Ever wonder why you’ve tried doing the 100-calorie snack thing and it doesn’t seem to help your diet? In fact, research shows, it may very well hurt you in the long run. The reason? Well, mostly it’s psychological, but psychology has a lot (not all) to do with physiology and why we gain or lose weight. Many people who are watching their weight (even the Gorilla is guilty of this) have tried or frequently eat, those little 100-calorie snack packs, but health researchers say that may be doing more harm than good because of the psychology involved in eating them. You see, it’s a little trick that your mind subconsciously plays on you. You tell yourself that the packs are only a meager 100 calories, but mentally you are telling yourself that you can eat more at the next meal, or have more snacks than you normally would throughout the day, resulting in more calories consumed, rather than less. The result is weight gain instead of weight loss. Bummer. The trouble is, we have all been told that consuming fewer calories results in weight loss, and while that may be true in some cases, it is not always the case. You see, it’s not so much how many calories you’re eating, as much as what you are eating that is important. You may be snacking all day long on low cal foods that are really not all that healthy for you, causing your body to retain fat instead of lose it. Foods high in sodium for instance, fill the body with water and cause weight gain so if you think that eating 10 snack- packs of 100-calorie goldfish all day long and nothing else (totaling only 1,000 calories) will result in weight loss, you are probably wrong. In addition most of the low cal snack foods inhibit proper digestion again, causing weight gain. The solution? Try eating less of the foods that have nutritional labels and more of those that have none. In other words, eat fresh produce such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Fresh fish is also a good example, but just make sure you bake it or broil it- don’t fry it. Another reason to quit snacking unhealthily? Food allergies. No, not the severe food allergies such as those triggered by peanuts or shellfish etc. but allergies that create low-grade, delayed reactions to food, that until now, researchers weren’t aware of. These simple food allergies can cause swelling of the feet and ankles and an overall bloated look in certain people. Research now shows that these hidden allergies are low-grade food sensitivities, which can trigger a chronic immune reaction and inflammation. And anything that causes inflammation interferes with your metabolism and leads to weight gain.
So what is the solution? Take a holiday from the foods you normally eat and replace them with healthy foods, such as fresh fish, vegetables, and fruit (not citrus) instead. Try leaving out these foods: gluten (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oats, kamut), dairy, eggs, corn, yeast and citrus. When you do this for a couple of weeks, you may notice that a host of other problems are no longer present, such as headaches, chronic fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and sinus problems to name a few. So yes, you may have to ditch the snack-packs, but hey, you may be ditching a diet trap you weren’t even aware was present! (And your headaches may finally subside as well!) Good luck and healthy eating!