Can I snack and still lose weight? (Updated)

Oscar Wilde said that he could resist everything except temptation. That's probably true of all of us when it comes to snacking, at least sometimes.

Not snacking is important if we want to avoid weight gain. However, there are times when we will feel tempted to snack because of an overwhelming feeling of hunger, or even just boredom. This is when it is useful to know which snacks are least likely to sabotage our good intentions.

Sometimes the urge to snack can be overcome by just getting up, walking around, having a glass of water or a cup of tea (no sugar). If that fails then nuts, if you are not allergic to them, are ideal.

This is because nuts are high in protein, good fats, and fibre, and low in sugar and starches. A small high-protein snack can keep you feeling satisfied until the next meal. On the other hand, a biscuit is high in starch and sugars. The starch quickly gets broken down into sugar in the stomach, and sugar is absorbed very quickly into the bloodstream. Insulin will then push the sugar into the cells, dropping your blood sugar and making you feel hungry again.

So if you must snack, nuts.

I was hoping that chocolate-coated nuts would also be ok, but I have to say that, sadly, my research suggests otherwise (see table below - M&S stands for Marks and Spencer, and H&B stands for Holland and Barrett). The figures on the packaging do not say how much of the total carbohydrate content is fibre (good) or starch (bad), but I have looked these things up and added them to the table. Since starch is quickly converted into sugar, I have ordered the table with the least starches at the top. 

If we are interested in minimising starch and sugar, then dark chocolate Brazil nuts come half way down the table, but surprisingly above cashew nuts, and digestive biscuits near the bottom.



  1. Fibre estimates, source: https://www.nal.usda.gov/sites/default/files/page-files/Total_Dietary_Fiber.pdf
  2. data from the packet
  3. estimate of fibre based on an assumption of it being at least the same as that of non-chocolate-coated nuts, given the estimated fibre content of dark chocolate greater than 7.5%
  4. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170273/nutrients
  5. https://www.checkyourfood.com/ingredients/ingredient/331/digestive-biscuits
  6. https://www.checkyourfood.com/ingredients/ingredient/879/raisins

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