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We are often told not to eat between meals, and snacking is widely believed to be unhealthy. But, as usual, when it comes to food, temptation prevails.
Snacking is very common and getting more common. For example, in the early 1970s, American adults consumed approximately 18% of their calories in the form of snack foods. By 2010, it had rose to 23%. Similar figures were recorded in the UK, Brazil and Norway.
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Considering how common snacking is, it would be nice to know if the accepted beliefs are true. But research on the health effects of snacks has produced different results than a dog’s dinner. Some studies have found that, as expected, snacking can have negative health effects. but others have found the opposite.
To get a clearer picture, earlier this year, Sarah Berry She is also the chief scientist of the Zoe nutrition app at King’s College London, where she and her colleagues, Reanalyze data They came together as part of an experiment conducted in 2018 and 2019, in which about 850 participants recorded everything they ate over two to four days and when. They were also tested for a range of cardiovascular health indicators, such as blood lipids and blood sugar levels.
