Should you have that snack?

Snacking between meals has long been thought of as part of the answer to successful weight loss.

However, snacking may actually hinder weight loss. Research has shown that by eating more regularly, your body starts to become dependent on sugar, rather than stored fat, for energy. That’s why people who are used to snacking get this ravaging hunger when they miss a meal or snack.

In many people, the mechanism that signals the brain that one is full (through the hormone leptin) has been disrupted, and that is why you keep eating even after you reach satiety.

DIETERS' DREAM

And as most dieters will tell you, the more you eat, the more you get used to eating, and it’s very easy to get stuck in this vicious weight-gain cycle.

When you stop snacking, you get off this sugar-burning metabolism and your leptin sensitivity improves.

Your brain then gets better at hearing the ‘stop-eating-you’re-full’ command from your body. This will allow you to go longer periods without eating and function quite well when you do so.

You’ll also get used to eating less without feeling as if you’re depriving yourself – a dieter’s dream.

Snacking is insidious in other ways, too. Every time you eat, you increase inflammation throughout the body.

You see, whenever our blood sugar increases, our bodies secrete insulin to ensure that the circulating sugar doesn’t get too high. Insulin contributes to any inflammatory healthy conditions that you have in the body e.g. arthritis, eczema and even diabetes.

You can do without this cascade of reactions; less snacking means less insulin, which in turn means better health.