Healthy Snack Swaps

I’m one of those odd people who doesn’t like fruit, of any kind, and am quite fussy about vegetables, although I’m getting better at that one.  The daft thing is though, that I like fruit flavoured things.  I like strawberry, raspberry, citrus flavours, I just don’t like the fruits themselves.  Sometimes it’s the texture (blueberries are like zits popping in your mouth), or the pips, or the smell, or in the case of bananas, there’s nothing right about those at all.

I am well aware that my snacking habits are very poor.  I like cake, and biscuits and crisps and sweets, although I’m usually quite good at moderating intake.  I am also well aware of the fact that I’m overweight, not particularly fit (and that’s another issue) and that as I get older my future self will not thank me for not looking after it properly.

So, today I’m starting an experiment. I read somewhere that you should taste something 21 times before you can actually determine whether or not you like it. I’m going to pick a fruit and make myself eat it for 21 days.   I’ve chosen the strawberry to start with.  Mainly because they often come in handy 100g sized pots.

The humble strawberry is a good source of vitamin C and manganese and contain vitamin B9 and potassium and are rich in antioxidants that may have benefits for heart health and blood sugar control.  A 100g serving of strawbs contains 32 calories and only 0.3grams of fat, are low in carbs and can help reduce spikes in glucose and insulin and can help in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/strawberries#benefits

In the interests of balanced research and reporting, the strawberry is not all as innocent as it might sound.  It can cause symptoms in people who have pollen-food allergy, causing itching and tingling in the mouth, hives, headaches and swelling of the lips, face, tongue or through.  They may also  interfere with thyroid gland function. As I already have chronic urticaria, it will be interesting to see if they affect that in any way, as I’ve just read that one of the things to avoid is strawberries!  Oops. https://www.healthline.com/health/ciu/foods-to-eat-and-avoid

Day 1: I purchased a 100g pot of strawbs.  Thought to myself “what the heck are you doing?  You know you don’t like them?  What a waste of money”.  Then the other part of my brain kicked in and said “Do it, and tell yourself that you do like them.  Finish the pot.”  There were about 8 or 9 stawbs in the pot, some bigger than others that would require biting in two, some that could be shoved in as they were.  I had them as my mid-morning snack. The first few that I popping in whole, I automatically screwed my face up. An instinctive reaction based on my previous assumed dislike.  When I consciously noticed myself doing it, I then tried to consciously not do it.  With 1 strawberry left, I made a concerted effort to not screw my face up. I made it.  I got through the whole pot.  Admittedly, some of them were followed with a swift swig of coffee.  They left a weird acidic type feeling in my mouth and around my teeth.  However, I did not feel any additional itchiness. I have told C all about it so that he can keep me accountable to it, and I’ll need to purchase some more.

Won’t stop me from eating cake though!