In traditional macrobiotics there’s a pretty big emphasis on eating three meals a day at regular meal times, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But many of us get a little hungry mid-afternoon and it’s not quite time for dinner. Or we have a long time between lunch and dinner because we don’t get home from work until late.
Long term, part of the solution is to work on creating more consistent blood sugar levels. However, we may always need a little snack every once in a while.
As the day progresses, we can become more tense and wound up or we can start feeling a dip in our energy. A well thought out snack can also help us relax, create balance and give us a bit of a lift to get through the rest of the day.
I like to choose snacks that are both relaxing and nourishing. Often when we are stressed out and tense or our blood sugar is dropping, we gravitate toward sweet baked goods or dry crunchy foods like chips or crackers. Or we run for another coffee or chocolate. These foods won’t help create balance. They actually have the opposite effect.
What will really support our body and work to relax us is often the opposite of what we might crave.
These are my top choices. The serving size is about half of what I would eat for lunch or dinner. So maybe a small bowl of soup or half cup of lentil salad. You just want enough to tide you over to dinner, but not become a full meal.
- Some warm soup. You can keep it warm in a thermos.
- Leftover grain salad or lentil salad.
- Half of a nori roll.
- A handful of fresh berries.
- Blanched green beans, sugar snap peas, carrot sticks or broccoli with a bean spread, like hummus.
- Cucumber with a creamy seed dressing/dip.
- A small amount of a leftover cooked bean dish.
- Nishime.
- Roasted vegetables with hummus.
- Cooked apple or pear or made into sauce with a little cinnamon and some toasted nuts on top. Warm if you can manage it.
- Leftover lemon pudding or fruit kanten.
- Cooked sweet potato.
- Warm carrot juice.
I know some teachers recommend a handful of nuts for a snack, but I’m not a big fan of that. I would choose a more relaxing, easily digestible snack when possible. I hope this helps you expand your thinking about snacks. Enjoy!