The Hierarchy of Snacks

Lots of people like to snack. But sometimes, snacking sabotages their goals. You can get to your goals with snacks or without snacks. This article isn’t a debate on the merits of snacking. I wrote about that already here. Rather, in this article, I’ll give you my opinion on what are the best snacks and worst snacks for different goals. Starting with…

Original source: here.

Fat Loss

Remember, the only 2 things that matter when it comes to fat loss are:

1. Calories
2. Protein

…and that’s it. Here’s what doesn’t matter:

• How many of your calories are made up of carbs
• Whether you intermittent fast or not
• Whether you have 2 big meals per day or 5 small meals per day
• Whether you eat after 6 or you don’t eat after 6

 

Knowing this, here is the general hierarchy (from most preferred to least preferred):

1. Low calories, low protein (low calories and high protein are mutually exclusive)
2. Medium calories, low-medium protein
3. High calories, high protein
4. High calories, low protein

 

Concretely, here is your snacking hierarchy for fat loss:

 

1. Vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, peppers, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.)
2. Konjac jelly (it’s a special jelly developed in South Korea that comes in a pouch, like a juice box, but only contains 2-5 calories)
3. Low-calorie fruits (watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, etc.)
4. Small Greek yogurt packages
5. Protein bars
6. Popcorn
7. Chocolate bars or cheese (depends how much cheese)
8. Nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.)

Muscle Gain

Unlike fat loss, what matters the most for muscle gain is protein, and very little else. So the hierarchy of snacks is pretty simple: whatever has the highest protein is the best. So it might look like this:

1. Protein shakes (like Milk 2 Go). These have 26-38 grams of protein per shake.
2. Protein bars. These typically have 15-20 grams of protein per bar.
3. Greek yogurt. The small packs typically have about 8 grams of protein per pack.
4. Everything else (cheese, nuts, etc. are quite low in protein – 5 grams per serving or less)

Osteoporosis/Bone Strength

As I discuss in my osteoporosis book, the single most important nutrient for osteoporosis is protein. The second most important nutrient is vitamin K. It just so happens to be that lots of foods that are high in protein are also high in vitamin K, although there are a few foods that are high in vitamin K, but low in protein. So here’s our hierarchy of snacks:

1. Protein shakes (like Milk 2 Go). These have 26-38 grams of protein per shake.
2. Protein bars. These typically have 15-20 grams of protein per bar.
3. Greek yogurt. The small packs typically have about 8 grams of protein per pack.
4. Hard boiled eggs (pretty low in protein, but very high in vitamin K).
5. Hard cheeses (Gouda, Edam): pretty low in protein, but very high in vitamin K).
6. Prunes/dried plums: almost no protein, but high in vitamin K.

Type 2 Diabetes and PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome)

As I discuss in my diabetes book, the 2 most important factors for blood sugar control are:

1. Calories
2. Fibre

It’s the same criteria for PCOS, as I discuss in my PCOS book.

Because of that, our hierarchy would go like this (from most preferred to least preferred):

1. Low calories, high fibre
2. Low calories, low fibre
3. Medium calories, high fibre
4. High calories, high fibre

 

Concretely, here are the foods that meet those criteria:

1. Chia jam: 4 grams of fibre per 25 calories. I don’t know of anything else that has that kind of fibre-to-calorie ratio.
2. Vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, peppers, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.)
3. Konjac jelly (it’s a special jelly developed in South Korea that comes in a pouch, like a juice box, but only contains 2-5 calories)
4. Snack trax: 5 grams of fibre per 70 calories.
5. Berries (namely, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
6. Atkins bars (moderately high protein – 14 grams, and really high in fibre – 9 grams)
7. Dried fruits (specifically, dates, figs, and prunes)

High Cholesterol/Dyslipidemia

As I talk about in my book, High Cholesterol Reversal Secrets, two of the 5 most important nutritional factors are fibre and nuts. That gives you an idea of what the best snacks are.

Here is your hierarchy for better cholesterol profiles:

1. Chia jam: 4 grams of fibre per 25 calories. I don’t know of anything else that has that kind of fibre-to-calorie ratio.
2. Snack trax: 5 grams of fibre per 70 calories.
3. Berries (namely, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
4. Fibre 1 bars: 5 grams of fibre per 90 calories.
5. Atkins bars (moderately high protein – 14 grams, and really high in fibre – 9 grams)
6. Dried fruits (specifically, dates, figs, and prunes)
7. Nuts – but be careful. Nuts are one of the highest calorie things you can have shy of straight up butter, olive oil or avocados. You only need 50-100 grams of nuts. All nuts are about the same.

Fatty Liver

In my book, Fatty Liver Reversal Secrets, I explain that 3 of the 5 most important nutritional factors for improving it are total calories, fibre and protein.

So broadly speaking, here’s our hierarchy:

1. Low in calories, high in fibre.
2. High in fibre and protein.
3. Low in calories
4. Moderate in calories, high in fibre.
5. Moderate in calories, high in protein.

 

Specifically, here’s what our hierarchy looks like:

1. Chia jam: 4 grams of fibre per 25 calories. I don’t know of anything else that has that kind of fibre-to-calorie ratio.
2. Snack trax: 5 grams of fibre per 70 calories.
3. Berries: specifically, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries.
4. Atkins bars (moderately high protein – 14 grams, and really high in fibre – 9 grams)
5. Dried fruits, namely figs, dates and prunes.
6. Veggies (carrots, tomatoes, peppers, celery, cauliflower, broccoli).
7. Protein bars
8. Protein shakes