Tag: healthy snack

Recipes

Amazing Protein Packed Flapjacks

Dr Nancy P

I get hungry, especially after a workout and I love a good flapjack or energy bar but I hate the fact that so many of the store bought ones are just full of sugar. Many of the ‘healthier’ versions I’ve bought are tasteless and unappetising so I thought I’d create some homemade protein flapjacks – full of good things!

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These don’t take long to put together and you can always substitute things if you don’t have them in the cupboard or don’t like them.

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You will need:

300g rolled porridge oats (gluten-free or spelt if you want)

100g desiccated coconut

100g flaked almonds

100g Pumpkin seeds

215g dried, soft Prunes

315g dried dates

175g Almond butter (or your nut butter of choice)

100g Liquid sweetener (I used rice malt syrup but you can use agave, maple syrup, honey etc)

2 tbsp Coconut oil (measured when solid)

4 tbsp Vanilla protein powder (any brand you like – you can also omit this is you want)

4 tbsp Water

2 generous tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

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Line a baking tin (I used a 20 x 20cm one) with baking paper. Mix the oats, almonds, pumpkin seeds and coconut together and pour into the baking tin. Place in the oven for 20 mins or until starting to brown. Make sure you turn regularly with a wooden spoon so the whole mixture gets toasted.

While that’s in the oven pop the dates and prunes into a blender or food processor and blitz to a paste. You may need to keep stopping to scrape the mixture back down in to the bowl. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth – a few lumpy bits are good!

Remove the oats from the oven and stir the protein powder through the mixture. Allow to cool.

Put the date mixture, nut butter, liquid sweetener, coconut oil, water, cinnamon and salt in to a large saucepan and heat very gently. Stir and allow the mixture to come together. Remove from the heat and pour the oats into the liquid mixture and mix really well.

Using a spatula scrape the mixture back into the lined baking tin and press down firmly. Then allow to cool and pop in the fridge. Do make sure you lick the saucepan (once it’s cool enough!!!) because the mixture is divine when warm! 🙂

Once it’s chilled you can cut in to slices. It makes the perfect post workout snack on the go and is great to pop in to lunchboxes too!

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Tuesday Tip

Tuesday tip: To snack or not to snack?

Dr Nancy P

Tuesday tip: To snack or not to snack? 🍪

To snack or not to snack .. that’s the question! Conventional diet wisdom promotes regular snacks as an aid to weight loss, however the evidence is mixed.

Pro snacking – when there’s a large gap between meals, your blood sugar drops making you tired, and likely to over eat later. So regular small snacks in between meals will stabilise blood sugar and prevent this. Research shows that this can help people lose fat, particularly those with type-2 diabetes. In this context high protein and fibre and low carb snacks are best. Snacking can also help people who struggle with portion control as it prevents you getting overly hungry and bingeing.

Anti-snacking – whilst snacking can help some people, studies show inconsistent results and it can derail your fat loss. The more you eat the more your insulin levels fluctuate; this rollercoaster can cause cravings and fat storage. To avoid this increase fibre and protein in meals to smooth out the insulin curve and keep you full for longer. Although internet experts often recommend 5-6 meals a day to “keep your metabolism running” research doesn’t support this. Instead of controlling appetite several studies show that snacking can have the reverse effect by causing people to eat more, rather than less. Plus it’s good to feel hungry; you shouldn’t graze all day. The key is a little hunger, but not too much.

Everyone is unique and the desire and need to snack are influenced by age, emotions, activity, main meals etc so you have to work out what’s best for you. Experiment; if you always snack twice a day, try reducing it, and vice versa and see how you feel with different eating patterns, often we eat the way we do out of habit.

So ignore the hype; to snack or not to snack is up to you; your goals, work schedule, food preferences etc and it’s not a requirement for weight loss. But it can be a helpful strategy when used appropriately. One good approach is strategic snacking at around 3/4pm to help stave off evening hunger, and there is some scientific evidence to suggest a plan of three balanced meals and one snack works well for weight loss.

Happy snacking! 🤗xx