If you’re someone who loves to snack, you’re not alone.
Many people, over 70% to be exact, report snacking at least two times a day.
But does it matter what type of snacks we eat? And when we eat them?
Good Snacks vs Bad Snacks
A recent study, involving over 1,000 people, looked at how snacking affects our health.
Kate Bermingham, a researcher from King’s College London, found out that it’s not really about how often we snack, but what we snack on.
In simple terms: better quality snacks are good for us while highly processed snacks? Not so much.
When Should You Snack?
Bermingham also found that the time of day we snack matters. Eating snacks late at night? Not a great idea for our health.
Why This Study Matters
This study was a part of a bigger research project called ZOE PREDICT. This project wants to find out why people react differently to the same foods.
Even though snacking is popular and makes up about 20-25% of our daily energy, there isn’t much information on how it affects our health.
By studying over 1,000 people from the UK, researchers got a closer look at snacking habits.
They found that good quality snacks, or those rich in nutrients but not too high in calories, are linked with better health signs like good blood fat and insulin levels.
But snacking late in the evening? That can lead to higher blood sugar and bad blood fat levels. The surprising part? How often we snack and the amount we eat doesn’t seem to impact these health signs.
To sum it up, Bermingham says that focusing on the quality of our snacks can be a simple change to make our diets healthier. So next time you reach for a snack, think about choosing something nutritious!
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity, and natural blood pressure controllers: 12 foods that lower blood pressure.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about diet to fight diabetic eye damage, and results showing these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
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