7 snacks for a longer & healthier life | Prof Sarah Berry

What It Covers

Professor Sarah Berry, ZOE's chief scientist at King's College London, presents research on snacking habits across the UK and US, where snacks account for 25% of daily calories. She identifies what makes snacks harmful or beneficial, covering timing, quality, processing, and seven specific whole-food snacks shown to support cardiovascular health, gut microbiome diversity, and metabolic function.

Key Questions Answered

• •Snack timing cutoff: ZOE research shows that snacking after 9PM — a habit affecting 30% of snackers — correlates with higher abdominal fat, elevated inflammation, and worse cholesterol levels, even when the snacks themselves are nutritionally sound. The body is less insulin-sensitive later in the day, and hunger hormones respond differently, meaning the same snack eaten at night produces worse metabolic outcomes than one consumed mid-morning.
• •Frequency vs. quality distinction: Snacking multiple times per day does not negatively affect body weight or health markers when the snacks are high quality. ZOE study data shows frequency is not the key variable — food quality is. However, 75% of snacks consumed by ZOE participants come from heavily processed foods, and 40% of people eating healthy main meals simultaneously consume low-quality snacks, undermining their dietary efforts.
• •Nut swap cardiovascular benefit: Replacing typical UK/US snacks with almonds — covering 20% of daily energy intake — produced a 30% reduction in cardiovascular disease risk markers over six weeks in a clinical trial. Nuts are high in fiber, protein, and heart-healthy fats. Despite high fat content, nut consumers do not gain weight because approximately 30% of nut calories pass through the gut unabsorbed due to rigid plant cell wall structure.
• •Processing score framework: ZOE evaluates processed snacks across three dimensions: nutrient profile (fiber, sugar, salt, saturated fat levels), additive and emulsifier content, and food structure measured by energy intake rate — how quickly the food is consumed. Hyperpalatable snacks engineered with salt-fat or sugar-fat combinations bypass satiety signals. Snacks consumed faster deliver larger blood glucose spikes and subsequent crashes, driving excess calorie intake of up to 320 calories daily.
• •Label reading strategy: To evaluate a snack's sugar content, check both the ingredient list and the nutrient panel. The nutrient panel lists total sugar under carbohydrates, while the ingredient list may contain five or six different sugar sources — syrups, honeys, and compounds ending in "-ose" such as fructose, sucrose, and glucose. A snack with sugar appearing at 30% or more of ingredients by weight, low fiber, and high salt warrants avoidance regardless of health claims on the front.
• •Consistency of eating patterns: Emerging evidence indicates the body performs better with predictable meal timing rather than irregular patterns. Alternating between two meals one day and five the next disrupts metabolic rhythms. Grazers who maintain consistent snacking on healthy foods show better outcomes than those who swing between restriction and excess. Choosing snacks with protein, fat, and fiber — rather than refined carbohydrates — stabilizes blood glucose and reduces total daily calorie consumption.