What kind of snacker are you?

It is without a doubt the endless stream of food advertisements we are exposed to on a day to day basis strongly encourage the habit of snacking. Amongst the fitness community it has become gospel to eat frequent, small, regular meals to keep your metabolism revving and to stop you from getting too hungry. However Science now argues with this based off logical facts. Eating on a constant basis disrupts our digestive environment and has a massive impact on a very important hormone, that being Insulin.

Insulin is made in the pancreas and its job is to help regulate our blood sugar levels. When we eat a meal or snack the pancreas releases this hormone. The insulin then signals muscle, fat, and liver cells in the body to absorb glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream to be used for energy. If there is too much glucose in our system it is then stored as fat or converted to glycogen and stored in the liver. Snacking on a constant basis keeps insulin levels elevated and overtime we build up a resistance to it meaning we need to produce more and more insulin to absorb the same amount of glucose into our cells. Hence this leads to cellular damage, an inflammatory response and increased weight gain in the form of visceral and adipose fat.

So before you rethink your snacking habits lets try identify what type of snacker you are so you can easily retrace your steps and make a smooth transition to snacking less.

1. The mini meal snacker-When a so called snack turns into a mini meal unintentionally (mini meal being 150+ calories)

2. The ‘healthy’ snacker-Eating healthy foods in abundance can still lead to a calorie surplus

3. The ‘association’ snacker-Influenced by the media, this type of snacker associates certain foods with certain situations. Popcorn at the cinema, snacks infront of the television etc.

4. The meal skipper-Avoiding meals to lose weight or by simply being too busy to eat and grabbing snack foods to keep you going.

5. The leftover snacker-Finishing off your children’s dinner or companions plate just because you hate seeing food wasted.

6. The bored snacker-This type of snacker eats in situations where they are lacking in entertainment and eating to suppress an emotion.

7. The office snacker-Office life entais many situations where snacking is used to break the restraints of office life, from looking for distraction to working through issues and lunch or when it’s a celebration for one of your colleagues.

So what kind of snacker are you?