Dangers Of Snacking At A Glance
1. It Might Just Make You Hungrier
2. It Could Be A Temporary Craving
3. Can Reverse The Process Of Insulin Sensitisation
Why You Might Be Better Off Fasting
I’ve previously written a few pieces on what healthy snacks can save your bacon during moments of rabid hunger. So I’m not going to go back on my word and colour them all as bad. If you’re picking on berries or grabbing a protein shake, it’s not necessarily setting you back. But dieters can get carried away with the license to keep pecking, and those calories can stack up over the day.
In the case of intermittent fasting, a diet I may have mentioned in a throwaway line here and there, regular snacks can come as a detriment. For a few major reasons.
1. It Might Just Make You Hungrier
If you’re not prepared to cope till the next meal, then grabbing a quick bite can come at the cost of fanning the flames. Insulin gets spiked by most foods. Especially in overweight individuals, who are more resistant to the energy-storing effects of insulin, this can cause ramped up hunger signals as the body searches for more glucose.
2. It Could Be A Temporary Craving
It’s important to identify whether you’re feeling mental or physical hunger. Limbic or Somatic. On the mental side of things, you can wait it out, and it will fizzle away. If you’re struggling to put one leg in front of the other, then that’s probably the cue to move the next meal ahead of schedule or call a quick time-out on the no snacking policy.
3. Not Eating Is Making You More Insulin Sensitive
The reason for going extended spells without eating isn’t just to drop a meal off the calorie budget. Insulin resistance is a big issue in most people looking to jump into a weight loss diet. Without efficient energy storage, incoming calories are more likely to be rejected by the muscle and then stored as fat.
Overexposure to insulin spikes, such as by having too many meals, causes resistance. Fasting causes the insulin levels to flat-line, the need for more food encouraging the body to become more sensitive to the effects of insulin. This is a special effect that IF can bring, and a solid motive for not raiding the fridge.
10 Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight
These reasons are why IF is generally more effective when kept to 2 or 3 meals, with no snacking in-between. But I wouldn’t make it a do or die situation. This is just a potential problem that could be stopping weight loss from hitting overdrive.
