A respected professor specialising in nutrition says making one simple alteration to your snacking habit can have a major impact on your health. Dr Sarah Berry, chief scientist at the Zoe health app, analysed the eating habits of more than 1000 people to understand the impact snacking could have on us.
And she said that, while the quality of what we snack on is vital, the time at which we snack can also have a significant health impact. Her research showed that people who snacked after 9pm tended to have ‘higher blood pressure, poorer insulin sensitivity, and higher blood cholesterol’.
Dr Berry said: “In more than 1000 individuals, we monitored the kind of foods that they were eating, the times that they were eating, and – in particular – we focused on their snacks.
“What we found was that the act of snacking – that is, eating between main meals – was not the problem. It was the choice of snacks. If you are hungry between meals and you select healthy snacks, it is not going to have an unfavourable effect on your health.
“What was really interesting was that we found the time of day that you snack matters, and if you snack after 9pm, we found that that was associated with higher blood pressure, poorer insulin sensitivity, and higher blood cholesterol – and that was regardless of the quality of the snack. Choosing healthy snacks and not snacking after 9pm were the key points from my research.”
According to the NHS, high cholesterol is when you have too much of a fatty substance called cholesterol in your blood. It is mainly caused by eating fatty food, not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol. It can also run in families.
It says: “You can lower your cholesterol by eating healthily and getting more exercise. Some people also need to take medicine. Too much cholesterol can block your blood vessels. It makes you more likely to have heart problems or a stroke. High cholesterol does not usually cause symptoms. You can only find out if you have it from a blood test.”
It also says that high blood pressure – also called hypertension – can lead to serious problems like heart attacks or strokes. But lifestyle changes and blood pressure medicines can help you stay healthy.
It adds: “High blood pressure is very common, especially in older adults. There are usually no symptoms, so you may not realise you have it. Things that increase your chances of having high blood pressure include:
- your age – you’re more likely to get high blood pressure as you get older
- having close relatives with high blood pressure
- your ethnicity – you’re at higher risk if you have a Black African, Black Caribbean or South Asian ethnic background
- having an unhealthy diet – especially a diet that’s high in salt
- being overweight
- smoking
- drinking too much alcohol
- feeling stressed over a long period
Figures from last year showed that 57 per cent of Brits snack on fruits daily, while 41 per cent eat vegetables just as often. So far, so good, but the problem starts with sweeter stuff. Confectionary items are a popular choice, with 45 per cent of Britons indulging weekly, while crisps (41 per cent) and savoury biscuits (32 per cent) are also popular.
Yogurt is another favoured option, with 24 per cent of Britons enjoying it daily and 30% weekly. Interestingly, savoury snacks emerge as the most preferred choice among Britons, with around two-thirds indicating they typically opt for these flavours (63 per cent).