Once upon a time three meals a day was considered the foundation stone of healthy eating and snacking in between was strictly forbidden if you were watching your weight. But the very latest research tells us a very different story and snacking in between meals isn’t condemned anymore; in fact it’s highly recommended. Obviously snacking on a whole bar of chocolate and a family pack of crisps when you feel that mid afternoon slump isn’t going to do you any good at all but a few strategically timed, balanced snacks can help you get more nutrients, stop food cravings, increase your energy and even keep wrinkles away.

As far as weight loss is concerned the nutritional tide is really turning in favour of snacking between meals. This is because we now know that hanging on until lunch or supper puts your body into starvation mode. Your metabolism slows right down and encourages your body to hold onto fat stores and hinders attempts at weight loss. If, however, you make sure you eat every two or three hours your body doesn’t feel under threat from starvation and doesn’t cling to fat in the same way.

It’s not just your waistline that benefits from regular snacking, however, your brain does too. This is because your brain relies on a steady supply of energy in the form of glucose from the food you eat. If you skip meals or go for long periods as you would with a three meal a day diet plan your blood sugar levels start to fluctuate so your brain doesn’t get that steady supply. The result: you feel tired, forgetful and grumpy.

In addition, studies also show that fluctuating blood sugars can encourage the release of the stress hormones — adrenaline and cortisol — which can not only contribute to the likelihood of weight gain, particularly around the middle, but can also aggravate the symptoms of the menopause, such as hot flushes, mood swings, insomnia and memory loss and increase pre-menstrual symptoms.

Finally, skipping meals or not eating often enough can make you deficient in nutrients that affect how you age. This is because snacks are a convenient and quick way to add more nutrients into your diet. For example, a handful of nuts and seeds, something you may be unlikely to add to a main meal, is bursting with skin friendly antioxidant vitamin E and essential fatty acids. Snacking also allows you to increase your intake of unprocessed, raw foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, which often shed nutrients during the cooking process, especially the antioxidant, anti-ageing vitamin C.

How, what and when?

To reap all the benefits of snacking you need to make sure you eat something small, like an oatcake or some nuts and seeds, every three or so hours. For example, after breakfast you should aim for a mid morning snack at around 11 am and then after lunch you should aim for a mid afternoon snack at around 4 pm and then after supper you could also have a very light snack just before bedtime, if you wake up in the middle of the night, so that everything adds up to three meals a day with two to three snacks in between.

This regular intake of calories and nutrients beats hunger pangs and mood swings because your blood sugar levels stay even and this sends a message to your brain that your body is not under stress and that it can keep revving your metabolism up and use your old fat stores for energy instead of clinging onto it.

Do make sure you pay attention to portion sizes though. Snacking is great for weight loss but not if you end up eating more than you normally do. If you add in snacks you do need to adjust your meal size accordingly. To do this, eat the amount of food you usually do, but spread it over five to six smaller meals and snacks instead.

Your snacks could be something like a handful of nuts and raisins, a small piece of fruit like a banana or an apple, or an oat cake spread with hummous. Remember, your meals should fit on a regular sized dinner plate and should not be piled high and your snacks should fit easily into the palm of your hand.

Your snack prescription:

The snack suggestions below can help if you want to:

• Fight Fatigue: One of the most common symptoms of blood sugar imbalance is fatigue. Eating little and often will help keep your blood sugar and your energy levels steady. Don’t forget to add some protein to your snacks though as protein slows down the rate at which your stomach empties and helps keep your blood sugar levels on an even keel. Try an organic natural yogurt with a palmful of berries and a table spoon of mixed nuts and seeds; a boiled egg with a slice of wholemeal bread or hummous with crudités.
• Lower high cholesterol: A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that eating a few ounces of oats a day could lower cholesterol by 16 per cent in three months so snack on a couple of oat cakes or a small bowl of porridge made from organic soya or rice milk.
• Beat Insomnia: Low blood sugar could be one of the reasons why you find it hard to get to sleep or wake up regularly in the night so try to have a snack at least 40 minutes before you go to bed. Aim for foods high in tryptophan, an amino acid that encourages sleep. Good sources are oats, peanuts and sunflower seeds so try a small bowl of oat porridge, a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter or a handful of sunflower seeds with a cup of camomile tea.
• Beat Memory loss/poor concentration: Study after study has confirmed the beneficial effect of omega 3 rich oily fish, like tuna, mackerel or salmon and nuts and seeds on brain function. To stay alert for longer aim for a few pieces of oily fish or a selection of sunflower, sesame or linseeds for your mid morning or mid afternoon snack when your concentration is most likely to be at its lowest ebb.
• Beat Mood swings: Snacking on low GI complex carbo-hydrates that release a steady supply of glucose to your brain is a great way to keep your blood sugar levels and your mood stable so try some mixed bean salad or a delicious bowl of comforting oat porridge with a spoon of honey or maple syrup for sweetness.
• Protect yourself against osteoporosis: To keep your bones healthy you need a steady supply of calcium, antioxidants and vitamins; so try a handful of raspberries, blueberries or strawberries and top them with a few tablespoons of organic natural yogurt and a teaspoon of ground linseeds (flaxseeds) to give your bones and joints a boost.
• Lose weight: One of the best ways to shift weight is to boost your nutrient intake so your food is digested more efficiently and to keep your blood sugar levels stable because weight gain is often a symptom of blood sugar imbalances. Snacking is the perfect way to achieve both these objectives, especially if you snack on negative calorie foods like broccoli, carrots, courgettes and celery. These foods are negative calorie foods because they use up more calories in digestion than they provide. To make them more interesting dip them into hummous or guacamole.
• Fight wrinkles: The secret of healthy skin is essential fat which keeps it hydrated and keeps wrinkles and dry skin at bay. To keep your skin glowing, try snacking on four or five olives or whole almonds (both rich in essential fats) with a piece of fruit.
• Beat symptoms of menopause: Foods rich in calming phytoestrogens will help balance your hormones and by so doing ease menopause related symptoms such as hot flushes, poor concentration and bloating. You could snack on a tablespoon of flaxseeds (linseeds) a day with some anti-ageing berries. Remember you don’t always have to eat soya; other legumes, such as chickpeas and lentils, are good sources of phytoestrogens too.

Metabolism is essentially the speed at which your body’s fat burning motor is running. The speed at which your body burns calories is called the metabolic rate and the slower the metabolic rate, the greater the weight gain. We all know that skimping on food can slow down metabolism (that’s why diets don’t work and you should eat at least three meals and never eat less than 1,500 calories a day) but there are natural metabolism boosters which can help boost metabolism and shift pounds with minimum effort.

1. Make sure you eat breakfast: If you don’t eat breakfast, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into “hoard mode”, thinking it’s starving because you’re going a long period of time, frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food. Research repeatedly shows that those who eat breakfast are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off than those who don’t, so get into the habit of kick starting your metabolism in the morning. This doesn’t mean you should stuff yourself with a full English every morning; when you get up sip a glass of water with a slice of lemon then twenty or so minutes later enjoy a smoothie, some oat porridge or whole meal or rye toast with pure fruit (no sugar) jam.
2. Increase Muscle Mass: The most important factor of metabolism is lean body mass. Muscle burns up to 90 percent more calories than fat. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn in a day. By adding three to five pounds of muscle you could actually burn 100 — 250 additional calories a day. Try adding a weight loading activity two or three times a week such as lifting free weights or resistance training with machines in the gym. Simply carrying your groceries home could be considered weight loading and lifting five to eight pound (2.5 — 4kg) hand weights (dumb bells) while watching your favourite television programme could go a long way towards burning calories.
3. Regular Activity: Regular exercise routines such as dancing, cycling, walking, or hiking will help raise your metabolism during the activity and for several hours after. Even simple movements such as taking the stairs, house cleaning, or gardening can help increase your fat burn rate.
4. Adequate Protein: Protein provides the building blocks for muscle. Without adequate protein you may actually lose muscle and the more muscle you have the faster your metabolic rate. Therefore it makes sense to ensure you get some good quality protein with every meal you eat such as eggs, fish, pulses, nuts, seeds or soya. Add some spice too such as chilli or cinnamon and you’ll be raising your metabolic rate even further.
5. Sleep! Just one hour of extra sleep a night could leave you feeling lighter in the long run according to a recent study by the US National Institute of Natural Health. This is because while you are asleep your body releases a chemical called leptin which controls body fat by signalling when you are full and lack of sleep can lead to overeating and cravings for high fat, high carbohydrate foods.
6. Decrease Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol may suppress your body’s ability to burn fat. Studies show that when you drink alcohol, your body burns fat more slowly than usual during that particular meal. Watch your alcohol intake.
7. Try a Cup of Green Tea: A small study showed that green tea appeared to raise metabolic rates and speed up fat oxidation. The calorie losses were small — around 60 calories/day. Green tea also has other health benefits because of its significant antioxidant components. You might as well add a little boost to your metabolism while protecting yourself from heart disease, cancer, and strokes.
8. Got Calcium? Recent research shows that calcium can help adjust your body’s fat-burning machinery. The more calcium in the cells resulted in an increase in fat metabolism.
9. Use your head: A large part of successful weight loss is down to what goes on in your mind so use yours to its fullest potential. Start each day with a positive affirmation such as ‘today I will enjoy foods that will boost my metabolism and help me feel at my healthiest and best’ and stay away from negative language and imagery.

Can’t resist the lure of the biscuit tin? Then hide it, says a study from Cornell University, New York. Women eat twice as many sweet treats that are stored in clear containers on their desks than when they are in opaque containers. And if you are more than six feet away you’ll be less tempted to ruin your healthy eating plan says the research.