Chew on this: fruits are bes
(By Lisa Sarah John, Courtesy Bangalore Times, Nov 20, 2006)
Some people never munch in-between meals. Many, however, need to snack frequently. The big question
is whether there’s any food that is absolutely healthy to snack on. Fruits, actually, make the best snack.
They are fresh and full of vitamins and minerals. Since they are eaten without much cutting, storing
or cooking, there isn’t much nutrient loss. So besides filling your stomach and giving you energy, you get a quick dose
of vitamins, minerals, some fluid from the juices and also some fibre. So it not only fills you up, but also refreshes you.
Fruits are low in energy or calories when compared to other foods. An average sized apple, pear, guava
or orange gives you 50-60 calories. Whereas one medium samosa, vada, etc. are 150-200 calories, 10 pieces of
chips are 110 calories, 2 butter cookies are 150 calories, a piece of Indian sweet or a pastry is 150-200 calories.
Besides this, fruits are made up of two sugars — glucose and fructose. These are also called
monosaccharides. Mono meaning one, single step of breakdown or digestion, and it enters the blood steam as energy in
20-30 minutes. Therefore, this is the best choice whenever one feels hungry, tired, giddy, faint or has low blood sugar.
If we pop a sweet or chocolate into our mouth instead of a fruit, the sugar in these (sucrose) is a
disaccharide, and takes two steps of digestion and 45 minutes to give energy. Also, these contain fat which will make your
weight go up as well as make you feel sluggish. Some prefer biscuits, bread or snacks.
These mainly contain starch, a polysaccharide, which uses many steps of breakdown, and takes 1-2 hours
before energy is made available. This is dangerous because you keep eating biscuit after biscuit, slice after slice but don’t
feel satisfied. Sometimes you come home from work very hungry, thinking you want to eat five chapattis instead of two or three.
If you eat a fruit before you start your meal, you find it gives energy fast and cuts down hunger and your are able to stick
to two or three chapattis.
Have a fruit everyday at about 11am
or 12 noon and at 6pm or 7pm when you get back from work.
Another good snack is milk, curd, lassi or buttermilk (all
skimmed or cream removed, of course). Milk contains a natural sugar called lactose, which is a disaccharide. Milk/buttermilk
is both filling and refreshing, so if just a fruit is not enough have buttermilk, cold coffee or milkshake along with it.
It is preferable to make this at home where the milk is skimmed. Milkshakes and lassi from restaurants and cafes usually
have additional cream or ice cream added to it, which is fattening. Regular coffee or tea too may be had. They are healthier
than eating oily snacks or sweets.
Late at night too, a fruit or skimmed milk are best choices. Avoid eating bread and biscuits late at
night as they cause the weight to go up easily.
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