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🍡 How to snack without sabotaging your diet

🍪 The snack trap

What if we told you that snacking, if not done thoughtfully, can undo the benefits of a healthy meal?

Snacking is common in the UK and can account for up to 25% of daily food intake, making it a key determinant of diet quality.

New research found that the most common snacks were cookies, fruit, nuts and seeds, cheese and butter, cakes and pies, and granola or cereal bars.

The low-quality snacks (e.g. cookies, cereal bars) were associated with higher blood sugars, blood fats, fasting insulin (not a great sign of overall health!), and greater levels of hunger.

Interestingly, snacking more often had no negative effect on blood markers, but it was associated with greater daily food intake and weight, even if the snacks were of high quality (e.g. fruit).

Even more bad news for those who munch late at night: late snacking was associated with negative outcomes, likely because of a reduced overnight fasting time (which is essential for the gut to repair and reset).

🏠 Take home message

Snacking can significantly impact diet quality and health. For those who enjoy snacking, here are the best recommendations:

• Prioritise high-quality, minimally processed snacks. Examples include fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, plain yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs.

• Try to snack less frequently. 

• Avoid late-night snacking. 

If you need help decode processed from unprocessed food, check out this guide (20% off with the code Save20).

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🧠 The psychobiotic diet: A link between gut and mental health

😫 Reducing stress

You may have heard of the gut-brain axis, which describes the link between the gut and the brain. The term "psychobiotic" was coined to describe the impact that gut bacteria have on the brain.

The theory is that if you keep your gut bacteria happy by eating foods they like (e.g., high-fibre foods), your brain will benefit too.

Recent research investigated the impact of a psychobiotic diet (i.e., high in fermentable fibres and fermented foods) on gut bacteria function and mental health in healthy people for four weeks.

Surprisingly, people on the psychobiotic diet had lower levels of perceived stress, despite their gut bacteria composition not changing significantly.

And, stress levels decreased the more closely people followed the psychobiotic diet.

🏠 Take home message

Diet alone is not a magic bullet for reducing stress, but eating a diet rich in fermentable fibres and fermented foods can help your gut and stress levels.

The best advice for gut health is to try to consume 30 different real plant foods per week. This includes vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, spices, and herbs.

Examples of fermentable fibres include Oats, Prunes and other dried fruits, Pulses, Vegetables.

Examples of fermented foods include Yogurt, Kefir, Kimchi, Tempeh, Kombucha.

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🌿 UK researchers fortify leaves with vitamin B12

🥬 Plant-powered innovation

Plant-based foods are great for gut health, but they lack some essential nutrients, such as vitamin B12, which can only be obtained from animal sources.

Researchers have now found a way to biofortify pea shoots grown indoors (using aeroponics technology) with vitamin B12.

Biofortification is the process of boosting the nutritional value of crops through biotechnology, plant breeding, or agronomic practices. Aeroponics is a type of farming where plants are grown without soil, but rather in a water-based solution enriched with nutrients.

In this instance, biofortification was so successful that a single small portion of fortified pea shoots can contain the recommended daily dose of vitamin B12. This means that a standard salad bag could contain as much B12 as two portions of beef!

🏠 Take home message

This is exciting because this technology can help address vitamin deficiency, especially in developing countries where access to nutrient-rich foods is limited.

Biofortification has greater use than supplements because fortified crops provide high-quality essential nutrients beyond isolated vitamins and minerals.

We are still in the early stages! This research is the first step, and further trials will help assess the commercial viability of B12-enriched pea shoots.

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🦀 And finally!

When I visited my grandmother last week, she was preparing crabs in tomato sauce. If you're looking for food sources of vitamin B12 and can’t wait until B12 enriched leaves hit the supermarket shelves, then crab meat is a great option!

To your health!

Paolo