Most people have a snack at some point during the day. According to research done in 2015 by Mintel, a market research firm,94% of Americans每天小吃。虽然这一百分比听起来很高，但如果您将零食定义为早餐，午餐或晚餐以外吃的任何食物，那很容易记住您上一次吃的食物。
传统的饮食智慧说，必须减轻或保持体重，全天经常零食是必须的。尽管有一些科学可以支持这一想法，但同样有很多东西可以证明它是不必要的，并且可能对体重产生负面影响。即使是营养师在这个问题上有些分歧。
Like many aspects of nutrition, there’s no clear-cut answer as to whether snacking is good or bad, but there are some factors that can help you decide whether it will be useful in reaching your goals.
THE CASE FOR SNACKING
You’ve probably heard it’s a good idea to have 1–3 snacks per day between meals, and the reasoning makes a lot of sense. “When there’s a large timespan between meals, your blood sugar drops, which can make you feel tired, irritable and even give you a headache,” explains explains安妮·丹希（Anne Danahy），总部位于亚利桑那州的斯科茨代尔（Scottsdale）。有些人甚至采取每天吃5-6顿小餐的方法，以帮助保持平衡。
“Eating smaller, frequent meals can be especially helpful for someone who has reactive hypoglycemia or diabetes because of the blood sugar-stabilizing effect,” Danahy says. Research has shown that, in particular,high-protein, low-carb and高纤维snacks are best at achieving this goal. There’s also evidence that snacking can help with weight loss, particularly in those with blood sugar issues. Onestudyshowed high-protein snacks helped Type 2 diabetes patients achieve fat loss.
Snacking can also be a helpful approach for those who have trouble with portion control, Danahy points out. “Preventing oneself from becoming overly hungry can benefit someone who struggles with mindful eating, because it’s far more difficult to eat mindfully when you’re ‘hangry’ and your blood sugar is crashing,” she explains.
WHY SNACKING ISN’T ALWAYS NECESSARY
While snacking may help some people achieve a healthier eating style, it’s definitely not a requirement. “There is a misconception in the diet world that you have to eat six small meals per day in order to lose weight,” says Gillean Barkyoumb, MS, RD, the founder ofMillennial Nutrition。“这种理论背后的科学并不得到强烈的支持。研究表明结果不一致。”
In fact, snacking too much could actually have the opposite effect on your blood sugar. “The more you eat, the more you fill your body with insulin and have fluctuations in blood sugar. This roller-coaster effect on blood sugar can cause cravings, fat storage and irritability,” Barkyoumb says. “To avoid this, you want to elongate your blood sugar curve by eating balanced meals with the right amounts of protein, fat and fiber. If your meals are balanced and meet your calorie needs, you will not need to have snacks between every meal, because you are properly nourished and fueled.”
尽管许多人列举了“整日保持新陈代谢运行”作为零食的原因，但不支持这个主意。零食通常也被吹捧为控制那些希望减肥或维持体重的食欲的一种方式，但是一些研究表明，吃零食实际上可以拥有reverse effectby增加卡路里总数a person eats in a day rather than reducing it.
另外，不零食可以使您的身体在两餐之间休息。“当您整天不放牧时，您的身体有时间去消化食物并真正感到饥饿，” CDN AT的Eliza Savage说Middleberg Nutritionin NYC. “Yes, it is OK to feel hungry! It’s the body’s signal to eat.” The key, she says, is not letting yourself gettoohungry. That’s when a snack might be warranted.
WAYS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT’S RIGHT FOR YOU
如您目前可能可以看到的那样，您可以轻松找到研究以支持零食辩论的两面。但是研究还告诉我们，零食影响每个人的独特之处。零食的愿望和零食的影响取决于年龄,情绪推理behind snacking and even你们是否认为小吃是迷你粉。
READ MORE >多么15克蛋白质的零食看起来像
That’s why dietitians try to help people determine what works best for them as an individual, regardless of what the diet industry says about snacking. “I like to encourage people to experiment a bit,” Danahy says. “Most people have eaten the same way (and even the same foods) for most of their lives, so I ask them to tune into their body and note how they feel with different eating patterns and different foods.”
野蛮人同意，并指出“零食既有帮助又有害。我认为，适当使用时，这是一个很好的策略，当考虑食物的质量和数量时。我建议战略零食，尤其是下午4点。零食以预防傍晚的饥饿。“一般而言，她建议坚持三顿平衡餐的计划，以及一顿蛋白质和生产（蔬菜和鹰嘴豆泥，煮熟的鸡蛋和苹果，一个香蕉和坚果黄油）的生产。她说：“有趣的是，我发现这种持续的餐点和小吃的策略对体重管理方面的人更适合人们。”
But, at the end of the day, whether or not you snack is a personal choice. “Goals, work schedules, food preferences and more play roles in finding the right program for someone,” Barkyoumb says. That’s why snacking — or not snacking — is not a requirement for healthy eating or even weight loss. You may find it’s easier to keep your total caloric intake in check with zero snacking or that you really need those snacks to prevent overeating.
Barkyoumb说：“尽管这会使我的工作变得容易得多，但营养不是一定程度的一切！”
