An article by USA Today called “Trick your tummy: Eat before you eat” suggests that if you eat before your main meal, you consume less calories and not go hungry either! However this is only true depending on what the pre meal snack consists of. Here are the facts.
Pennsylvania State University researchers pointed out that:
• “People who eat an apple about 15 minutes before lunch consume an average of 187 fewer calories at the meal than when they have applesauce, apple juice or nothing at all. This calorie savings includes the calories from the apple.
• Men and women who have 1 1/2 to 2 cups of vegetable soup before a meal consume about 134 calories less at the meal than when they don’t have a bowl of the broth-based soup. That includes the soup calories.
• Women who eat a large salad (about 3 cups) before lunch consume 12 percent fewer calories at the meal (salad calories included) than when they don’t have the salad beforehand.”
That sounds pretty cool, right? But what pre-meal foods should we eat? Are there any foods that we should avoid? Barbara Rolls states that the pre-meal snack should consist of only 100-150 calories and that you can feel more satisfied and fuller when eating “fiber-rich or water-filled fruits and vegetables” despite eating fewer calories.
Here are some foods that are good for your pre-meal meal.
- yogurt (of course yogurt is on this list. Yogurt can do anything!)
- fresh fruit like bananas and apples.
- nuts.
- beans.
- vegetables like zucchini, broccoli and carrots.
- vegetable soup
- salads (with no added meat or cheese unless it is low-fat string mozzarella cheese.)
What you should avoid.
- meat.
- cheese.
- high fat dressings.
Don’t forget this is for a small meal before your main meal which well help you feel full and eat less calories. Well this is definitely one cool tip I’m going to put in place with my eating habits. I can’t get enough of yogurt and to learn that if I eat yogurt before a main meal and as a result consume less calories, then who am I to argue?
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