How Your Snacking Habits Affect Weight Loss and Health
To snack or not to snack, that is the question
Snacking is an integral part of daily eating habits for many, often contributing significantly to our total daily caloric intake. Understanding how snacking affects our health is crucial, especially in the context of performance nutrition and cardiometabolic health.
A recent study by Bermingham et al. in the UK PREDICT 1 cohort sheds light on the complex relationship between snacking habits and cardiometabolic health outcomes.
Some key findings from the study:
Prevalence of Snacking: The study, involving 1002 participants, found that a staggering 95% of them engaged in snacking, averaging 2.28 snacks per day. These snacks constituted about 24% of their daily caloric intake.
By the way, “snacking” was defined as anything consumed 30 minutes after or before the main meal, otherwise it was categorised as an appetiser or dessert.Snack Quality Matters: Interestingly, while the frequency and quantity of snacks didn't show a significant association with cardiometabolic risk markers, snack quality did. Poorer snack quality was linked to higher levels of fasting triglycerides, postprandial triglycerides, fasting insulin, insulin resistance, and reported hunger levels. More on this in just a moment.
Timing of Snacks: Another surprising finding was the association of late-evening snacking (post 9 pm) with lower blood markers like HbA1c, glucose, and triglycerides compared to snacking at other times of the day.
A deeper dive into the research
The study also found that those who snacked on high-quality foods carried less body fat. This included those that ate lower quality meals but chose to snack on higher quality foods. However, the same was not true for those that chose higher quality meals but ate poorer quality snacks.
Interestingly, those that snacked on high quality foods also had less body fat that those who didn’t snack at all!
Some patterns they also noticed were:
Nuts and seeds were the most frequently consumed high-quality snacks with cakes and other highly processed desserts falling into the other end of the spectrum.
Participants who ate lower-quality snacks reported more hunger and had higher levels of fasting insulin.
Among participants who were classified as overweight, higher-quality snacks were associated with less hunger and lower insulin, however these correlations weren’t seen in those with a “normal” BMI.
People who snack in the morning, consuming over half of their daily snack calories before noon, generally opted for snacks that are both healthier and lower in calories. This contrasts with those who snack in the evening, typically after 6 p.m., tend to choose snacks that are higher in calories. We can blame Nertflix there.
Choosing healthier snacks
There is a difference between “healthy snacking” and “low calorie snacking” and understanding this may be the difference between slamming down 450 extra calories and staying in a deficit.
With all that said, lets look at some great examples of “healthy” but high calorie foods:
Avocados
Nuts and nut butters
Coconut oil
Olive oil
Dates
Bananas
On the other hand, here are some higher volume foods that may help as “fillers” in between meals keeping you in energy balance:
Watermelon
Berries
Rice cakes
Carrot sticks
Boiled eggs
Conclusion
The study highlights the importance of not just how often we snack, but what we choose to snack on. Snack quality, more than quantity or frequency, plays a critical role in influencing our cardiometabolic health.
Additionally, the timing of snacking, especially late evening, appears to have a unique impact on health markers. These findings emphasize the need for dietary guidelines to focus not just on main meals but also on the quality and timing of snacks for better health outcomes.
References
Bermingham KM, May A, Asnicar F, Capdevila J, Leeming ER, Franks PW, et al. Snack quality and snack timing are associated with cardiometabolic blood markers: the ZOE PREDICT study. Eur J Nutr. 2023 Sep 15.
