Snack attack!

It's not always easy to bypass a fast-food fix, but smart choices exist

By Eleska Aubespin FLORIDA TODAY May 19, 5:31 PM

link to article

It's 3:30 p.m., and you missed the office rush to lunch. Your stomach is growling, begging for food, any food, and your energy tank is drained.

Dinner is hours away, yet there's no time to leave the office. What to do? You can always visit the vending machine and kiss your diet goodbye.

"I've gone to the vending machine three times this week," said Tracy Higginbotham, a desk officer with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. "This morning, I got doughnuts, and I thought, 'Oh well.' "

The Titusville resident often struggles with finding healthy snacks from vending machines. And going to fast food restaurants for nutritious meals aren't any easier.

"I struggle with the choices, because I used to eat healthy," Higginbotham said. "But because of a change in my work schedule, I have a harder time eating correctly and exercising."

In a perfect world, there would be no need to consider calorie counts, fat grams or carbohydrates.

But let's face it. Sometimes broiled fish and steamed veggies just aren't available. And it seems chocolate bars, potato chips, tacos and burgers are everywhere, thus creating health concerns and the specter of obesity.

Sixty-one percent of American adults are overweight or obese, and the obesity rates of American adults increased by 60 percent between 1991 and 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The surge is blamed on abundant high-calorie foods and sedentary lifestyles.

But there are some healthy options for those in a hurry. You just needto know what to look for, nutritionists and fitness experts say. Portion size is also critical, as well as balancing out meals.

"You can look at it from a weight issue or a nutritional issue," said Cynthia Sass, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

"Nuts have protein, vitamins and fiber, but they are also high in calories and fat," Sass said. "So from a nutritional standpoint, they are a very healthy option. But if you are looking for lower fat options, pretzels and animals crackers may be a better choice."

Of course, if you're staying away from carbohydrates, you might want to think twice about grabbing pretzels. A one-ounce bag only has 108 calories and about 1 gram of fat, but it packs a whopping 22.45 grams of carbohydrates, according to Diet-data.com.

When pondering a vending machine snack or fast-food lunch, consider your next meal. It's like managing a money budget.

"Most foods have high fat options like french fries and hamburgers," Sass said. "So you need to decide what you want to spend your fat on and create a balance around that. Get fries if you want, but then get a salad without the dressing or cheese."

Truth is, millions of people are using those convenient snack machines. Automatic merchandising is a $40 billion business, said Jackie Clark, spokeswoman for the National Automatic Merchandising Association.

And that business is moving in a direction of healthier lifestyles.

"There is a trend towards offering more healthy foods," Clark said. "As consumers have demanded healthier options, the vending industry has responded."

Many vending machines do offer fresh fruit, fruit cups, bottled water and juices, granola bars, yogurt, fresh salad, reduced calorie munchies and milk. Still, the biggest sellers continue to be sweets and chips.

According to Automatic Merchandiser, a trade magazine, the top sellers in 2001 were Snickers, M&Ms Peanut, Doritos Nachos Cheesier Big Grab, Twix and Cheez-It crackers.

"Even when operators put healthy choices in vending machines, the most popular items are still old traditional favorites," Clark said.

That's because by the time you reach a vending machine, you're famished and want something -- anything -- to make the hunger pangs disappear. Even if it's something sweet or calorie-packed.

"It's our job to offer you the choice," Clark said.

"There are some people who will make healthy choices because they want to do the right thing," she said. "Then there are others who have the best intentions of eating healthy, but choose something else in the end."

That's seems to be the case in Brevard County, said Robert Cournoyer, owner of Quality Vending in Palm Bay. While Cournoyer has offered several healthy items, such as granola bars and fat-free pretzels, top sellers remain chips and candy.

"I think that when it comes time to cheat on a snack, people just want the sweet stuff," Cournoyer said.

He owns about 30 vending machines around Brevard County.

"I'm guessing they are thinking they can afford to (buy something unhealthy) just this one time," Cournoyer said.

Even if you resist the double cheeseburger, remember there are hidden traps that can sabotage even the best-laid diet plan. Examples include high-calorie salad dressings or veggies swimming in butter.

"Salads are basically healthy, it's just the dressing that's the trouble," said Dorothy McCullagh, a Melbourne nutritionist. "The first time I read the salad dressing package at this restaurant, I was like 'Holy Cow.' "

Cathy Swatek, owner of the Melbourne Athletic Club, agreed salads are usually the healthier choice, but hamburgers aren't too bad if they are eaten without the bun or cheese. A bun can add anywhere from 100 to 200 calories to the meal.

"Get the salad with grilled meat and leave the dressing off," Swatek said. "Or if you leave the bread and cheese off, your best bet can be the burger, with lettuce and tomato."

In the vending machine, Swatek would choose trail mix or a granola bar because of whole grains and protein provided by the dried fruit and nuts.

But being able to make healthier choices might be easier said than done, especially when faced with choices that are bad and, well, bad.

So to help you choose the best of the worst vending machine snacks and fast foods, we've given some examples and a few choices some local nutritionists and fitness experts suggest:


Your choice: Snickers bar or peanut butter and cheese crackers.
Your best bet: The crackers. "The crackers have a little bit of everything, like fat, protein and carbohydrates," McCullagh said. "The candy bar is all sugar and fat." Peanut butter offers 4 grams of protein for 135 calories and 6 grams of fat. The Snickers bar has 280 calories, 14 grams of fat and 30 grams of sugar.


Your choice: Peanuts or pretzels.
Your best bet: The peanuts. "Peanuts have good protein and good oil, and if they are not salted, that's even better," McCullagh said. "Pretzels are usually made of white flour, which isn't good, because white flour is bleached and processed."
A 1-ounce bag of peanuts has 166 calories, 7 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber, which keeps you feeling full longer. But again, peanuts are high in fat (14 grams), so keep portion sizes small. Pretzels, which can be a good option, contain just 108 calories and 1 gram of fat. They are lower in fiber (1 gram) and protein (2 grams) and have 22 grams of carbs.


Your choice: Pastry or bag of plain chips.
Your best bet: The bag of chips. "The worst thing you can get is something with a lot of calories and sugar, like mini cakes and Danishes," said Sass. "There's not much there in terms of protein or fiber."
A 1-ounce bag of chips contains 152 calories, 9 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fiber. One Hostess Ding Dong Chocolate Snack Cake [article ended abruptly at this point]

How lovely to see an article that is non-judgmental about low carb diets! Please let the author and her editors know how much you appreciate that!

Here is what I wrote them:

Thank you and Eleska Aubespin so much for your piece "Snack Attack" - it was particularly gratifying to see than low-carb dieters were treated with the same respect and consideration of the more traditional low-fat watchers.

The online version of the article seemed to be cut off rather abruptly - you might want to double-check it.

Best regards, and thanks again!