Snack your way to better health

The Canuck came home the other day with a muesli bar a company had been giving out at the train station as a promo. He suggested that since he had no idea how to tell if the bar was a good snack, maybe it would make a good blog topic. Full of great ideas that man.

Having a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon can stop you from getting so hungry that you overeat at mealtimes. The problem is that a lot of the snacks we reach for have loads of salt or sugar, with no trace of any fibre, vitamins or minerals.

So how do you choose a great healthy snack?
Good healthy snacks include some carbohydrate, a little protein and not too much fat. Great healthy snacks have all this and more: some vitamins and minerals as a bonus.

If you’re buying a snack take a look at the nutrition information panel on the pack; it’s full of really useful information about all the nutrients in your snack. Things to look for are:

Energy - aim for less than 600kJ (143 Calories) in the serve.

Fat – go for snacks with less than 10g saturated fat per 100 grams

Sugars – try to avoid snacks with lots of added sugar. Around 20 – 30 grams of carbohydrate is enough for a good snack.

Salt (sodium) – a low salt food has less than 500mg of sodium per 100g

Other good stuff – try and have a snack that has one of these in it:

• Calcium - snack time is a great opportunity to get one of your 3 daily serves of dairy (300mg of calcium per serve)
• Fibre – snacks with fibre help to boost your fibre intake closer to the goal of 25 - 30 grams of fibre a day
• Protein – good to have some of this in your snack as protein helps keep you full for longer so will stave off the munchies until dinner time

Give these a go
Here’s a few ideas to get you started:

• One sushi roll
  
• A small tub of low-fat yoghurt or chocolate mousse (200g)
• A handful of nuts, about 15 almonds, with some sultanas or other dried fruit
• A piece of fruit – cut up and use a fork if you don’t want sticky fingers
• A piece of raisin toast or a fruit English muffin with a slice of cheese
  

These ideas will make sure you always have a healthy snack at hand:

• Take a supply of healthy snacks to work to keep in your desk drawer or in the work fridge
• Keep a couple of indestructible healthy snacks like small cereal bars or sesame snacks in your car or handbag for those times you’re hungry on the run
• Check out the dairy section at the supermarket – there are all kinds of small packs of healthy snacks out there

Sometimes the healthy option just isn’t going to cut it
The snacks with vitamins and minerals are the ones that will give you energy and keep a spring in your step so try to go for those most of the time. But when you really need a pick me up try:

6 jelly beans
A mini chocolate bar
A Paddle Pop or Skinny Cow ice cream
A snack pack of chips (30g)


To snack or not to snack
It’s normal to sometimes feel hungry between meals, especially if the last meal was a few hours ago, but make sure you are eating because you’re hungry and not out of habit, boredom or emotions. Instead try to think of other ways to help reduce stress like a brisk walk around the block or a phone call to a friend.

...and the promo muesli bar?
Well, the cereal bar The Canuck brought home matched all the tips I listed above for a good snack except it was 800kJ so a little too much energy for a snack. On the positive side, it comes in two handy bars so if you just eat one of the bars that’s only 400kJ; perfect if you save the other for later or share with a friend!

Do you have a favourite healthy snack? I love to hear new ideas so please write a comment and share your 3pm munchie solution

Diet and Diabetes Prevention

Last week was Diabetes Awareness week in Australia and it reminded me of a conversation with a friend a few years ago. He was very worried about his Mum as she had just been diagnosed with diabetes but didn’t realise that this was a signal to him. With a family member having diabetes he is at higher risk, but he could reduce his risk by making changes to his eating and exercise habits.


It’s estimated that almost one in every 13 Australians has diabetes; half of these people don’t know they have it because they have never been diagnosed. In light of that, I thought I’d give a brief overview of diabetes and the role your diet can play in prevention.


What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition where someone is not able to control how much glucose (sugar) is in their blood. When we eat a meal, the glucose from the carbohydrates in the meal moves through ‘doors’ into our cells where it is used to make energy. These doors are opened by the hormone insulin.

Just like the remote for your car unlocks the car doors, so insulin opens the doors in your cells to allow glucose to move into all the cells of your body. When you have diabetes, you don’t make enough insulin or it doesn’t work properly: it’s as if the batteries of your remote control are running flat, and the doors won’t open. As a result, the glucose is stuck outside your cells and sits in your bloodstream causing high ‘blood glucose levels’.

Usually the body works hard to keep your blood glucose levels in a narrow range. Too low and your brain won’t work, too high over many years and it can lead to damage to kidneys, eyes and nerves, as well as increase your chance of a heart attack or stroke. So it is important that people who have diabetes are diagnosed and make changes to help their body control the blood glucose level.

There are two main types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. People with type 1 diabetes do not produce any insulin and so need to have it injected regularly. This type of diabetes is genetic and usually diagnosed in childhood, but not always. At the moment there is no way to prevent or cure type 1 diabetes.

With type 2 diabetes, which is most common, your body either doesn’t produce enough insulin for your needs, or the insulin you produce does not work properly (flat batteries in the remote). Most people with type 2 diabetes can keep their blood glucose level under control by eating well and exercising regularly, or by taking medication.


Preventing type 2 diabetes – keep those batteries charged!

If you’re over 40 or if you have people in your family with diabetes, you are more likely than other people to develop diabetes. While there’s not much you can do about your age or your genes, there are other things in your control that can make you less likely to develop diabetes. These include your weight, your blood pressure, how often you exercise, and if you smoke. In fact, up to 60% of cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented with healthy eating habits and regular exercise.


If you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes you can delay or prevent this by:

• Maintaining a healthy weight or if overweight, even a small weight loss will reduce your risk.
• Being active for at least 30 minutes every day (walking, swimming, bike riding...)
• Quitting smoking
• Getting a health check every year
• Eating well to give your insulin a chance!

Eating well to help prevent type 2 diabetes

Eating well and exercising to lose weight or stay a healthy weight are key to help delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. Try some of the healthy eating ideas below to help reduce your risk.

Five serves of fruit and two fruit each day can help with weight loss, lower blood pressure and help control your blood glucose levels.

Use unsaturated fats like canola margarine instead of butter and limit high fat foods

Increase the fibre in your diet slowly until you have 25 – 30 grams of fibre each day. Soluble fibre in fruit and oats slows down digestion so you don’t get lots of glucose in your blood all at once. That way the insulin can work slow and steady. Insoluble fibre, in cereals and the skin of fruit and vegetables, also helps insulin work more effectively though it is not yet known exactly how.

Use less salt in cooking and at the table as this will help to reduce high blood pressure, one of the risk factors of diabetes

Wholegrain foods can help make insulin more effective and also to help with weight loss; try to have half your grain foods as wholegrains, like wholegrain bread, breakfast cereal or crackers

Choose one low GI food with each meal. These foods break down more slowly so you don’t get lots of glucose in your blood all at once. (I’ll have a whole separate blog entry on GI soon!)

I have been focussing here on prevention of type 2 diabetes. If you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes or would like guidance on losing weight I strongly suggest you see an Accredited Practising Dietitian. For more information on the different types of diabetes and management visit the Diabetes Australia website.

The squirrels are on to something....

In honour of my namesake I have decided to start my blog off talking about the health benefits of nuts. Research has shown they can reduce the risk heart disease and help weight control, all while being delicious!



Good for your heart
Nuts are high in fat, but it’s mostly the good fats – the ones that help reduce risk of heart disease. (I’ll tackle what are ‘good fats’ vs ‘bad fats’ in a future blog entry.)

Research suggests that eating a small handful of raw or dry roasted and unsalted nuts (30g) five times a week can help to lower blood cholesterol by ten percent. Why? The action of the good fats in nuts: polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats.

Good for weight loss
As part of a healthy, balanced diet a small handful of nuts have also been found to help weight control. The protein and fibre in nuts slows down your digestion and so stops you from getting hungry again soon. The fats also help by sending signals that you are full. Eating an afternoon snack of nuts means you are less likely to get hungry and overeat later in the day.

Which nut?
Almonds, cashews, macadamias, Brazil nuts, pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts are all good choices; just remember to go for raw or roasted, unsalted nuts.

How much of a good thing?
My husband (The Canuck) came home a couple of weeks ago and announced that he was going to start eating 67 grams of nuts every day. He had read an article that claimed this was the magic amount needed to reduce risk of heart disease. Now, this is all well and good, but 67 grams of nuts is a lot of energy for an afternoon snack: almost the same amount of energy as a full meal!

So yes, you can have too much of a good thing. Due to the high fat content, nuts do pack a good punch in terms of calories. A small handful is about 30 grams, which is an appropriate amount of calories for a snack. Any more than this and you are adding extra calories to your daily intake and risk weight gain. So, remember to replace your afternoon chocolate bar or biscuit with a handful of nuts rather than adding nuts as an extra.

The Canuck is working on a handy 30 gram daily nut dispenser as we speak, stay tuned.

Accredited Practicing Dietitians

An Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) is the title earned by a food and nutrition expert in Australia who has completed a University qualification in dietetics that is accredited by the Dietitians Association of Australia, and who has made a commitment to continued professional development in nutrition.

Accredited Practicing Dietitians work in the treatment and prevention of disease, in hospitals as part of medical teams, as well as in private practice, aged care or other health care facilities. APDs also work in community and public health settings, food industry, journalism, sports nutrition, and corporate wellness programs.

For expert advice on dietary choices for your individual lifestyle and health condition, you can find an APD near you by visiting the DAA website here.