How To Choose Healthy Snacks When Life Is Busy
Do you struggle to make healthy snack choices when you’re tired or busy? Wish you had more control over your snacking habits?
Then this post is for you ❤️
Snacking is something many of us do without thinking about it, but it can have a big impact on our overall health! In today's fast-paced world, snacking has become an integral part of our daily lives, and often these snacks are where we get a lot of our sugar intake from.
But should we be snacking at all?
If we snack, how can we choose foods that support our health and also taste good?
Snacks can be an important part of our diet (especially if we're very active), yet they also have the potential to help our nutrition, or to harm it - depending on the choices we make each day.
So please read on, as we explore the pros and cons of snacking, as well as some practical tips for choosing healthy snacks - to help you to become empowered to make choices that work for you!
Why we need to talk about snacking
Let's start with the obvious questions: Should you even snack at all? And why should we talk about it?
The answer is - its complicated! Factors like your daily routine, activity level, metabolism, and dietary needs all impact on whether you need to have snacks in your day - and everyone is different.
Snacking can be great when it serves a purpose, such as providing a quick energy boost between meals, fuelling our body for exercise, or preventing excessive hunger during the day. However, mindless or unhealthy snacking can also lead to weight gain and other health issues.
Children in particular are vulnerable to this, because snacks marketed to kids tend to be calorie-rich, highly sweetened, and nutrient-poor. Plus snack foods now make up over 40% of the diet of most Western children 😯
Excessive reliance on snacks is a common problem when people simply aren't eating enough at mealtimes for various reasons. They might be trying to lose weight, not taking lunch breaks, feeling too busy to stop and nourish their bodies, or stress is suppressing their appetite. But this ends up being counterproductive if the foods they snack on are poor quality, and less nutritious than the food at mealtimes!
Research shows the most common reasons for snacking are hunger, social/food culture, distracted eating, boredom, indulgence, and food insecurity. Marketing also plays a big role, as snack foods are some of the most heavily marketed foods in our culture. If this rings true with you, you’re not alone!
Ultimately here is no real right or wrong answer here. What’s important is being mindful of whether you need to snack, why you're snacking (is it hunger or habit?), and the type of snacks you choose.
Ideally, meals should be providing your main energy and nutrition, with snacks as needed, rather than as the main focus of your diet. This way you can ensure you're giving your body all the nutrients it needs, which is hard to do if you're mostly just eating snack foods. But it’s also absolutely fine to include snacks in your day if you’re eating regular balanced meals and need more nutrition (or alternatively if life is so busy you need to rely on snacks for a short time to get through - we all go through these stages!)
Why the type of snack you eat matters
Now, let's delve into the impact of snacks on health.
The type of snacks, as well as the frequency of snacking, are the two main factors to consider here. As you may have gathered already, not all snack foods are equal!
Unhealthy snacks are those which are often high in added sugars, saturated fats, and empty calories. They can contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes - and even malnutrition (lack of essential vitamins and minerals in our diet). These are most commonly prepackaged ultra-processed foods (UPF - foods that have been extensively processed from their natural form, and often contain high levels of sugar, salt, unhealthy fat and calories). But they can also include sweetened drinks, baked goods, or seemingly healthy snack foods such as muesli bars or crackers.
In fact, a University of Auckland report from 2019 (The State of the Food Supply), found that found that 69% of ALL of the 13,000+ packaged supermarket foods included in the survey were categorised as ultra-processed. Even more worryingly, in many product categories, between 85-100% of products were ultra-processed - including snack foods, bread products, meat alternatives, and sauces and dressings.
UPFs are a concern, as they are often very high in energy and unhealthy nutrients such as sodium and sugar, and low in beneficial nutrients like fibre and protein. They contain little or no whole foods and frequently have additives such as sweeteners, colours and flavours. They are easy to overeat and can end up displacing healthier, less-processed foods in our diet as a result.
And there’s growing evidence that eating a lot of UPFs is bad for your health. Strong associations have been found between high intake of UPF’s, and an increased risk of health issues, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, breast cancer and depression.
There are also emerging concerns that UPFs are addictive - triggering behaviours associated with addiction such as cravings, mood altering effects, and compulsive use.
To add to this, snack foods are responsible for up to 70% of excess salt in our diet, and a huge proportion of excess sugar - both of which are linked to poor health.
Research shows that over 70% of prepackaged foods in our supermarkets now contain added sugar, while the average daily sugar intake of people in Western countries can be up to 4 times the safe limit 😯 Most sugar in typical Western diets comes from sweetened drinks (24%), snacks and dessert foods (19%), and breakfast cereals (7%), while only 9% actually comes from lollies.
So the type of snack we choose really does matter!
The impact of snacking on our teeth
It's also important to mention the role snacking can have on our dental health.
Research shows that constantly grazing on snacks (even healthy ones such as dried fruit and whole grains) can have a potentially harmful effect on our teeth, contributing to tooth decay and damage.
Why?
When we eat or drink anything containing carbohydrates or sugars, the bacteria in our mouths feed on these sugars and produce acids as a byproduct. These acids drop the pH of our mouth (making it more acidic), which damages our enamel (the protective outer layer of our teeth), making our teeth more prone to attack from bacteria. Acidic foods and drinks can also drop the pH in our mouth, having a similar effect.
The saliva in our mouth naturally neutralises acids after around 10 minutes, but if we are snacking frequently, the pH in our mouth can stay too low, leading to cavities and tooth decay. And if these snacks are high in sugar, refined carbs, or are highly processed, it's double trouble….
So what can you do when you need an energy boost, and it's not quite mealtime?
Tips for healthier snack choices
Prioritise whole foods: Opt for whole, minimally processed foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. These provide lots of great nutrients without the excessive salt and sugar found in ultra-processed snacks.
Mindful label reading: Pay attention to nutrition labels. Foods with high sodium and added sugars should be avoided or limited. Ingredients like "high-fructose corn syrup" and "hydrogenated oils" indicate high fructose sweeteners and trans fats and again should be avoided if possible.
Homemade goodness: Consider making your snacks at home. This allows you to control ingredients and avoid hidden additives. Snacks like bliss balls, baking made using nut flours and natural sweeteners like fruit, or savory snacks like hummus, yoghurt, or seeded crackers can all be great go-to options.
Savor nutrient-dense snacks: Select balanced snacks rich in protein and fibre. Greek yogurt, hummus with veggies or seed crackers, or a handful of almonds provide satiety and nutritional value (or try almond butter on apple slices - its surprisingly good!). Bliss balls, roasted chickpeas, unflavored (or lightly salted) popcorn, and edamame beans are also great options you can get from your supermarket.
Prep your pantry: Preparation is key when it comes to healthy snacking! As we often tend to snack when we’re tired, busy, or rushing, the easier we make it for ourselves to choose healthy options, the more likely we are to eat well. Spend some time looking through your pantry or fridge when you get a spare moment, and use the above tips to take an honest look at what’s in there. Can you stock your shelves with better choices? Can you make it a habit at the start of the week to think of what snacks you’ll have, and either prep some home made options, or stock up with healthy options from the supermarket? Bulk cooking snacks that will keep well (such as crackers or roasted nuts), or can be frozen (such as bliss balls, slices, and many healthy baking treats) can also make the week easier!
Portion Control: Pre-portion your snacks to avoid mindless eating. This practice helps avoid excess calorie, salt, and sugar intake (it's very easy to eat more snacks than you intend otherwise!). Try serving up the portion you actually want to have, and then putting the rest away in the cupboard/fridge before you start eating (then pausing to think before you go back for seconds) can help you be more mindful of what and how much you eat. Often we eat out of habit rather than hunger, so mindful eating can really help when trying to change habits.
Hydration: Stay hydrated with water, herbal tea, or infused water. Adequate hydration can help curb unnecessary snacking, as thirst can be misinterpreted as hunger. It can also reduce the temptation to reach for sweetened drinks too, which can add up surprisingly quickly.
Diverse choices: Be adventurous and try some new healthy snack options - if you can find a diversity of healthy snacks you enjoy, you're far less likely to reach for the chips!! Recipe books, blogs, and social media accounts can all be great sources of inspiration. Food is meant to be enjoyed after all ❤️
And lastly, be kind to yourself. If you struggle with emotional eating or controlling snack intake (many of us do!), remember it's small gradual steps that count most, and not trying to be perfect all the time. It's still OK to have the occasional less-healthy snack if your overall diet is good! And often tackling one thing at a time is enough for most people - changing habits is a marathon, not a sprint 😉
To learn more about nutrition, and how to optimise your health with food, please check out our Nutrition or Reboot courses. In these we teach you all you need to know about food; healthy eating; balancing your diet; and enjoying it too - with over 60 whole food recipes to try from! We also have some great free snack recipes on our Free Stuff page if you want to get a taste.
They’re just what you need to get started with healthy food - and they’re dietician and doctor approved too - you can trust what you learn is the real deal ❤️
So please have a look, and get started on your journey to better health today!