What is a Snack, Really?

What do you think of when you think about a snack?  An energy bar?  A handful of pretzels?  A low-calorie packaged item of some sort meant to tide you through until the next meal? According to Wikipedia, a snack is “a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a small amount of any food.” Their definition goes on to tell us that ” Excessive snacking has been implicated in the increasing prevalence of obesity in many countries“, while “healthy snacks include those that have significant vitamins, are low in saturated fat and added sugars and have a low sodium content”. My definition of a snack is slightly different. I think a snack is, get ready for it, another meal.  I think it’s no different from breakfast or lunch or dinner.  Ideally, all meals should consist of real food, and it should be fresh, local, seasonal and unprocessed. Sure, there are going to be times when this isn’t an option but if we simply rethink what a snack is, as well as all meals for that matter, we open up a world of possibilities. One approach I often use with clients is to stop using the words breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and just refer to them as meals 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. By ceasing to classify foods as appropriate for certain  meals only, we then create far more options in terms of what proteins, vegetables, fats and fruits we eat at any given time of the day. In Pocket Paleo Snacks, I go into detail with recipes for many a snack occasion, from in the workplace, to on the go as well as for those rare times when you actually have a bit of extra time and can create something a bit more interesting than you’d normally enjoy for a snack. Check it out today!