Have you ever noticed that you can find all sorts of foods in the supermarket that have the word "snack" in their name or are otherwise labeled as snacks? But what are snacks, and what is snacking? Are snacks healthy? Can you make your own healthy snack?
Table of contents
1. What is snacking?
First, it makes sense to define the term snacking, as there are numerous studies dedicated solely to this definition. In this article, we define snacking as eating outside of the three main meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner [1]. Furthermore, we mean small snacks, i.e., handy bites that are ideal for you as a high performer in the office, at the sports field, or on the go, and are designed to satisfy a small hunger and provide you with functional nutrients.
Take-Home Message #1: Snacking is eating between the three main meals of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For those who are short on time, snacks are especially important outside of the home.
2. Is snacking healthy? What does research say?
The reason so many scientists are concerned with defining snacking is primarily due to the negative connotations associated with the term "snacks." You probably also think of carbohydrate-rich, high-fat, and therefore unhealthy foods when you hear the term "snacks." Snacks can also be healthy bites or fitness snacks, which are by no means unhealthy [2]. For athletes, for example, who burn significantly more calories and therefore need to consume more, small snacks are an important part of their diet [3].
According to psychologists, the unhealthy aspect of snacking is often the habit that comes with it. Therefore, anyone exhibiting unhealthy snacking behavior should become aware of their habitual patterns and try to reverse them into a healthy one [4]. Such patterns do exist. Switching to healthy alternatives to chocolate bars and the like can make a significant difference. The frequency with which people eat small snacks alone does not necessarily change BMI. It depends much more on what we eat as a snack. Interestingly, it can be observed that women are more likely to choose healthy snacks, while men prefer unhealthy options [5].
Snacking doesn't have to be unhealthy. Quite the opposite: it can even promote a healthier diet, as energy intake doesn't have to occur solely within the three main meals. It has been observed that athletes who participate in energy-intensive sports, in which both strength and endurance play a role, often rely on high-fat foods to even meet their daily energy requirements. Think of ice hockey players or American football players, for example, who are required to perform short, explosive, and powerful movements over a relatively long period of time (a football game often lasts more than 3 hours). This is because fat provides around twice as much energy as proteins or carbohydrates. In order to consume the same number of calories with a low-fat diet, you have to eat considerably more. This works best if you plan a carbohydrate-rich yet healthy snack between each of your three main meals and complement it with protein snacks, for example [3].
Take-Home Message #2: Snacking is neither healthy nor unhealthy per se. Whether we prefer unhealthy or healthy snacks depends largely on our habits. For some athletes who have high energy needs but want to achieve them with a low-fat diet, snacking is a good option.
3. Are there right and wrong snacks?
What about you? When you're out and about and suddenly get hungry, what do you reach for? Are there right and wrong snacks?
In principle, the same health rules apply to small snacks as to the foods we eat at our main meals. High sugar, high trans fat content (such as in chips and other fried foods), too much salt, and too few vitamins and proteins: Even with small, takeaway snacks, you should definitely be careful about what you eat.
Why sugar inhibits your performance
But you should also consider the benefits. Sometimes you need a quick energy boost to get you going in no time, make the journey home easier after a strenuous workout, or increase your performance before a workout. Those who exercise have a clear advantage. Some of the excess salt is sweated out, and the energy from the sugar is burned quite quickly. But be careful: sugar is and remains bad for your teeth and causes insulin levels to skyrocket. You also shouldn't rely too heavily on exercise. Those who want to lose weight should definitely avoid sweet and fatty foods after exercise, as the body draws on and burns down its fat reserves when there is a calorie deficit [6]. Even then, light snacks are recommended.
But are there truly healthy alternatives? Bananas, for example, are widely popular among athletes. They're perfect as a snack between breakfast and lunch [3], as well as before, during, or after exercise, as they provide plenty of carbohydrates, are rich in electrolytes, and generally don't sit too heavily on the stomach. Bananas are also perfect as a meal-on-the-go: they're naturally optimally packaged and, much to the benefit of the environment, come without external packaging [7].
Pulses form a solid foundation for any diet. They are packed with important nutrients. This group includes lentils, peas, beans, and peanuts. These are followed by the food group vegetables. Only then is fruit on the list, followed in turn by oatmeal and other whole grain products [7].
Take-Home Message #3: Make sure your snack provides the right nutrients you need. Whether it's a light snack on the go or one meant to give you energy before, during, or after exercise, too much added sugar, too much salt, and too much fat aren't good for your health in the long run, even if you're exercising. A perfect snack that requires no preparation is a banana. Otherwise, pulses should be your new go-to snack: they're the best food group from a health perspective.
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4. Make your own healthy snacks
A banana is the perfect snack for those who like bananas but don't have the time or inclination to prepare snacks for home or on the go. But do you have to buy healthy snacks? If you like to prepare meals in advance, you can also include light snacks for on the go in your meal planning.
Hummus is a delicious, healthy snack for on the go. Thanks to its chickpea base (a legume), it contains many important minerals, carbohydrates, and protein. Hummus also keeps longer when unrefrigerated than a dip made from dairy or meat products, making it ideal for on-the-go consumption. It also contains healthy vegetable fats. Unfortunately, the ready-made hummus varieties in the supermarket often contain quite a lot of sugar, and sugar is known to contain only energy and no other nutrients. Furthermore, sugar is not filling [8]. To avoid consuming too much sugar, you can easily make your own hummus. This also opens up the possibility of perfectly adapting the hummus to your individual taste, for example, with chili powder or cardamom. For a lunchtime snack on the go, you can then cut some vegetables into strips, as hummus is ideal for dipping all kinds of vegetables.
For those with a sweet tooth—or at least a non-savory one—there are also delicious homemade options. Cookies made from oatmeal and (unsweetened) peanut butter are quick to prepare and provide you with energy and important nutrients. You can add raisins or dried berries to your taste. This makes them a sugar-free alternative for cookie lovers, which also provides many important nutrients and doesn't raise insulin levels too much. These cookies are the ideal snack for on the go!
Take-Home Message #4: If you want something more than just a banana between meals, you can quickly and easily prepare: Hummus, made from chickpeas, contains many important minerals and carbohydrates. There's also good news for cookie lovers: Oatmeal and peanut butter make quick, easy snacks for between meals!
Conclusion
So snacking in itself isn't necessarily unhealthy. Rather, it depends on the snacks we eat, because snacking is a matter of habit. If you often rely on legume products or prepare them yourself, for example in the form of hummus, you've already taken a big step toward healthy snacking. This is great for dipping with healthy vegetables. If you don't have the time or inclination to prepare anything, you can simply turn to the favorite fruit of many athletes: the banana. It contains important nutrients, provides us with a reliable source of energy, and comes in environmentally friendly, natural packaging – much better than the foil and bags you find with gummy bears, chips, and chocolate bars.
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INDIVIDUAL REFERENCES:
[1] Potter, M.; Vlassopoulos, A.; Lehmann, U. (2018) Advances in Nutrition, Vol. 9, Issue 2, March 2018. Snacking Recommendations Worldwide: A Scoping Review. [ https://academic.oup.com/advances/article/9/2/86/4969255# ]
[2] Hess, JM; Slavin, JL (2018) Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota. Physiology & Behavior, Vol. 193, September 1, 2018, p. 284-287. The benefits of defining “snacks”.
[3] Benardot, D. (2018) Human Kinetics. Advanced Sports Nutrition . [ https://books.google.de/books?id=GO96DwAAQBAJ&lpg=PT19&ots=IXGy3W6u2Z&dq=snacking%20in%20sports&lr&hl=de&pg=PT399#v=onepage&q=snack&f=false ]
[4] Verhoeven, ACA; Adriaanse, M.A.; Evers, C.; de Ridder, DTD (2012) The British Psychological Society. British Journal of Health Psychology, Vol. 17, Issue 4, November 2012. The power of habits: Unhealthy snacking behavior is primarily predicted by habit strength. [ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8287.2012.02070.x ]
[5] Hartmann, C.; Siegrist, M.; van der Horst, K. (2013) The Nutrition Society. Public Health Nutrition, Vol. 16, Issue 8, August 2013, pp. 1487-1496. Snack frequency: associations with healthy and unhealthy food choices. [ https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/snack-frequency-associations-with-healthy-and-unhealthy-food-choices/888B1F635485431C612DE19B4BC9442D ]
[6] West, J.S.; Guelfi, K.J; Dimmock, YES; Jackson, B. (2018) The University of Western Australia, School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sports Science), Perth. Nutrients 2918, Vol. 10, Issue 12. Preliminary Validation of the Exercise-Snacking Licensing Scale: Rewarding Exercise with Unhealthy Snack Foods and Drinks . [ https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/12/1866/htm ]
[7] Schek, A. (2018) BoD – Books on Demand. Top Nutrition in Sports. [ https://books.google.de/books?hl=de&lr=&id=MGZ7DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=nach+sport+energie&ots=67IpvkcoHu&sig=7X1r_xaVzHTIUkWA90CEOyy0iGk#v=snippet&q=nach%20sport&f=false ]
[8] Wenzel, S. (2018) Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart/New York. Nutrition & Medicine 2018, Vol. 33, Issue 4, pp. 184-186. The Nutrition Compass. [ https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/a-0755-4147 ]
