This healthy snack keeps you feeling full for longer
When nutritionists say it’s wise to snack between meals to curb your hunger, you probably know they don’t mean frikandellen, berehappen or marshmallow hot chocolate, right? But what is a good snack that will help you make it until it’s time for real food again? This study has the answer.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool extensively examined how hungry their test subjects felt after eating various sweet snacks with the same caloric value. One of those items proved quite effective at curbing hunger, causing the test subjects to choose smaller portions at the following meal.
Sweets allowed
The study was conducted using, among other things, prunes, raisins and sweets similar to Jelly Beans. The people who ate the prunes felt ‘full’ sooner and ate less at the subsequent meal. The researchers then divided the participants into two groups: one group could choose their own ‘healthy snacks’, while the second group was allowed to snack only on prunes. The second group apparently lost more weight.
High-fiber snacking
The doctors and professors who interpreted the study said it had demonstrated that dried fruit helps curb hunger, can therefore support weight loss, and is a better choice than many other snacks. But there are also caveats: although it’s good that prunes contain a lot of fiber and can consequently make you feel full, it’s fairly easy to eat too many, so you need to make sure you don’t eat more than about five a day.
They also contain a lot of natural sugars, just like other dried fruits. Natural or not, you should always be careful with too much sugar. And then there is, of course, the laxative effect that prunes can have because of their high fiber content. In short, moderation is (unfortunately) called for here too…
Also read:
- Plum tarte tatin
- Here’s how to stock your Moroccan pantry
- Shocking: ‘healthy snack’ raisins turn out to be heavily contaminated
Source: Eat This
