healthy snacks

How Big Are Your Snacks? Are They As Big As Lunch or Dinner?

September 3, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Do you get so hungry mid-morning or mid-afternoon that you grab whatever you can from a cart, vending machine, the snack room or fridge — and chow down?

if you do, you’re not alone. According to research, snacking, including drinking beverages at times other than during a regular meal,accounts for more than 25% of Americans’ calorie intake everyday. Snacking has turned into “a full eating event,” or a fourth meal, averaging about 580 calories each day.

Eating while you’re doing something else, called secondary eating, has also increased. Between 2006 and 2008, the amount of time we spend eating breakfast, lunch and dinner stayed at 70 minutes but secondary eating doubled from 15 minutes a day in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes in 2008. There was nearly a 90% jump in the time spent on secondary drinking: from 45 to 85 minutes. (Ever wonder why Starbuck’s is so crowded?)

There’s an increase in snacking across the board, but beverages account for 50% of snack calories. It’s way too easy to forget the calories in drinks. And, we spend about 12% of our total food money at the supermarket on packaged snacks.

What’s A Snack?

A snack shouldn’t be a fourth meal. Most recommendations are that a snack be between 150 and 200 calories and have some protein for both satiety and to help keep your blood sugar level stable. Some fiber in the snack helps keep you full.

Here are some examples – just be aware of portion sizes (for instance, don’t eat half a jar of peanut butter or a huge wedge of cheese):

Hummus with baby carrots or other vegetables
½ cup of low-fat cottage cheese with fruit or whole grain crackers
An apple, orange, peach, or grapes (or other fruit) with either ¼ cup almonds (or other nuts) or an ounce of cheese or a part skim cheese stick
Non-fat, unsweetened yogurt with ½ cup of whole grain cereal and/or fruit
A 12-ounce non-fat latte or cappuccino
Whole-grain crackers with peanut, nut, or seed butter
Trail mix with nuts, seeds, raisins, and cereal (cereal can cut down on the calories while increasing the volume – nuts are a high calorie food)
A whole grain (especially if it’s high fiber) English muffin or slice of toast and low-fat cream cheese or a slice of reduced fat (2%) cheese
A portion controlled serving of nuts

Smart Snacking Tips

Make sure your snack is 200 calories or less and has protein and fiber to help keep you full and satisfied.
100-calorie snack packages are usually processed and probably are not great for you choices. Check the ingredients, protein, and fiber content.
Beware of “healthy” or “halo-food” snacks like some sugary cereals, some sweetened, flavored yogurts, some so-called protein bars, yogurt-covered pretzels, and sports drinks.
Ask yourself if you’re snacking out of boredom, stress, or if you’re really hungry.
Don’t let yourself get so hungry that it’s impossible to control what and how much you have for a snack.
There are many choices. Pick snacks that you enjoy and can look forward to eating.
Keep healthy snacks in your desk drawer, your kitchen cabinet, or in your car so when you’re really hungry you have a good choice readily available. Otherwise it’s way too easy to succumb to the vending machine, newsstand, food truck, or the donut or apple fritter staring at you when you pay for your coffee.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Get my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms. Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.

How Many Calories Are In Different Kinds Of Nuts?

August 22, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Nuts are full of healthy fats and protein. They’re a great snack and can help tide you over until your next meal — but they’re also a high calorie food.

Be careful of portions — a serving size of most nuts is one ounce.

For a one ounce serving:

49 shelled pistachios, 162 calories
23 almonds, 169 calories
21 hazelnuts, 183 calories
18 cashews, 163 calories
19 pecans, 201 calories
14 English walnut halves, 185 calories
10-12 macadamias, 203 calories
39 peanuts (technically a legume), dry roasted, 170 calories

Are Your Snacks The Equivalent Of Another Meal?

May 17, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

We chow down on a lot of snack food — a quarter of our calories come from them!

Snacks account for more than 25% of Americans’ daily calorie intake; since the 1970s, snacks have accounted for around 580 calories a day — which basically turns them into “a full eating event,” or a fourth meal.

When And Where Do We Snack?

Americans average 2.3 snacks per day, snacking most frequently in the afternoon, evening and late at night.
Most people snack at home, 12% say they snack at work, 7% eat snacks while they travel from place to place
27% of Americans snack on impulse, 28% snack because they want a treat, and 14% eat snacks when they’re stressed or anxious
57% of people say it’s important that food and beverage snacks be healthy, the food and beverages mentioned the most were chips and soda.

How Many Calories?

Maybe we snack so much because multi-tasking has increased – think about how often you eat and drink while you’re doing something else.

Between 2006 and 2008, it took around 70 minutes to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Secondary eating, the kind you do while you’re working on the computer, driving, or walking down the street, doubled from 15 minutes in 2006 to nearly 30 minutes a day in 2008.

The time spent on secondary drinking jumped nearly 90% — from 45 to 85 minutes — which explains why beverages account for 50% of the calories we take in through snacking. (Ever wonder why Starbuck’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are so crowded?)

Are All Snacks Bad For You?

No. Research doesn’t support the idea that snacking is the main cause of obesity; for some people — like young children and older adults – snacks can be an important source of nutrients and calories.

Trying to go more than four hours without something to eat can make you so hungry that you’ll eat quantities of just about anything in sight. Eating a small meal or snack every 3 to 4 hours helps keep your metabolism revved up so you burn more calories over the course of a day and will help ward off mid-morning and afternoon slumps.

Thoughtful, planned snacking can keep you from feeling outrageously hungry, really grouchy, and can put the brakes on raiding the refrigerator or going on a buying spree at the nearest bakery.

What’s A Snack?

Almost 100% of Americans snack every day, but there isn’t a standard definition of what a snack is or what motivates us to snack. We “self-define,” leaving plenty of wiggle room to blur the line between what’s a snack and what’s a meal.

A snack shouldn’t be a fourth meal. An individual snack, like the one so many of us have mid-morning or mid-afternoon, is recommended to be between 150 and 200 calories, have at least 8 grams of protein for satiety and to keep your blood sugar stable, and at least 3 grams of fiber to fill you up. Keep the fat and sugar grams low.

Beware health halo foods – the so-called “healthy” snacks that are really a bunch of sugar and/or fat in disguise. These include a selection of (but not all) cereals, breakfast and protein bars, yogurt-covered anything (like raisins and pretzels), sports and energy drinks, smoothies, and frozen yogurt. Check labels. Most baked goods, chips, candy, and sugary drinks are occasional treats and not daily snacks.

If you’re not hungry, don’t snack. Ask yourself if you’re snacking because of hunger, habit, or some other reason – like boredom or anger.

Some Snack Choices

Pick snacks that taste good and you look forward to eating.

Some good choices:

Baby carrots (or other vegetables) and hummus.

Half a cup of cottage cheese with fruit or whole grain crackers.

An apple, orange, pear, peach, or grapes with ¼ cup of almonds or reduced-fat cheese or a low-fat cheese stick.

Whole-grain crackers, a slice of whole grain bread, or a banana with peanut butter.

Trail mix or a combination of nuts, seeds, raisins, and whole grain cereal. Be careful of portions, though – although they’re healthy, nuts are a higher calorie food.

A whole wheat or multi-grain English muffin with a small amount of nut or seed butter.

Low-fat or non-fat yogurt with raisins, a banana, or a small amount of whole grain cereal.

A 12 ounce skim latte or cappuccino.

This is the first post of week 4 of the lose a pound a week challenge. How are you doing? Let us know on Facebook.