We recently read about a study that was reported in an article on Medical News Today with the title: “Weight Loss Undermined By Mid-Morning Snacks” ; we found the title to be misleading. The article opens with the following paragraph:

“Adult females who are dieting in order to lose weight, may find their pounds come off much more slowly if they have a snack between their breakfast and lunch, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The authors suggest that a dietary weight-loss intervention should carefully consider the effects of timing, frequency, and snack quality on weight loss.”

Even in that first paragraph, they mention snack quality, something which is very important. They included many different types of foods under the term “snack”, in fact they defined a snack as “any food or drink that is eaten or drunk between meals.” This includes sugary, fatty, low-nutrition foods as well as fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, etc., all of which will affect a weight loss diet differently.

Snacks can help natural weight loss.

The article also quotes one of the researchers: “Snacking could be part of a dieter’s toolkit if they’re eating in response to true hunger. Individuals should determine if they experience long intervals – such as more than five hours – between meals. Adding a snack might help people deal better with hunger and ultimately help them to make more sound choices at their next meal.”

So while the title of the article suggests a blanket condemnation of snacking as part of a natural weight loss program, the researchers did not include that condemnation as part of their findings, but actually suggest that snacking can be a useful part of a natural weight loss plan.

At Simple Natural Weight Loss, we believe that eating nutrient dense snacks are essential to losing weight naturally, and often encourage our readers to eat more than 3 meals daily, to prevent hunger from overcoming their good intentions. If you allow your hunger to develop too strongly, you can trigger binge eating, and eat far more calories than you had planned. It is better to have a healthy snack than to go too long between meals.