7 smart rules to snacking right

It's 11am, lunch hour is still a few hours away and you can feel your stomach (or is it your mind?) growling, asking for something to munch on. So you reach out for the packet of biscuits hidden in the drawer and ask the peon to get some chat too from the nearby shop… Then you spend the rest of the day ruing how these snacks settle down hideously around your waist. Familiar?

Agreed, mindless snacking can undo even the strongest of wills and defeat all well-meaning diets, but that said snacking is not the devil it has been made out to be. Right snacks in fact can help take the edge off hunger, make you less cranky, keep your metabolism up (help control your weight) and fill in the right nutrients. But the catch word here is "right" and not high fat, calorie-laden foods we usually zero in on. Follow these smart snacking rules and you'll do just fine:

1. Steer clear of snacks that are high in sugar; you'll end up even more hungry a few minutes later (once your blood sugar has peaked and then crashed suddenly as insulin comes into play). Instead reach for foods loaded with resistant starch (RS) as these deliver super satiety. When we eat carbohydrates not all of the starch they have gets digested. The part that passes through the digestive tract unchanged is called resistant starch, (the third, lesser known type of fibre that our food; other two are soluble fibre and insoluble fibre). My first pick: slightly under-ripe bananas (these have about 12gm of RS, compared to about 5gm in ripe bananas). Seeds-oats-nuts mix, roasted chickpeas, salted-steamed corn, stir fried/boiled peas, cold aloo chaat (boiled cooled potatoes have higher RS) are other high RS options.

2. Snack mindfully, not mindlessly: Sit down, look at the food and then savour it slowly to squeeze maximum satisfaction out of them. Eating any food without really realising what exactly you are eating is a perfect recipe to eat extra. Ditto for snacks! So please understand that the few chips you picked up and munched as you passed a friend's desk… will only give you extra calories, no satisfaction or satiety.

3. Learn to differentiate between feasting and snacking: Get the portion and calories of the snack right. A big burger with fries is not a snack - it's a meal. Nor is a masala dosa, or for that matter vada pao. Snacks are meant to be small but satisfying portions, more along the lines of say half a plate of bhel, or two pieces of dhokla. Ideally they should be between 100 to 200 calories and should fit in with your food plan for the day. The key is to consume the same number of calories, but spread them over the whole day.

3. Make the snacks do some extra work for you: Score extra protein and essential nutrients via these small bites. Grazing on baby carrots can get you vitamin A; munching on nuts and seeds can get you trace minerals, good fats and omega 3; fig bars will get you fibre and calcium; and a pot of yoghurt is a great way of scoring extra calcium. That way you add value to your daily diet. Another smart strategy is to try to combine two snacks at a time. For example eating crackers and yoghurt together have more "staying power" than either snack alone.

4. Choose smart: Budget the fries. There's no need to give them up completely; just be sure they fit into your day's total (allowed) for fat and calories. Balance high fat or high calorie snacks with low-calorie and low-fat choices at other meals, or with other snacks. Also it is better to eat a snack when you're slightly hungry than to pig out when ravenous.

5. Plan snacks ahead of time to avoid grabbing the first thing you see: Stash some whole-grain crackers in your desk drawer. Keep a small package of fig bars and assorted nuts in your bag. Make sure to put some whole-grain crackers into your workout bag. Stepping out? Carry a fruit with you and a tetra pack of coconut water and butter milk each. At home, fill the fridge with lots of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals, small yoghurt packs.

And finally always snack to satisfy hunger, not boredom. For that even a glass of water or a chat with a friend will do just fine.