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Last Updated: Jul 11th, 2008 - 19:47:10 |
Americans are hooked on snacks.
It’s rare to see people eating the traditional, family-style three meals daily.
Instead, people eat lunch at their desks, grab a snack from the vending machine in the afternoon, and then eat cookies late at night.
What do all these snacks have in common? Most of them are based on carbohydrates, and chock full of sugar and refined flour.
Here’s the challenge to Atkins dieters. Although snacking is important to maintaining good levels of blood sugar, most packaged snack food items are not allowed on the program.
Packaged snacks are incredibly popular, even though they're full of empty carbohydrates, high in calories, and have virtually no nutritional value.
The Snack Food Association’s web site lists 18 different types of snacks manufactured by its members, along with "various other snacks." Of those 18, only two -- meat snacks and snack nuts -- are not carbohydrate-based.
One estimate has Americans eating 3.1 billion pounds of chocolate every year. Since 1988, snacking has increased more than one-third and sales of snack foods gross more than $30 billion per year.
Are you a snack food junkie?
If so, you're used to eating carbohydrates of the worst kind. Ingredients of snack foods include highly-refined carbohydrates such as white sugar, corn syrup, white flour, and corn meal.
Trans fats
They're full of trans fats. These are industrially-created, partially-hydrogenated plant oils. They are the ones that contribute so heavily to clogged arteries. In fact, they're just about the worst food choice you could be making.
Don't despair, though: you can discover snacking choices that are Atkins-friendly! The first step is to educate yourself. Read up on trans fats. You'll be shocked by how dangerous they really are.
Next read the ingredients label on your favorite snack foods. Another shock -- they're stuffed with artificial flavorings, trans fats, and chemical preservatives. Do you really want to be eating those?
Next, throw out all the snack foods in your cupboard. Junk food isn't good for anyone in your family. Ignore their fussing, and do what's best for everybody’s health. If snack foods aren't there, you can't eat them.
Giving up snack foods doesn't mean you'll be giving up snacks. In fact, snacking should be part of your daily eating; it will keep you from becoming too hungry and giving in to those high-carb treats. Just replace the packaged snack foods with better choices.
Snacks on the Atkins diet
There are many allowed Atkins diet snack foods. Here are some easy-to-make low-carbohydrate snacks you'll enjoy having around the house.
Meat snacks like beef jerky strips keep well in the refrigerator for a long time. String cheese sticks or small cheese wedges or rounds also require refrigeration.
Read the labels on meat sticks or cheese carefully, to avoid hidden carbs.
Low-carb instant soups are available, too. They are satisfying if you want something hot, and very easy to make.
Celery is good if you're craving something crunchy. Try filling celery sticks with cream cheese or peanut butter; it adds protein as well as great taste. And you can't do better than a handful of nuts for a quick high-protein snack.
All these snacks will do for the early phases of the Atkins diet, as well as for the later ones. After the Induction phase, you can also enjoy fresh berries with cream.
In addition, many of the acceptable fruits on the Atkins list make good snacks for the pre-maintenance phase. Happy snacking to you!
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