Snacking: Is it for the Birds?
Spring has sprung on the East Coast and the birds are out in full force spending all day foraging for worms and seeds to eat. A typical bird eats between ½ and ¼ of its weight each day to meet its needs. They are in constant pursuit of food.
If you listen to snack food advertising, you’d think we were supposed to eat like birds, searching for food most of our waking hours. To make things worse, most snack food advertising is for highly processed items intentionally designed to be as addictive as possible.
Snacking as entertainment.
Cookies, crackers, chips, ice cream, granola bars, baked goods, popcorn, juices, soda and microwaveable snacks like Hot Pockets are designed for short term pleasure – not long term nutrition. They are intentionally habit forming. High amounts of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, as well as chemical additives are meant to excite the taste buds – not nourish the body.
More reasons people snack:
Bored
High stress
Long commute
TV
Little time to cook
Depression
Bad habits are hard to break
Unaware of health consequences
Food deserts
Blast from the past.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t so long ago when parents actively discouraged snacking. Kids were often told:
You’ll ruin your appetite!
Snacking will make you fat (Fung, 2016).
Past generations were raised with the idea that the kitchen was closed after dinner. Period. Few argued with the rule. Maybe our grandmothers and great grandmothers knew what they were doing. That common sense wisdom is now lost in a sea of advertising.
Studies now show a link between the timing of eating and weight gain. Circadian rhythms play a role in our overall health. In one study, rodents fed when they were supposed to be asleep gained weight while rodents fed the same diet during their normal waking hours maintained a healthy weight. While rodents are not people, late night snacking is probably not a good idea for us either (Arble, Laposky & Vitaterna et al., 2009).
In a study of adults, it was discovered that participants had a better chance of picking a healthy snack like a fruit or vegetable during the day. After the sun goes down, snack choices usually deteriorated (Barrington & Beresford, 2019). Past generations were right to strongly discourage late-night munching.
We used to eat 3 meals a day
As we know, not all food from the 1960s and 70s was healthy. Afterall, it was the age of TV dinners, Tang, white bread and oreo cookies. And yet obesity rates were nowhere near where they are today. What gives? Well, back then, most people still ate three meals a day with little snacking – and certainly not after dinner. Less snacking meant that for a good part of the day insulin levels stayed in a healthy range. Contrast that today with the fact many people seem to be constantly grazing. Snacking during the day keeps insulin levels elevated which increases the likelihood of insulin resistance, a step on the road to diabetes.
As late as 1977, most people were only eating three times a day. But by 2003 most people were eating at least 5-6 times a day (Fung, 2016).
The role of insulin
Until recently, many dieticians recommended that we eat 5-6 times a day in order to keep blood sugar levels “stable.” But that thinking is illogical because the body knows how to maintain stable blood sugar levels without constantly eating. If it didn’t, we would not have survived as a species during periods of human history when food was scarce or required hunting or gathering. Furthermore, most people don’t get up at night to snack. While we sleep, the body breaks down glycogen, a form of stored glucose.
For most people, it is best to eat 2-3 meals a day rather than repeatedly throughout the day. When we eat, our insulin levels go up. Insulin sends a message to the body to store fat. Ideally, we want periods of time during the day without big spikes in insulin. This is especially true for anyone with type 2 diabetes (Kahleova, Belinova & Malinska et al., 2014). Elevated insulin levels prevent weight loss.
The role of schools
Sadly, our schools often encourage the worst kind of snacking. Public schools generally aren’t allowed to offer snacks that don’t come in a wrapper, increasing the chances that it is highly processed and unhealthy. Children tend to eat more high-calore, low-nutrient snacks such as sugary beverages, chips and french fries in schools that promote vending machines, snack bars and a-la-carte cafeteria options (Briefel, Crepinsek &, Cabili, et al., 2009).
The role of government
Since the Great Depression, the government has subsidized certain crops, including wheat, corn, soy and sugar– the raw materials for many highly processed, unhealthy snack foods. In the ideal world, so-called specialty crops such as fruits and veggies would receive the same kind of assistance as well as airtime on TV and top billing in school lunches.
Farmers have become very efficient at growing wheat, corn, and soy. As a result, since 1980 there has been an estimated daily surplus of 600 calories for each person in the country. A good way to “sell” those surplus calories is by making us believe we should snack several times a day. (Pollan, 2008).
Yeah, but around 3 pm my stomach starts to rumble!
Good for you! That means your migrating motor complex is working as intended. It is like a little street sweeper that cleans up debris in the small intestines from previous meals. Allowing that complex to operate is important. A healthy migrating motor complex means less chance for fermented food particles to cause gas, bloating, and possible weight gain. If we are constantly eating, the migration motor complex can’t take out the trash and we run the risk of harmful bacteria setting up shop in our small intestines (Sarna, 2021).
Practical ideas for hard-core snackers:
Don’t be hard on yourself!
Start by eliminating all after dinner snacking including alcohol
Next, eliminate all sweetened beverages such as soda (including diet), flavored teas, and juice
If you truly need a snack during the day, pick something not advertised on TV. Consider an apple and a handful of almonds or carrots and humus. These kinds of snacks can be easily prepared at home and brought to work or school. Whole food snacks are high in nutrients, including fiber. It may take time to re-acclimate your taste buds to the subtle flavors of whole foods – but it will happen!
While most people don’t need to snack, exceptions include:
Pregnant women
Underweight individuals
The very ill
Children
People with a history of eating disorders
Athletes
People with diabetes, especially type 1
Resources:
Arble, D. M., Bass, J., Laposky, A. D., Vitaterna, M. H., & Turek, F. W. (2009). Circadian timing of food intake contributes to weight gain. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 17(11), 2100–2102. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2009.264
Barrington, W. E., & Beresford, S. (2019). Eating Occasions, Obesity and Related Behaviors in Working Adults: Does it Matter When You Snack?. Nutrients, 11(10), 2320. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11102320
Briefel, R. R., Crepinsek, M. K., Cabili, C., Wilson, A., & Gleason, P. M. (2009). School food environments and practices affect dietary behaviors of US public school children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(2 Suppl), S91–S107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2008.10.059
Kahleova, H., Belinova, L., Malinska, H., Oliyarnyk, O., Trnovska, J., Skop, V., Kazdova, L., Dezortova, M., Hajek, M., Tura, A., Hill, M., & Pelikanova, T. (2014). Eating two larger meals a day (breakfast and lunch) is more effective than six smaller meals in a reduced-energy regimen for patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomised crossover study. Diabetologia, 57(8), 1552–1560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-014-3253-5
Pollan, M.. (2008) In Defense of Food. Penguin Books: New York.
Sarna, S. (2021) Healing SIBO. Avery: New York.
Disclaimer
The included information is not meant to or should not be used to replace or substitute medical treatment, recommendations, or the advice of your physician or health care provider. The information contained within is strictly for educational purposes and is based on evidence-based nutrition. If you believe you have a medical problem or condition, please contact your physician or healthcare provider.