Snack Choices

The phrase “having a snack” is part of our culture. We all snack, and we all have our favorites. Whether it’s a morning coffee break or that mid-afternoon nosh to hold you over until dinner, making sure you’re not hungry is actually part of a being healthy. As with other strategies for eating better, planning your snacks is the key.

This doesn’t mean that you need to map out each snack you are going to have, or when and where you are going to take a break (although that would help). However, being forearmed with a few facts about snacking can prevent you from eating things you might want to avoid.

One of the most interesting aspects of snacking is that people are either sweet snackers or salty snackers. This is pretty straightforward--you are likely partial to either sweets or salty/savory snacks. Recognizing this about yourself makes a big difference in choosing what to snack on. (Some folks cross over and like both--either separately or together.)

For instance, one research study showed that fruit lovers eat sweet snacks more often, while people who expressed a preference for veggies were salty snack eaters. (Appetite 2006 47: 107–110) Knowing this about yourself makes it easy to opt for a healthier alternative. If you like sweet snacks, keep your cupboard full of healthier choices like apples, oranges, raisins and other fruits.

Patients have said to me, “But Doc, I really love chocolate!” So do I, and the key is to have small portions of great-quality chocolate on hand that’s delicious and satisfying. Rich chocolate that’s satisfying in small amounts is the healthy option.

Interestingly, sweet snackers are just as satisfied eating apples as they are chocolate. In one study, women were asked to eat an apple, a piece of chocolate or nothing in a random fashion for a period of 6 weeks. When the researchers monitored the women's moods 30 minutes after snacking, they found that the effect on hunger was similar for each type of food. (Chocolate did have a slight edge.) The subjects' moods were very different, however. Ninety minutes later, they felt much guiltier about eating the chocolate than the apple. Interestingly, eating the apple resulted in the same feelings of guilt as eating nothing. (Appetite 2006; 46: 332-336)

What about salty/savory snackers? There are many good strategies. Even though I am not a fan of snack foods, solid testing of products like Cheetos has shown that air is a good thing. People consume fewer calories when they choose snacks that have a high volume and are less calorie dense. (Appetite 2007: 48; 351-358) Popcorn is a great choice; the 100-calorie microwave popcorn that's on the market is filling, satisfying, has a lot of fiber and should be in every salty snacker’s pantry.

If you are a sweet snacker, keep your fridge full of fruit: apples, oranges, pears and grapes. Dried fruit is also a great choice, and having raisins and apricots in your cupboard makes sense. If you are a salty snacker, nuts are a healthy choice. Many studies show that eating nuts instead of carbohydrate-heavy snacks doesn’t result in weight gain. This is the case even when you eat nuts with a higher level of calories. We also know that eating nuts improves cholesterol profiles. Keep almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans and other nuts on hand for your snacking.

Snacking is OK, and can help you to lose pounds and maintaining a healthy weight. Choose your snacks in advance and keep them on hand and make your snack time work for you.

Timothy S. Harlan, M.D., a.k.a. Dr. Gourmet

LiveStrong Advisory Board Member

Drgourmet.com