Dr Sarah Berry, nutrition scientist and chief scientist at ZOE

“Snacks account for around 25% of our total energy intake, and a recent ZOE study found that more than 1 in 4 people who eat healthy main meals choose unhealthy snacks. So, tweaking your snack choices can make a real difference to the quality of your overall diet. When cooking meals for your family, you often have to cater to other people’s likes and dislikes, making it difficult to eat as healthily as you might like. Thankfully, you’re more likely to have control over the snacks you eat.

“Often, though, the snacks we go for are high in salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre and healthy bioactive compounds. So, rather than reaching for a biscuit, cake or ultra-processed snack, choose whole foods when you can, like fruit, nuts and seeds. Other options include chopped vegetables dipped in hummus, sliced apple with minimally processed nut butter and natural Greek yoghurt with berries. Our research showed that higher-quality snacks like these are linked to better blood sugar and blood fat responses after eating and reduced hunger.

“We also found that snacking later in the evening is linked to higher blood sugar levels and poorer blood sugar and blood fat responses, so try to avoid late night snacking. Overall, snacking isn’t bad for you. In fact, it can be a great way to improve the quality of your total diet. But what you eat and when you eat it really matters.”

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