The Hour

It’s the middle of summer and everyone seems to be on a diet. The one weight-loss let-down is the afternoon slump when all you want is a sugar-laden snack.

Food psychologist Dr Christy Fergusson had five simple snack ideas to stop you reaching for the crisps and chocolate and to keep your diet on track.

Dr Christy explained that it’s not the fat in foods that causes weight gain but the carbohydrates and the lack of portion control. She told The Hour:

“When we think about losing weight everyone’s scared of fat. It’s a big enemy and we all cut fat out the diet, but actually fat is really important and so is the protein. It’s actually the carbohydrates that are the main kind of issue. They produce the glucose and sugar and that’s what is stored as fat in the body.

“Our brains don’t store glucose so every three to four hours we have to give it a fresh supply or we’re going to get weak, headache-y or dizzy. Eating just a little and often is absolutely key.”

Eating an apple and a handful of nuts or seeds makes a good snack because it combines a low glycaemic load carbohydrate and a protein base. Apples and nuts are easy to carry around with you, and a good handful of nuts is enough, not a whole bag.

Freshly chopped vegetables such as carrots and peppers go really well with cottage cheese, which is very good for your gut. A mix of protein and carbohydrate keeps blood sugar levels nice and steady. Dr Christy said:

“The key is eating every three to four hours, so you’ll have had a nice meal three hours before and these things would be a mid morning or afternoon snack just to keep you going until lunchtime or tea time.”

Half a tub of houmous with two oatcakes is a great snack because it’s very high in omega 9 and tastes fantastic. Half a slice of soya and linseed bread, gluten bread or rye bread spread with peanut butter, nut butter or almond butter is another tasty and low carbohydrate snack.

Making a green juice is very alkaline on the system and is a good way of getting the vegetables that you wouldn’t normally eat into your system without spiking your blood sugar levels too much.

The juice is made with one whole cucumber and a couple of slices of apple to sweeten it. Other vegetables you can add include celery and broccoli, and carrot and ginger will give the juice a zingier taste.