Biscuits, rusks, namkeen: We Indians have such fondness for kuttar/muttar aka snacking that we never realise how much these fill our stomach, depriving us of real nutrition. And if you are over 40, than a prolonged snacking habit might actually be making you nutritionally deficient.
I can’t tell you how often I hear people in my friend circle say (40–50-year-olds), “I used to be able to eat so much and now I get full with just X”. The expression/tone is almost a sigh in sync with a nostalgia of bygone years and sadness over some reduced capacity. Personally, I am astonished. The fact that we want our bodies to behave in our 40s & 50s (middle age) like it behaved in the 20s (youth) is unfathomable to me. Either psychologically we don’t accept that we are ageing or we have developed such habits around food (giving it so much importance) that changing them bothers us.
Post 40, the body changes. For some it might happen later but there is a natural age progression .
Woman feel it more than men. Appetite comes down.
Stomach gets fuller faster. Hence what we fill it with matters: Empty calories vs real food/nutrition
Snacking & Nutritional Deficiencies
Going back to we can only eat so much in a day. I have watched my mouth very closely over the last 3 years. It meant truthfully looking at everything that comes out of it (words) and everything I put in it. I am also at a stage where I am 48, female, peri-menopausal, vegetarian and trying to keep myself naturally healthy and build muscle.
Hence in addition to the raw foods, I focus on eating nutritionally dense foods: bajra & green moong kichdi; humus, cheese, white butter & malai, fresh green channa, black gram, green peas and all varieties of green saags.
But even with all this, I must guard myself against snacking. I didn’t grow up with good food habits and living alone in various cities for 25 years meant that food was never 3 set meals but a lot of snaking. Added to that was my habit of drinking many cups of tea, something that made snacking even more conducive.
At some point, these were the habits, the biggest culprit that left me nutritionally deficient for many years (my vitamins and blood count was always low). Especially since I was always playing a sport and physically active.
Naturopathy taught me that tea stimulates the core muscles, which is why it felt strengthening. Coffee kicks the nervous system and hence feels energising.
Both give a kick but use different pathways physiologically.
On days I drink more than 1 cup of tea, I notice that I snack. So, the simple solution, in my case, since I don’t drink alcohol or coffee, is to cut tea. I am not yet fully there, though I have learned to add other drinks to my day which has some nutritional benefit : https://yoururbannaturopath.com/mindful-drinking-enhance-wellness-through-daily-choices/
And adapted the tea habit as follows:
- Restricted to 1-2 cups & smaller size cups.
- Never on an empty stomach
- Had with slightly dense food: butter & bread/banana chips
- Having it lighter with more milk
- Finish preferably by 5 pm, else it interferes with sleep
But tea still fills, so do the snacks and with age going up and appetite slightly declining, there is a choice to be made around what fill our stomachs.
Making Snacks Nutritionally Better
So Haldiram namkeens, biscuits, etc. are that category of snacks that merely satisfy the taste buds and give us zero nutrition. Best to substitute them, if giving up is very difficult:
- Replace with solid banana chips, roasted ( with skin) peanuts
- Rosted black gram/channa with skin and some jaggery
- Roasted Sweet Potato with just some lime & a dash of salt or chat masala
- Freshly made humus or pesto with carrot/cucumber sticks, apples. If you need more crisps, then get corn chips or sticks.
- Fresh coconut slices with dates
- Some people like energy bars, but since I already eat a lot of fruit and fresh juices, I have never felt the need for energy bars
Remember, I am going for more nutritionally dense NOT lighter food. If one wants lighter, then it makes sense to substitute snacks with more baked rather than fried items. But honestly, I have not found this to serve any nutritional benefit. It merely serves a psychological one and sometimes helps those aiming singularly at reducing /maintaining weight.
