A chronosnack

Content:

• Directions for the chronosnack
• When do you eat the snack?
• Some examples of chronosnacks

You don’t know what Chrononutrition is yet? Read first my blogpost with a short introduction!

As a child, you were looking forward to it, but as an adult, you let it disappear on the background. So many delicacy’s that could be tasted without feeling “guilty” afterwards…

After breakfast and lunch there is the third meal of the day and with Chrononutrition it is the snacktime. On this moment, you’ll react on the small returning hunger in the afternoon and you’ll provide your body the energy to continue until dinner or until you go to bed. It is a moment which you absolutely shouldn’t ignore! You can make it into a cosy moment to find some rest in the afternoon and you’ll recover some energy!

Directions for the chronosnack

The quantities for the snack are the same for all people. The goal is to offer your body some direct and quick sugars so you can continue. The snack consists of two parts: vegetable fats and fruit (or derived sugars). Preferably, you’ll take natural sugars, but you can certainly feast on candy (sour sweets or anything else you love) or a glass of soda.

Vegetable fats:

• 30 gr of black chocolate (it may take some time to get used to it, but after a week, you’ll want nothing else!) or
• half of a small bowl of olives or
• half of a small bowl of nuts or
• …

Fruit and derived sugars:

• a small bowl of fresh fruit or
• half of a small bowl of dried fruit or
• two big glasses of fresh (orange)juice or
• …

When do you eat the snack?

As you’ve read above, the snack is the way to calm your hunger (a first time) after the lunch and to provide some extra energy. You’ll take it at least five hours after lunch or at least until you feel a decent hunger. You shouldn’t confuse this with “the mood for” sugar, something you’ll probably experience quite strongly in the beginning, but don’t worry, after a week or two it will disappear.

So it is important to wait until you really get hungry and it is not a good idea to cultivate one specific hour to take the snack, for example 4 o’clock or the fixed “tea-time” in England. If you’re not yet hungry after five hours, you can postpone the snacktime until dinner to replace that by your snack. Or you can push dinner a little bit later, if you stay up a reasonable late time in the evening. In the next chrono-blogpost, you’ll read more about dinner and why it is not the most necessary meal of the day.

Some examples of chronosnacks.

My favourite chronosnack is the one when I cut my fruits in cubes, then heat it in a pan to add my portion of chocolate and let it carefully melt. A real delicacy! You can do it with different kinds of fruits and let you guide by the seasons.

Or you can enjoy some exotic fruits, as mango and kaki (exotic in Belgium). It is only since a few (5? 10?) years that kakis became available in most shops and I am really grateful for it. They are so incredibly tasty! Did you know that the most popular kaki, the one we can buy here, is the “national fruit” of Japan, but that the origins of this variation are actually in China? Other variants also grow in the US, a green/black version grows in Mexico, and other words for kaki are persimmon and sharonfruit and those are actually variants of the same family! Like cousins or brothers. (info from Wikipedia + something I heard one day, somewhere)

Kaki

I don’t buy the kakis too often, because I don’t want to get tired of it. But when I have them at home… de-li-ci-ous! First I cut out the hard crown and peel them. Some people don’t peal them, but I don’t trust that peel. Unless the fruit is very ripe, then it is difficult to cut through and not squash them. One time, there was a tiny white cocoon under the crown and my curiosity took over. I poked it with my knife. That was a mistake. A tiny spiderlimb got out. A tremble went over my back and I thought I had maybe taken a poisonous babyspider in my house. Quickly I threw the crown in the thrash can. Out of the eye is out of the heart. With straight, vertical swipes I peeled the kaki and cut it in cubes to heat it with some water in a pan. You can also just spoon out the good stuff or bite in it like an apple.

Chocolate

Next to the fruit, I like to eat a piece of chocolate. Because I’d like to get out the best from my chocolatemoment, I chose to invest more in quality chocolatebars then I did before. When you’re eating less sugar in a complete day, you’ll be more susceptible for less sugary chocolate. Your tasting buds will be grateful for your decision!

When I moved to Koekelberg, two years ago, a friend and new neighbour offered me a box of pralines made by Frederic Blondeel. That must have been the best pralines I ever ate. When my boyfriend asked me recently to buy some pralines for the birthday of his mother, I thought about Frederic Blondeel. This chocolatier is situated two streets from my place and despite of having passed by many times, I had never entered the shop. So that’s where I went.

And then – the dramatical music grows in force – something changed in my life. The door of the factoryshop opened and I went inside. The odour of chocolate embraced me, it gave me a hug and lifted me to higher spheres. What an emotion. It was indescribable. I was trembling on my legs. This was it. This must have been the ultimate pleasure… – the dramatical music slowly fades out – I went outside with the pralines for my mother-in-law and a pile of chocolatebars for myself … (and my boyfriend).

If that isn’t a passionate chocolatier! Don’t forget that Chrononutrition recommends especially black chocolate. The pralines are also admitted, but with moderation or as a joker. And as Frederic Blondeel says (but not with these exact words): “The chocolate in the supermarket all tastes the same, if you want real taste, go to a specialist!” Since the day I chose for quality products, I enjoy much more the things I’m eating. Try it too!

What do you prefer as a snack? Is there some food you cannot ever leave behind? Do you have a favourite chocolatier or a brand of chocolate or other sweets? Tell us in a reaction!

To read more:

• What exactly is Chrononutrition?
• What is your ideal size?
• A chrono breakfast
• A chrono lunch (coming soon)

Sources:

Delabos, A. (2005). Mincir sur mesure grâce à la Chrononutrition. Rouen, Frankrijk: éditions Albin Michel.