Healthy eating with aisling murray from whelehans pharmacy

Eating little and often is a great method to follow to avoid hunger pangs, stabilise your blood sugars and keep your metabolism functioning to the best of its ability. The most important factor to remember when eating little and eating regularly is to select the correct foods and to try eating every 3-4 hours.

A number of us would be familiar with breakfast being a bowl of cereal followed by a scone at work. At lunch we tuck into a sandwich at our desk, it’s not unusual at 3pm to have a bar of chocolate to keep us going until dinner. At dinner time you’re exhausted from the day and want something effortless like a bowl of soup or cereal. By 10pm you’re still awake and hungry again so it’s straight to the fridge to make a cheese sandwich before bed.

This is 21st century Ireland, a way of living we are all accustomed to. Research has shown that the average Irish person has very little time to sit down for a big meal 3 times a day and instead is consuming 4 to 6 mini meals a day.
I recommend to clients to move away from traditional eating patterns such as three big meals a day and instead I recommend a grazing pattern of eating.

By consuming a large meal you can burden the digestive system, causing bloating and lowering energy while the body struggles to digest the large quantities. Eating a large meal means your blood sugar spikes and once the body has digested the food your blood sugar level drops leaving your mood lower.

In total it takes 2- 3 hours for the peak in sugar levels to go back down so by frequently eating small meals you are supplying the body with manageable levels of energy over the day, the body can use this energy immediately and there is no need to store it as fat for later use.

The best foods to graze on:
Studies have shown that eating with the little and often approach makes it easier to get all the nutrients you require in a day. It’s recommended that you eat sixteen different food types over 2-3 days in order to maintain optimum heal, eating 3 meals a day provides six to eight foodstuffs. In general an individual who grazes can eat much healthier, eating less fatty foods and including more carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables.

When you eat small snacks and meals regularly you can consume higher levels of vitamin C and other nutrients. Grazers also tend to have lower levels of body fat. The only downside to eating little and often is people tend to interpret snacks as chocolate or crisps. Snacks should be nuts, grains fruit, vegetables and yoghurts. By eating these types of foods you stay fuller for long and are not disrupting you energy levels.

Changing the way you eat in the day can be mentally difficult to adjust to and I always suggest taking it slowly; do small changes every week.

Whelehans Nutrition Service
Whelehans nutritional service is a private one to one advice service with our nutritionist Aisling Murray. Aisling’s areas of interest include weight loss management, nutrition education and food intolerance. Our nutrition service offers you the chance to change your life in an affordable but positive way by focusing on your overall wellbeing as well as the chance to follow up on your progress.

Aisling Murray has a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and offers a one to one specialist nutrition service at Whelehans Pharmacy. Call Whelehans at 04493 34591 for an appointment