Morning Snacks and Evening Snacks
Working With Your Body's Natural Rhythms
The aim of these snack recommendations is to work with the body’s natural rhythms, particularly certain processes which take place in the liver. Namely :
The storage and release of glycogen and
The production and release of gall
To eat protein and fatty foods early in the day (before about 3 p.m.), and carbohydrate foods in the later afternoon and evening (after 3 p.m.), supports these rhythms. Exceptions may be necessary at times, but strengthening the rhythms will lets you both be and feel healthier. This suggested pattern of course applies to our main meals - but also to the snacks we eat. Below are some suggestions for time-appropriate snacks.
Morning Protein and Fatty Foods Snacks
- Cheese on a stone-wheat or other whole-grain cracker
- Cottage or cream cheese
- Mozzarella cheese (e.g. with balsamic vinegar and basil leaves, or on crackers)
- Whole milk yoghurt
- Cashew butter or almond butter - can serve on toast, crackers, celery sticks or apple slices
- Turkey or chicken on a cracker or toast (or by itself)
- Tuna salad, sardines, herring or mackerel served as above
- Egg salad (organic eggs)
- Avocado
- Combinations, e.g. a tuna melt with avocado
Bread has some protein, but is predominantly a carbohydrate food. Therefore, where toast is suggested above, think in terms of just one piece, e.g. an open faced sandwich.
If not otherwise contraindicated, mild saltiness is quite appropriate for a morning snack. Salt is an "awakener" - it supports processes of consciousness. Protein also tends to awaken and ground us. Carbohydrates and sweet substances, for their part, tend to relax us and help us wind down. This is why carbs are our "comfort foods.
Be it protein, salt, carbs or sweet substances, it's always wise to remember : too much of a good thing can be a bad thing !
Afternoon or Evening Carbohydrate Snacks
- Fruit, e.g. apples, peach, pear or melon slices
- Carrot, celery or jicama sticks.
- Salads containing the above— can also include pickled beets or small amount grated raw beets. Because of the stronger forces needed to digest raw foods, salads make a better afternoon than evening or bedtime snack. Dressings for afternoon salads should have a mildly sweet, rather than salty or spicy taste.
- Cole slaw or carrot salad with raisins. Dress mildly sweet or sweet-sour.
- Grated papaya, daikon or daikon-carrot salad. Dress mildly sweet or sweet-sour.
- Small portion of oatmeal or granola. Can use milk - also almond, oat or rice milk, or other grain drinks with these (less protein than milk).
- Brown rice or other whole grain with above beverages. Can cook a little further to make puddings, and garnish with nut pieces, currants, raisins.
- Whole grain toast, possibly with a small amount honey. Whole or sprouted grain raisin breads are also available, and delicious!
- Oatmeal or other whole grain cookies. Try various brands to find lightly sweetened ones. Consider recipes from cookbooks listed below, or adapt conventional recipes to appropriate sweetness levels.
- Banana, zucchini, pumpkin or carrot breads made with whole grain flours.
- Whole grain scones.
- Whole grain cakes - consider having just a small piece, and adding a slice or two of fruit !
Baking at home - basic tips and principles
- Whole wheat flour tends to be on the heavy side. Alleviate by using part brown rice flour or whole wheat pastry flour, which are lighter. Find a flour mix that lets whole grain baked goods be light in the stomach and pleasant in the mouth !
- Use nut pieces, raisins, cranberries or other dried fruits for a creative flourish
- Sweeten lightly, moderately— but remember this principle which applies to all cooking and eating :
If it doesn’t taste terrific, go back to the drawing board !
For our full selection of nutrition articles - including some perspectives on the subject you'd never expect, see our
Living Waters Wellness Articles : Nutrition
* * * * * *
Cookbooks for Further Snack Ideas
- Joy of Cooking and the New York Times Cookbook - adapt baking recipes to whole grains
- The Moosewood Cookbook; The Enchanted Broccoli Forest; Still Life with Menu. All by Mollie Katzen.
- Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, New Trends Publishing. Excellent section on lactic acid fermentation vegetables, e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi (Korea), tsukemono (Japan), – many more.
- Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet, by Francis Moore Lappe. Strong point of these cookbooks : grain, nut and legume combinations providing balanced proteins for vegetarians.
- Raw : The Uncook Book, by Juliano. Regan Books, Harper Collins. Juliano has strong views against fats and animal proteins, and we don't necessarily agree. Great aesthetic presentation however, and a genius for raw food flavors.
Working With Your Body's Natural Rhythms
The aim of these snack recommendations is to work with the body’s natural rhythms, particularly certain processes which take place in the liver. Namely :
The storage and release of glycogen and
The production and release of gall
To eat protein and fatty foods early in the day (before about 3 p.m.), and carbohydrate foods in the later afternoon and evening (after 3 p.m.), supports these rhythms. Exceptions may be necessary at times, but strengthening the rhythms will lets you both be and feel healthier. This suggested pattern of course applies to our main meals - but also to the snacks we eat. Below are some suggestions for time-appropriate snacks.
Morning Protein and Fatty Foods Snacks
- Cheese on a stone-wheat or other whole-grain cracker
- Cottage or cream cheese
- Mozzarella cheese (e.g. with balsamic vinegar and basil leaves, or on crackers)
- Whole milk yoghurt
- Cashew butter or almond butter - can serve on toast, crackers, celery sticks or apple slices
- Turkey or chicken on a cracker or toast (or by itself)
- Tuna salad, sardines, herring or mackerel served as above
- Egg salad (organic eggs)
- Avocado
- Combinations, e.g. a tuna melt with avocado
Bread has some protein, but is predominantly a carbohydrate food. Therefore, where toast is suggested above, think in terms of just one piece, e.g. an open faced sandwich.
If not otherwise contraindicated, mild saltiness is quite appropriate for a morning snack. Salt is an "awakener" - it supports processes of consciousness. Protein also tends to awaken and ground us. Carbohydrates and sweet substances, for their part, tend to relax us and help us wind down. This is why carbs are our "comfort foods.
Be it protein, salt, carbs or sweet substances, it's always wise to remember : too much of a good thing can be a bad thing !
Afternoon or Evening Carbohydrate Snacks
- Fruit, e.g. apples, peach, pear or melon slices
- Carrot, celery or jicama sticks.
- Salads containing the above— can also include pickled beets or small amount grated raw beets. Because of the stronger forces needed to digest raw foods, salads make a better afternoon than evening or bedtime snack. Dressings for afternoon salads should have a mildly sweet, rather than salty or spicy taste.
- Cole slaw or carrot salad with raisins. Dress mildly sweet or sweet-sour.
- Grated papaya, daikon or daikon-carrot salad. Dress mildly sweet or sweet-sour.
- Small portion of oatmeal or granola. Can use milk - also almond, oat or rice milk, or other grain drinks with these (less protein than milk).
- Brown rice or other whole grain with above beverages. Can cook a little further to make puddings, and garnish with nut pieces, currants, raisins.
- Whole grain toast, possibly with a small amount honey. Whole or sprouted grain raisin breads are also available, and delicious!
- Oatmeal or other whole grain cookies. Try various brands to find lightly sweetened ones. Consider recipes from cookbooks listed below, or adapt conventional recipes to appropriate sweetness levels.
- Banana, zucchini, pumpkin or carrot breads made with whole grain flours.
- Whole grain scones.
- Whole grain cakes - consider having just a small piece, and adding a slice or two of fruit !
Baking at home - basic tips and principles
- Whole wheat flour tends to be on the heavy side. Alleviate by using part brown rice flour or whole wheat pastry flour, which are lighter. Find a flour mix that lets whole grain baked goods be light in the stomach and pleasant in the mouth !
- Use nut pieces, raisins, cranberries or other dried fruits for a creative flourish
- Sweeten lightly, moderately— but remember this principle which applies to all cooking and eating :
If it doesn’t taste terrific, go back to the drawing board !
For our full selection of nutrition articles - including some perspectives on the subject you'd never expect, see our
Living Waters Wellness Articles : Nutrition
* * * * * *
Cookbooks for Further Snack Ideas
- Joy of Cooking and the New York Times Cookbook - adapt baking recipes to whole grains
- The Moosewood Cookbook; The Enchanted Broccoli Forest; Still Life with Menu. All by Mollie Katzen.
- Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, New Trends Publishing. Excellent section on lactic acid fermentation vegetables, e.g., sauerkraut, kimchi (Korea), tsukemono (Japan), – many more.
- Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet, by Francis Moore Lappe. Strong point of these cookbooks : grain, nut and legume combinations providing balanced proteins for vegetarians.
- Raw : The Uncook Book, by Juliano. Regan Books, Harper Collins. Juliano has strong views against fats and animal proteins, and we don't necessarily agree. Great aesthetic presentation however, and a genius for raw food flavors.