A nutrient-rich snack
One fine day a notice landed in my mailbox that a parcel of Maris Gilden products was waiting for me. As a nutrition adviser I am always interested in trying new, exciting flavours, and I try to find the truly healthy choices among what is available. This time the snack to be tested was various crispbreads. My undisputed favourite turned out to be the “Seeded crispbreads”. This product uses body-friendly ingredients such as wholegrain rye flour, various seeds, oat flour and oat flakes, and the sugar content of the breads is minimal. Below we take a closer look at why it is important to eat wholegrain products in particular, and what a generally healthy diet gives the body.
Regular daily eating ensures a stable energy level throughout the day and helps keep blood sugar levels stable. Adding snacks to the menu helps avoid overeating at main meals and keeps cravings under control. It is extremely important to give the body quality, wisely chosen food. Eating wholesome snacks between main meals in particular helps control cravings for sweets. A good snack combines more slowly absorbed carbohydrates with quality sources of protein and fat, because that way the feeling of fullness lasts longer.
The first snack should fall between breakfast and lunch. Two or three hours after breakfast is the right moment to take a short break from your tasks and eat the first snack. A slice or two of Maris Gilden “Seeded crispbreads” is ideal for this. Fish, slices of tomato, cucumber and pepper make excellent toppings, as certainly do various plant-based pâtés and avocado! A nourishing and tasty plant-based sandwich topping can be made at home from various legumes, for example. Seasoned with herbs and spices, such a snack is very tasty and filling too. It is worth being creative and experimenting with new flavours.
The second snack of the day should fall between lunch and dinner, and to make the daily menu as rich as possible and include different food groups, the snack could be fresh, less sweet fruit such as apple, pear or plum, as well as raw vegetables. A combined meal keeps you full longer, so it is always good to eat a small handful of nuts or seeds alongside fruit. Raw carrot and cucumber sticks served with hummus made from chickpeas, for example, also give a perfect combination of the necessary nutrients. If you wish, you can also have a light late-evening snack.
Why are wholegrain products a good snack?
During processing, the bran, the grain husk and the germ are removed from white flour, leaving only the endosperm, or kernel. Many nutrients are also lost in the process. Flour is often enriched with additives to compensate for the lost nutrients. Wholegrain, however, is a good source of phytonutrients, complex carbohydrates, fibre, minerals and B vitamins. Wholegrain also contains good proteins and fats.
Dietary carbohydrates can be divided into so-called fast and slow carbohydrates. The criterion is how quickly they are absorbed in the body. The first group includes sugar and most refined foods, such as white flour products. Eating quickly absorbed carbohydrates makes blood sugar rise quickly too. The second group consists of whole and weight-friendly foods such as wholegrain products, vegetables and fresh, less sweet fruit. Eating them makes blood sugar rise more slowly and less. Keeping plenty of wholegrain-rich food on your table also protects you against various chronic diseases. As a bonus, the feeling of fullness lasts longer, because blood sugar rises more slowly when eating wholegrain products.
Why should seeds and nuts be added to the menu?
Fats are very important for health, so their consumption must not be restricted – but wise choices must be made. Fat-rich plant foods such as seeds, nuts, olives, avocado and the first cold-pressed oils made from them, as well as fish, are recommended at 4–7 portions a day. One portion is, for example, 1 tbsp of seeds, 1 tsp of quality oil, 5 larger almonds, 2 Brazil nuts or 7 olives. Fish is recommended 2–3 times a week. Fat rich in saturated fatty acids, such as fatty meat and dairy products, should make up less than one third of the daily amount of fat. Maris Gilden crispbreads contain linseeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Since today’s westernised diet is very rich in animal foods, it is easy to overdo saturated fatty acids in particular. That is why it is very important to consciously increase the share of plant foods every day, and one good way is to eat crispbreads that contain plenty of seeds.
In summary, eating regularly and giving the body nutrient-dense snacks gives us more energy, a good feeling and stronger health. Keeping the gaps between meals shorter prevents uncontrolled nibbling, which is often unnecessary and gives our body nothing useful.
Author: Katriina Pärnpuu
