Nutrition Diva's Rules for Snacking

I recently got an email from Gary, a long time podcast listener, asking how to decide whether or not a snack food can be considered healthy. He attached snapshots of several types of chips and crackers to his email.

“Is there a barometer that you use to rule a snack food in or out? I try to limit saturated fats, added sugars, sodium, and refined flours in my meals and snacks. These snacks all seem to be somewhat benign. But they are obviously processed. At what point do they cross over from a healthy snack to junk food?”

I had to laugh as I scrolled through the photos Gary sent because every single one of them is either in my cupboard right now or has been recently. Apparently, Gary and I have similar tastes in snacks!

Is this food healthy?

Over the years, I’ve received many variations on this question. Is this chip (or yogurt, or energy bar, or cookie, or sweetener, or whatever) better than that one? Whenever I’m trying to evaluate the healthfulness of a food, I have found it useful to ask 3 questions:

• How much are you eating?
• What are you eating it with?
• What are you not eating because you’re eating this instead?

What Foods Deserve to Be Labeled Healthy?

Let's tackle them one by one.

1. How much are you eating? 

Sometimes, we fall into the trap of thinking that we can eat more of something simply because it’s healthy (or healthier). So, if we select a tortilla chip that contains flax seed or a cookie that’s sweetened with honey or a bread that contains oat bran, we rationalize that we can have a larger serving or perhaps enjoy it more often.

A “healthy” snack may offer some nutritional advantages; it might have more fiber or omega-3s, for example. But it may not be lower in calories or sodium or sugar. (It might even be higher!) You’d still want to take a look at the Nutrition Facts label and consider how this food fits into your daily budget for these things. You’d also still want to pay attention to the portion size. For example, does that bag of whole grain chips contain one serving or three?

Biggest Nutrition Traps, Part 2: Quality v. Quantity

2. What are you eating it with? 

Individual foods also need to be considered in the context of other foods that are eaten with them. Sometimes we indulge in the a fantasy that one healthy choice cancels out an unhealthy one. Because the chips are dusted with spinach powder, we decide to go with the onion dip instead of bean dip or hummus. It’s the old “I’m having a diet soda so give me the large fries” thing.

I’m always likely to give a...

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