Should You "Graze" Your Way to Better Health?
There’s a lot of talk about giving up having three meals a day in favor of grazing, which is best described as eating four or more smaller meals. Because eating revs up your metabolism, grazing has been associated with better weight control in some people. So, should you eat more often in the name of good health?
Not necessarily. Go ahead and graze, if that’s your style. If you don’t want to eat that often, just remember that you should have no less than three meals a day.
When going the grazing route, keep in mind that grazing is not a nutritional free-for-all. Simply put, you can’t eat whatever you want and expect good nutrition, or weight control, to result. Here’s a brief guide to successful grazing.
- Calculate Calorie Needs. Determine how many calories you need every day, whether you want weight loss, weight maintenance, weight gain, or if you are pregnant, or breastfeeding. Visit www.MyPyramid.gov, the government’s healthy eating guide, to determine the right number of calories and food intake for your age, gender, activity level, and stage of life. You can do the same for children over the age of two. (Don’t decrease your child’s calorie intake without first consulting with your pediatrician.)
- Divide Your Food. When you know how many calories you need to meet your goals, divide them up equally among the number of meals you feel comfortable eating, but make sure you include at least three meals. Grazers: stick to an eating schedule that has you noshing every three hours or so.
- Compose Carefully. Your food intake throughout the day should include all the fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein sources that you require as described by MyPyramid. To stay fuller for longer, include protein (for example, eggs, dairy foods, seafood, and meat) and complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain breads and cereals, at each meal.
Kids are natural grazers – they tend to eat when they are hungry. However, constant snacking may be why your son or daughter has a poor appetite at mealtime. You may think that when a child skimps on meals, he needs snacks. That sounds reasonable. However, it can lead to a cycle of grazing throughout the day, eating poorly at meals, then more grazing.
Keep grazing under control in children by serving them in the same designated eating area most of the time. When your child eats a very small portion of his meal, offer him the leftovers when he expresses that he’s hungry an hour or so later. This sends the message that your child can eat when he’s hungry, but that the food he’s offered is what you choose for him to eat, not fatty or sugary treats.
Happy Eating!
Liz Ward