I do actually go for carrots and broccoli before apples and bananas quite often. I like them a lot. Often I end up eating just a few raisins before it's time for my next actual meal (which is balanced and full of veggies).
What are the more interesting and nutritious foods you're talking about? I would like to try them!
- low-fat/non-fat greek yogurt: http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?type=d...
- 1%-2% cottage cheese: http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?type=d...
- Smoked salmon
- Flaked tuna: http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?type=d... (great in salads)
Edit: Oh, and a good mix of vegetables is always good. Just watch that your fiber intake doesn't get out of control, since that can cause some digestive... issues.
If you're talking about satiety, then there is ample evidence that protein is much more effective than fats or carbohydrates in that regard: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18469287.
There's evidence that a low GI diet can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
This is technically true, but useless. A calorie, as you surely know, is a measure of increasing the temperature of water. Imagine cooking one pot on high, increasing the temperature as fast as possible, and another gradually over the course of hours, applying the same total increase in heat energy to both. Do you really think the contents would cook identically in both pots?
As leoedin eloquently described, glycemic index was what I meant; do the calories hit you gradually, or all at once? But biology is freakin' complex, so at some level these concepts are all just leaky abstractions.
It depends on your dietary goals and expected physical activity, bur personally, I'd reach for for some quinoa or make a lentil-based dish as a pre-run meal instead of nuts.
Do you have some cites for this? I've heard some of the dumbest damn things about water (like the 'eight glasses a day' myth) and it's hard to keep them all straight.
This is highly variable, of course. If you go out an run a 45 minute 10k, then you're going to need a lot more water than someone who has done minimal physical activity all day.
1. Water: Drinking water is, of course, necessary, and quite a few people don't actually hydrate enough during the course of a day. +1 on this from me.
2. Fruits/vegetables: Now, fruits and vegetables are an essential part of any well-balanced diet, but if you're using them to satisfy an intermittent craving, I'm guessing you're probably going to reach for fruits. The problem with this is that if you're reaching for that apple a few times a day, you're still ingesting ~25g of carbohydrates (~9% daily recommended intake), and ~100 kcal. Eat four apples (or similar fruits), and you've suddenly consumed 1/5th of your caloric requirements and almost 40% of your carbs. In terms of macronutrients, an apple has about the same nutritional value as an 8oz bottle of coke.
Now don't get me wrong. Reaching for an apple instead of a muffin or a cupcake is unarguably better.
If you're reaching for vegetables instead of fruits, then most of what I stated above doesn't really apply. However, when those food cravings come around it's usually in response to a drop in blood glucose levels, which makes you reach for carb-laden foods first.
3. Nuts. Sigh. I don't know why people think nuts are actually something that's supposed to exist in a well-balanced diet. Perhaps it's the recent popularity of paleo. Anyways. Yes, nuts do contain a high percentage of poly- and monounsaturated fats, and fat is good for you. No one is going to argue that. But for the same caloric cost (~150 kcal for a serving of almonds, and that's a pretty tiny serving), you can eat a whole lot of more interesting and nutritious foods. Again, I'm not saying that nuts are inherently bad.