Snack for All-day Energy

Sentenced to a day of hard labor? Bag the big lunch break. University of Montana researchers found that men work harder and longer when they eat small snacks all day long instead.

In the study, firefighters who grazed on small portions of easy-to-eat foods completed 25% more work during a 10-12 hour shift than when they ate the same number of calories in a large midday meal.

People in physically demanding jobs need a consistent supply of glucose and other nutrients. If this supply comes all at once blood rushes to the gut to help digest the food. This temporarily reduces the blood supply to the rest of the body, which means the muscles can't work as efficiently. Snacks need less energy to digest so less blood rushes to the gut, which allows it to be used by working muscles and should mean the snackers are able to work harder.