Snacking vs High-Carb Diet: What’s Worse?

I’ll begin this article with a warning:

“You may never snack again after reading this blog.”

Snacking is a fascinating topic to discuss. But it is also a critical topic.

You see, there are mixed opinions about snacking. Some people consider snacking to be a healthy activity. Others think it harms your health and can make you gain weight.

In this article, we will look at the health effects of snacking in detail.

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What is snacking, and why do people snack?

Snacking is the act of consuming beverages or food between your regular meals.

“Snack foods” is a term that is used to refer to high-calorie, processed food items like cookies and chips.

Snacking, however, means drinking or eating something between meals, regardless of how healthy or unhealthy the food or drink is (1).

Most people snack when they’re hungry — the implication is that hunger is the primary motivation behind snacking. But other factors may play a role — including food availability, time of the day, social environment, and location.

Many people snack when they can easily access delicious food — whether hungry or not

In a particular study, when people with excess weight or obesity were asked why they snacked, the most common response was temptation, hunger, and low energy levels (2).

Also, nursing the desire to snack and its effects on health appear to be individualized. Several factors influence snacking — including personal beliefs and age (3).

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Snacking vs. high-carb diet

Here’s a question for you — “which is healthier? Snacking or high-carb diet?” By this, I mean if you are generally snacking and not having a high-carb diet or a high-carb diet. If you compare both factors, I think snacking is worse than having a high-carb diet.

I had a friend who weighed over 215 pounds a couple of years ago. They had a round face and a high blood sugar level. Of course, they ate well, but they had an apple and peanut butter mid-morning and midafternoon. Of course, that’s the only snack they changed. They cut it off, and their weight went down to 180 pounds. To date, they’re fully convinced that it was the snacking that caused the problem. I think this is an experiment you should try.

Try this simple experiment if you’re new to my medium page and you snack. Do not make changes to any of the foods you’re eating. Instead, push those foods to the meal, have three meals a day but nothing in between, and see what happens. I believe that snacking is far worse than a high-carb diet.

I recommend a low-carb diet and absolutely no snacking, but if you compare both factors, snacking is worse. A study published in Health Affairs (Project Hope) found that snacking is the only independent factor contributing to weight gain in children (1). Initially, I thought it was due to the amount of junk food they were eating, but the more that I studied this, the snacking variable made more sense.

Snacking and Insulin

So, many believe eating multiple times a day is necessary to maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the day, but this is not the case most of the time.

A study involving type 2 diabetes patients found that eating two large meals daily drastically reduced fasting blood sugar levels, improved insulin sensitivity, and contributed to maintaining a healthy weight (2).

It is important to note that the type of snack consumed and the amount are the primary factors that affect blood sugar levels.

Higher-fiber and lower-carb snacks have a healthier effect on insulin and blood sugar levels compared to high-carb snacks in people with diabetic and nondiabetic individuals (3, 4, 5, 6).

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The potential effects of snacking

Now that we have established that snacking can trigger high insulin levels let me quickly go through what can happen in your body when insulin levels are on the high side.

High insulin affects your cognitive function. Your memory starts to decline, you get brain fog, and you lose focus.

Your mood gets altered. You get depressed, suffer from anxiety, and become irritable.

Snacking increases your cancer risk by two times.

There is a high risk of weight gain, especially in the midsection of your visceral area.

It increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

There is a weakness of the muscles and an increase in appetite.

Too much snacking triggers the development of amyloid plaquing in your brain, a precursor for Alzheimer’s disease.

You’ll have a fatty liver, and your vision will become altered, where you’ll be unable to see well.

You may also have kidney issues and neuropathy (problems with the nerves of your feet).

Foods that don’t trigger insulin

Two types of food don’t trigger insulin: fat and fiber.

Please, note that I’m not referring to the new synthetic fibers that make up modern keto treats. I’m talking about a thread from vegetables and not that from grains which have plenty of carbohydrates in them. I recommend fibrous leafy greens.

How to stop snacking

As a first, I recommend pushing your snack to the meal as a dessert. By doing so, you’ll ultimately go in the right direction.

Start a low-carb diet. A low-carb diet will lower insulin and decrease the impulse to snack.

Start increasing the fat in your diet, especially at the end of the meal. This will help your body become more satisfied, so you can fast longer and avoid snacking. Very few things are as complex as handling the snacking issue on a low-fat diet, but remember, fat won’t trigger insulin so it can help immensely with this insulin resistance.

Another step is to start increasing the fiber in your diet. Here I’m not referring to some added fiber that you would add to a meal that isn’t part of the food. Instead, I’m talking about vegetable fibers like salads. Consuming a salad before a meal will buffer the insulin response because it buffers the glycemic index.

A perfect combination would be salad plus olive oil. It’ll help correct insulin resistance. You may also do celery with almond butter. Celery is mostly water and fiber with no sugar; you can top it with nut butter.

Whole cream and berries are also recommended. You can also add ghee and butter to your vegetables to decrease insulin resistance.

Another way to decrease insulin resistance is to start exercising. Exercise has been proven to reduce insulin resistance, and you are burning off the extra sugar your body is making from gluconeogenesis.

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Takeaway

Snacking may be good in some cases, for instance, preventing hunger in people who overeat when they’ve fasted for a long time. But then, one could do better eating three or fewer meals daily. Choosing healthy foods that will fill you up and keep you satisfied is far better.

Disclaimer: Dr. Berner does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical diseases or conditions; instead, he analyzes and corrects the structure of his patients with Foundational Correction to improve their overall quality of life. He works with their physicians, who regulate their medications. This blog post is not designed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment, or services to you or any other individual. The information provided in this post or through linkages to other sites is not a substitute for medical or professional care. You should not use the information in place of a visit, consultation, or the advice of your physician or another healthcare provider. Foundation Chiropractic and Dr. Brett Berner are not liable or responsible for any advice, the course of treatment, diagnosis, or any other information, services, or product you obtain through this article or others.