amount of three meals a day into six or seven meals can solve the problem of continuous and rapid increase of blood sugar that diabetics are taboo. Doctors often tell diabetics to bring some fruit candy when they go out to save themselves at any time.

Eating snacks also pays attention to collocation.

Eating snacks also has some problems to pay attention to. For example, children should not overeat snacks, and patients should control them. In addition, everyone should choose snacks according to the nutritional intake of dinner. If they eat vegetarian food, they should choose snacks that can supplement protein. When you are full at dinner, eat some snacks to help digestion. Usually, we should pay attention to choosing some snacks with nutritional value, and try to eat fewer snacks with high calorie and high fat. Obese people should eat less or not eat too sweet snacks. Nut snacks are good for children's brain development.

Expert recommendation: 15 kinds of better snacks.

1. Sunflower seeds contain protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, especially linoleic acid. Linoleic acid helps to keep skin soft and prevent skin dryness and pigmentation.

2. Peanut is rich in vitamin B2, which is one of the vitamins that China residents lack in their daily diet. Therefore, deliberately eating more peanuts can not only supplement the deficiency of vitamin B2 in daily diet, but also help to prevent and treat many diseases such as cleft lip, itchy eyes and seborrheic dermatitis.

3. Walnut Walnut is rich in auxin, which can make nails firm and not easy to crack. At the same time, walnuts are rich in plant protein, which can promote the growth of nails. Eating walnuts often helps to show the toughness of nails.

4. Jujube is rich in vitamin C, which is called "live vitamin C pill" by nutritionists. Without vitamin C in the diet, people will feel tired and even get scurvy.

Cheese is a "rich mineral" of calcium, which can make teeth strong. Nutritionists show that an adult who eats150g cheese every day will help to achieve the goal of never aging.

6. Figs contain a chemical similar to aspirin. Can dilute blood, increase blood flow, so that the brain can supply enough blood.

7. Pumpkin seeds and pistachios are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, carotene, peroxides and enzymes. Proper consumption can ensure cerebral blood flow and make people energetic and radiant.

8. Milk candy contains sugar and calcium. Proper diet can replenish brain energy, make people refreshed and moisturized.

9. Chocolate can make people feel happy and beautiful, and can produce the same in-vivo reaction substances as when they are in love.

10. Sesame paste has the functions of blackening hair, moistening hair and nourishing blood, and can prevent white hair and alopecia when eaten symptomatic, making hair black and bright.

1 1. Raisins have the functions of benefiting qi, enriching blood and beautifying. But pay attention to hygiene.

12. Mint can moisten the throat, remove bad breath and dissipate internal heat, which makes people feel refreshed.

13. Citrus, oranges, apples and other fruits are rich in vitamin C, which can slow down or block the synthesis of melanin and whiten the skin. It is an alkaline food, which can keep the blood neutral or weakly alkaline, thus having the effect of body-building and beauty.

14. Beef jerky and grilled fish fillets are rich in protein, iron and zinc. Moderate consumption can make people's skin rosy.

15. Milk beverage contains one third of milk, and sometimes vitamins and trace elements are added, which is one of the nutritious drinks.

Some snacks are not suitable for eating.

Various high-sugar drinks include cold drinks and popsicles. , mainly water and sugar. Eating too much affects appetite, and cold stimulation can cause intestinal spasm and abdominal pain.

Fried foods are high in energy and difficult to digest, such as fried chicken legs and fried cakes.

Puffed foods, such as snow cakes and shrimp strips, are mainly made of starch, sugar and puffing agent, and the content of protein is very small. Eating too much can lead to obesity.

Jelly is mainly thickener, sweetener, artificial flavor and so on. There are few nutrients.

Street barbecues such as kebabs are unhealthy.

Raw, unreliable quality, may contain carcinogens.