Snacking, Satiety, and Weight: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Purpose. To compare the effects of nut-based snack bars (NBSB) vs. prepackaged 200-kcal portions of typical conventional snack foods, when consumed over a 12-week period by a group of overweight adults. Design. Randomized, single-blind parallel design with two treatment groups. Setting. Clinical trial. Subjects. Thirty-four overweight participants were enrolled. Intervention. Commercially available NBSB or conventional snack foods as part of an ad libitum diet for 12 weeks. Measures. Primary outcome measures: body mass index, body weight, body composition, waist circumference. Secondary outcome measures: blood pressure, lipid profile, nutrients intake, hunger/satiety, quality of life. Analysis. Generalized linear models with time as repeated measure were used to analyze these data. Results. Daily consumption of NBSB for 12 weeks, as compared to daily consumption of conventional snacks, significantly reduced percentage body fat (-1.7% +/- 10.8% vs. 6.2% 6 9.3%; p = .04) and visceral fat (-1.3 +/- 5.9 vs. 2.7 +/- 4.0; p = .03). There were no between-group differences (p > .05) for blood pressure, lipid panel, satiety, or quality of life measures. Conclusion. Our data suggest that daily consumption of NBSB for 12 weeks reduced body fat and had no adverse effects on weight, blood pressure, lipid profile, satiety, or quality of life in this small sample of overweight adults.