AARP The Magazine - April/May 2012

TH >A small banana nd 7 walnut halves >Baby carrots with 5 teaspoons hummus > 1 cup fat-free Greek-style yogurt with ½ cup blueberries >Half a turkey sandwich > 1 cup shelled edamame > 3 cups air- popped popcorn with 2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese > 50 pistachios >A small baked potato with ½ cup salsa and 2 teaspoons fat- free sour cream > 3 small squares dark chocolate with 3 apricot halves > 2 celery sticks with 1 tablespoon peanut butter HEALTHY SNACKS Packaged snacks tend to be highly processed and not very nutritious. Try these 100- to 200-calorie alternatives.
Nutrition
Snack Smart
Eating between meals can help
you lose weight—if you
choose the right foods
Snacks are so big, they’ve
almost become meals.
Americans get roughly a
quarter of their calories
each day from snacks, up
from 18 percent in 1977,
report researchers from the
University of North
Carolina (UNC). That’s a
belly-bulging 579 extra
calories we devour be-
tween meals. No wonder
an increasing number
of experts are blaming
snacking for America’s
rising obesity rates.
There’s nothing wrong
with snacking per se—
eating every few hours
can help stabilize blood
sugar, which is essential
for diabetics. Snacking can
even help you control your
weight, according to a re-
cent study in the Journal of
the American Dietetic Asso-
ciation. Researchers found
that having two snacks a
day, in addition to three
main meals, was associated
with a lower body mass
index (BMI) and mainte-
nance of weight loss.

CHEW ON THIS
By Brian Wansink, Ph.D.
Does a white plate make you eat more? It depends on the
color of your food. At the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, we
found that buffet diners served themselves about 24
percent more when we offered white pasta on white
plates, as opposed to white pasta on red plates. The rea-
son: Contrasting colors increase our awareness of how
much we consume, so dark-colored plates are best if
you’re serving white foods like pasta, rice, or potatoes.
EAT LESS FROM A DARK PLATE
nine daily fruit and vegeta-
ble servings,” says Laura
Jeffers, R.D., outpatient
nutrition manager at the
Cleveland Clinic.
PLAN SNACKS IN
ADVANCE Have some
healthy snacks on hand—
fruit, cereal bars—so you
won’t be tempted to grab a
doughnut or milk shake at
the drive-through.
ADD A LITTLE PROTEIN
Snacks that are high in
protein reduce hunger,
increase fullness, and delay
the next “eating occasion”
more than high-fat snacks
do, a recent study in the
journal Obesity showed.
—Beth Howard

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