Healthy eating on the go | 3 tasty tips!

Food on the go ...Who also always forgets to bring something healthy from home and relies on petrol stations?

The article below appeared in the magazine TVM current.
Text: Jaap Stalenburg

Incorrect food on the road can also lead to accidents. So says Amsterdam health coach Ralph Moorman, well known from the media. His urgent advice is to steer clear of the obtrusively presented candy offers at petrol station checkouts. 

In today's times, it is far from easy to healthy dietary choices make. On every street corner and at almost every activity you do, you are tempted with beckoning commercials of sweets, snacks and soft drinks. If you are on the road all day, this becomes even more difficult, especially if you go out unprepared. There are simply no supermarkets and health shops along the highway. With poor planning, chances are you will end up in a fast-food restaurant or sometimes worse: buying food at the petrol station.

The petrol station

Anyone who is often on the road will recognise it. You've been in the car for hours and you're on the late side. You start to get hungry. But the distance to your destination is too long not to eat. So what do you do, pop into a petrol station quickly, you can fill up straight away. Taking a turn further on and looking for a supermarket is then a step too far. However, the choice at the petrol station is between crisps, chocolate, deep-fried snacks and the pre-filled white bread sandwiches that are stiff with preservatives and have virtually no nutritional value.

If you are lucky, there are some pre-cut apple slices and candy carrots somewhere, but they are not going to satisfy the craving. Aha, there are cashews there. Let's take those then, because nuts are healthy right? But you didn't realise that a bowl of cashew nuts contains more than 1,000 kilocalories and that this can add up quite a bit without you noticing. But then you're not there yet. You still have to pay, and yes, the pump attendant did his job just fine. Are you still interested in the offer, sir? Of course, because you can't pass up three chocolate bars for two euros, can you? Next time there's the organic fruit and vegetable sweets offer at the till, right? Strangely, every time you come in on the wrong day... By the way, eating the snacks goes fantastically well in the trolley. Thoughtlessly you eat on in complete anonymity and when you arrive at your destination, all that's left is an empty cashew nut container and three crumpled chocolate shells on the passenger seat.

Unhealthy food on the go: Lustless cranky feeling

If you don't make sure you prepare for the working day, you are "ready to lose". The obesogenic environment of the highway reigns supreme when your blood sugar starts dropping and you don't have self-brought alternatives. Low blood sugar is unrelenting. It produces a listless cranky feeling that needs to be resolved as soon as possible. On autopilot, you are drawn to sweet-tasting snacks, which temporarily solve the problem. Yes, temporarily, because by pushing the blood sugar up arrow-fast with a sugar bomb, the body will strongly anticipate this and a little later for a blood sugar dip worries. Then the problem starts all over again. An unstable blood sugar is something you actually want to avoid at all costs. It undermines your energy levels. In addition, low blood sugar can reduce concentration on the road, which can compromise safety.

Healthy food on the go: Feeling satiated

1. So it is definitely advisable to bring meals from home. Wholemeal spelt bread with savoury toppings will allow blood sugar to rise slowly, not presage a blood sugar dip and provide a prolonged feeling of satiety.
2. A bowl of homemade salad can also help, especially if it is also filling by adding fibre-rich carbohydrate sources such as brown rice, potato, or legumes.
3. In addition, make sure there is also fruit and unroasted nuts (handful) as snacks in the trolley and enough water to drink.

So take the responsibility into your own hands and make your preparations. Good luck!