Hungry for a snack? Reaching for raisins -- instead of sweets and salty foods -- controls hunger and promotes feelings of “fullness” better than high-fat, high-calorie snacks, new research has found.
The study, presented at the Canadian Nutrition Society annual meeting in Vancouver, suggests raisins are a healthier alternative to junk food that may help kids avoid obesity by cutting down on after-school snacks that pack on pounds.
The study involved 26 normal-weight boys and girls -- ages 8 to 11 years – who were tracked over a three-month period. The children were assigned to eat raisins or other snacks -- including grapes, potato chips or chocolate chip cookies -- until they were full. Researchers also measured their appetites before and after snacking.
Among the findings:
• Kids who snacked on raises raisins felt fuller, and ate fewer foods later, than those who ate other snacks.
• When eating raisins, children consumed significantly fewer calories than the other kids. (Those who ate grapes, potato chips and cookies consumed up to twice as many calories).
• Kids who ate raisins had lower desire to eat other foods afterward, while kids who consumed other snacks were still hungry a short while later.
"To our knowledge, this is the first controlled study that looks at after-school snacking and satiety among children," said lead researcher G. Harvey Anderson, a nutrition specialist at the University of Toronto. "We found consumption of raisins as a snack prevented excessive calorie intake, increased the feeling of fullness, and thereby may help contribute to the maintenance of a healthy weight in school-age children."