As a nutritionist, I am often talking about healthy snacking with my clients. The goal of healthier snacking is to reduce sugar intake, boost fiber and protein, and increase disease fighting phytonutrients (fight with color!). By doing this, you are helping to stabilize blood sugar and achieve optimal and healthy weight.
But the question here is... is snacking actually good for you? The research is mixed. Higher sugar snacking (sweets, sodas) is associated with obesity, while higher quality snacks (nuts, fruit) is associated with healthy weight. In some studies, overall snacking is associated with greater BMI and body weight but a causal relationship is not established.
Snacking is on the rise, due to cultural trends, marketing and food industry growth, it is estimated that for some youth, 30% of their daily calories are derived from snacks. Snacking in teenagers leads to a greater likelihood of skipping meals. We live in a time of excess food availability. Decreasing children’s exposure to unhealthy snacks has been shown to increase fruit and vegetable consumption.The mixed research may be in part because some people eat 4-5 small meals a day while others eat 3 regular size meals with 2-3 snacks. The the line between snack and meal is sometimes not well defined.
Athletes and folks who exercise, can benefit from a high carb snack ormeal before an endurance workout and a higher protein snack or meal after a strength training workout.
It is OK to feel a little hungry between meals. It is a natural and healthy response to intermittently fasting. Eating at regular times, 3 times a day provides healthy cues to your biological clock which improves sleep quality and overall immune health. Like exercise, fasting between meals provides a healthy “stress” on your body that allows your body to enhance physiological function to adapt to the stressor. These benefits include improved cardiovascular, learning, memory and cognitive health.
It is important to listen to your body and learn what works best for you.
My philosophy is progress not perfection.
Good – choose healthy snacks
Better – eat 3 meals a day and snack IF
you are an athlete
you are growing
you are pregnant or b-feeding
you get hypoglycemic
you have have increase energy demands i.e work outdoors all day
Best – Provide healthy meal structure and listen to your body, eat when you are belly hungry and stop when you are satiated
Now let's make a list of some healthy snacks. If people are going to snack, let’s make every bite count for health.
How do you know if it is a healthy snack?
You won’t feel hungry or headachy and tired 1 hour later
The snack is made from whole foods
There are no unrecognizable ingredients on the label
There is no added sugar or artificial sweeteners in the list of ingredients
In the image below, I have laid out some of my favorite healthy snacks.
Banana with almond butter
Rx Bar (made from whole foods - eggs, nuts, dates)
Chickpeatos or Good Bean (dried chickpeas)
Clementine
Sea snax, roasted sea vegetable
Hard-boiled egg
Ryvita crackers with baba ganoush or veggie spread
Cut veggies (Peppers, cucumbers, celery, carrots) with hummus
Dang unsw. toasted coconut flakes
Kale chips, Brad’s or make your own
Plantain chips with pesto
1 oz raw unsalted nuts or seeds
Mary’s Gone Crackers brand pretzels
Rice cakes with almond or peanut butter
RAW garden of life protein powder mixed with unsweetened almond milk
Baked tofu, recipe
6 oz whole fat, plain yogurt with fruit
Aloha bar
Chapelot, D. (2011). The role of snacking in energy balance: a biobehavioral approach. J Nutr, 141(1), 158-162. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.114330
Collier, R. (2013). Intermittent fasting: the science of going without. Cmaj, 185(9), E363-364. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.109-4451
O’Connor, L., Brage, S., Griffin, S. J., Wareham, N. J., & Forouhi, N. G. (2015). The cross-sectional association between snacking behaviour and measures of adiposity: the Fenland Study, UK. Br J Nutr, 114(8), 1286-12
Comments