SNACK ATTACK
1/16/2006
We are a nation of snackaholics. Snacks are getting to be synonymous with meals for many Americans. Information Resources Inc. recently conducted a survey in which fully one third of the respondents indicated they regularly skip meals and rely on snacks to keep the wolf from the door. Why are snacks becoming so popular as meal replacements? Time. The survey respondents said, “ Who has the time to actually prepare a meal let alone sit down and eat it”. Fast food for fast people is also usually fast food for increasingly fat people. This would be a good place for me to correct a comment I made in a past article titled “ We Just Keep Getting Bigger And Bigger” where I said the state of Indiana has been vying with Michigan and Ohio for the title of the state with the most obese people per capita. The CDC figures for the most currently available statistical year, 2000, ranks Indiana as 10th. Mississippi now has the dubious honor of being number one.
Instead of families sitting down together to eat and converse about the day’s happenings we are reaching for protein bars, yogurt in a tube, spray cheese, instant soup, microwave dinners, and other prepared factory foods. According to the survey, the most important quality of the snack wasn’t the taste, it wasn’t the quality of the ingredients; almost half of those surveyed said the snack must be ready to eat and require no preparation. The Wall Street Journal reported college dining halls have reduced meals served by about 25% because students would rather grab a snack than visit the dining room.
Eating between meals is the classic time for a snack attack especially in a culture dominated by television and other forms of screen watching. The typical snack is usually high in refined carbohydrates and poor quality highly processed oils. Snacking promotes a vicious cycle of constant low blood-sugar compensation resulting in internal organs, usually the pancreas, liver, and adrenals, which never completely heal. Blood-sugar levels do not stabilize and when they fall, the resulting weakness and depression causes a snack attack.
American culture has settled into a three meal a day rhythm that supports a tendency towards sugar imbalances such as diabetes and hypoglycemia because of its reliance on heavy doses of refined carbohydrates. Cravings for a mid-afternoon and mid-evening snack may be a sign of an imbalance. The best choices of between meal snacks (until things are under control) are combinations of vegetables and proteins: crisp celery with roasted, seasoned, sunflower seeds, raw carrots with roasted pumpkin seeds, local seasonal fruit like whole apples, or an ounce of free range chicken breast with slices of raw red or green pepper. Regarding fruit, keep in mind, the majority of popular fruits such as apples, oranges, and bananas are heavily sprayed making them of questionable value but all of these and many more are easily obtainable from your local supplier of organic produce.
AUTHOR: Steve Yochum
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