The Art of Snacking

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Art of Snacking"

Podcast: Am I Doing It Wrong? (HuffPost)
Hosts: Raj Panjabi Johnson & Noah Michelson
Guest: Maya Vadivelu, Registered Dietitian & Nutritional Epidemiologist
Release Date: May 14, 2026
Episode Length: ~52 minutes

---

Overview

In this episode, the hosts dive into the complex, everyday art of snacking: Are we snacking wrong? How can we snack better? Together with guest expert Maya Vadivelu, a registered dietitian, they unpack the history, science, culture, and anxieties surrounding snacks. The conversation moves fluidly from practical nutrition to the emotional dimensions of snacking, blending research-backed ideas with real-life listener questions and the hosts’ own snack confessions.

---

Key Discussion Points

1. What Is a Snack? (03:42)

• Definition: Maya defines a snack as something consumed between meals, notably smaller than a meal, meant to manage hunger and give energy between larger eating periods.
• Historical Context: Humans have always snacked opportunistically, but our current snacking habits are shaped by abundance and processed foods.

“We are built... if we found those blueberries, I don’t think we’re gonna, like, oh, no, no, no; it’s not hours till my next meal. I think we are built... to snack.”
— Maya Vadivelu (04:43)

---

2. The Evolution of Snacking (06:06 – 07:45)

• Modern Snacking: Shifted significantly in the last 50 years due to food marketing, deregulation, and processed foods. Snacks are marketed heavily, with “fourth meal” and “late-night snacking” previously non-existent.
• More Choices, More Problems: Many more options, but many lack nutrition, fiber, and protein.

“40 years ago, people ate three meals a day and they stopped, you know, eating after maybe 7 o’clock at night.”
— Maya (06:54)

---

3. Better Snacking: What Should We Eat? (08:14 – 11:45)

• Expert Advice: Not sexy, but true: Americans under-consume fruits and vegetables. The best snacks are often the simplest—carrots, apples, nuts.
• Combining Nutrients: Maya suggests pairing fruits or veggies with protein or fat (nut butters, cheese, hummus) for satiety.
• Balance Over Perfection: No need to give up the occasional “junky” snack. Instead, strive for balance.

“Even if you’re having the bag of shredded cheese, can you also have an apple with it...?”
— Maya (09:12)

---

4. Surprising (and Not-So-Surprising) Snack Favorites (12:08 – 16:17)

• Maya’s Snacks: Trail mix, unsweetened dried mango, pumpkin seeds, KIND bars, leftover meal bits.
• Host Rituals: Raj’s “mini charcuterie” of small bites; Noah’s love of pre-peeled edamame.
• Fun Recipe: Maya shares her “no-bake oat balls” (oats, peanut butter, honey, chia, cranberries, mini chocolate chips).

“It’s oats, peanut butter, a little bit of honey, chia seeds, dried cranberries, and little chocolate...”
— Maya (16:05)

---

5. Protein Bars: Helpful or Hype? (16:25 – 20:46)

• Mixed Feelings: Maya says most protein bars are “sugar bombs” and heavily processed, blurring the line with candy bars.
• Guidelines: Look for bars with minimal added sugar and a short, recognizable ingredient list. Eat as a convenience, not a meal replacement.

“Protein bars encompass so many things… They would look at the nutrition comparison between… a candy bar and protein bars and it was very difficult to distinguish between them.”
— Maya (16:55)

---

6. Healthiest “Junkie” Snacks & Mindfulness (21:07 – 25:38)

• Honoring Cravings: If you want something “junkie,” check if you’re actually hungry—and then let yourself have a moderate portion.
• Avoid Restriction Binge Cycles: Too much restriction leads to overconsumption later.
• “Bliss Point” Foods: Processed snacks are engineered (fat, salt, carbs) to maximize addictive potential.

“If you want a junky snack, let yourself have what you want, but just enough to kill the craving.”
— Raj (50:17 – summary)

---

7. Health Buzzwords & Packaging Manipulation (29:27 – 34:46)

• “Naked” Doritos & ‘Healthwashing’: Marketing terms like “naked,” “natural,” and muted colors create a health halo, often with no real nutritional improvement.
• Label Reading: More health claims may mean less actual nutrition.

“In general, the higher the number of health claims, the less likely the food was to meet, you know, general nutritional guidance.”
— Maya (33:20)

---

8. Meal Patterns: Grazing vs. Meals (34:37 – 37:33)

• No Single Answer: Whether to eat three meals or graze all day depends on the individual; no one-size-fits-all. Listen to hunger cues, and personal schedules play a big role.
• Consistent Finding: Higher intake of whole plant foods is consistently linked to health.

“We’re more likely to move into not a one size fits all approach... patterns that are really heavy in whole plant based foods...”
— Maya (36:13)

---

9. Smoothies vs. Juices (37:33 – 40:20)

• Smoothies Preferred: Retain fiber and satiation. Control ingredients for a balanced, portable option.
• Tips: Add nut butters, oats for filling power; drink slowly for satiety.

“Definitely smoothie over juice. Especially when you’re more in control of the ingredients.”
— Maya (37:56)

---

10. Snacking & Emotional Wellbeing (41:00 – 45:40)

• Anxiety Eating: Food is often used for comfort or punishment. Awareness and mindfulness—pausing to check hunger versus emotion—can help break unhelpful cycles.
• Normalize Struggle: Most of us have complicated relationships with snacks; it's normal to sometimes “get it wrong.”

“Our relationship in modern society with food is so fraught... There’s a lot more disordered eating in the population than we talk about.”
— Noah (43:52)

---

11. Trends in Snacking Culture (46:15 – 47:50)

• Restaurant “Snack Menus”: New culinary trend—high-end restaurants offering snack-sized plates and experiences, inspired by “blue zones” and East Asian cultures. Encourages mindful, social, and portioned eating.
• Sampling Over Feasting: More variety, less quantity; a shift toward food as experience, not merely fuel.

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the modern snack industry:
  “Food companies are not going to lose money because now they’re demonized for having a food dye. They haven’t done anything to inherently make the Dorito healthier.”
  – Maya Vadivelu (30:00)

• On emotional eating:
  “Sometimes you just need a little bit... If I like don’t eat one for six months and then binge six samosas.”
  – Raj Panjabi Johnson (25:09)

• On craving “bad” snacks:
  “There is definitely research looking at, like, the addictive potential of... certain blends of higher fat, higher salt, like refined grain foods that kind of give yourself this hit.”
  – Maya Vadivelu (23:35)

• On trendy snack buzzwords:
  “The higher the number of health claims, the less likely the food was to meet... nutritional guidance.”
  – Maya (33:20)

• On mindful eating vs. guilt:
  “When you honor... you want a little bit of multiple things, it’s a lot easier to stop when you’re not physically hungry when you aren’t beating yourself up for having chosen it.”
  – Maya (22:32)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• What Is a Snack? – 03:42
• History of Snacking / Processed Food – 06:06
• What to Snack On: Fruits/Vegetables/Nuts – 08:14
• Maya’s Real-Life Snack List – 12:40
• Protein Bar Deep-Dive – 16:25
• Mindful Junk Food Snacking – 21:07
• Manipulative Snack Marketing – 29:27
• Meal Patterns Debate: Grazing vs. Meals – 34:37
• Smoothies vs. Juices – 37:33
• Snacking & Mental Health – 41:00
• Restaurant Snack Trends – 46:15
• Five Takeaway Tips (Recap) – 49:54

---

Five Big Takeaways ("Better in Five")

(49:58)

1. Aim for Satiety & Nutrition: Fruits and veggies are under-consumed—make them routine snacks.
2. Bars Can Be Fine, But Read the Labels: Don’t assume “protein” or “natural” means healthy.
3. Craving Junk? Satisfy the Craving, Not the Guilt: A little of what you want is better than self-denial and binging later.
4. Beware Health Buzzwords: Terms like “natural” or “naked” are marketing. Go deeper than the packaging.
5. Know Thyself: Your relationship with food is complex and personal; reflect on your motives when reaching for a snack.

---

Overall Tone & Conclusions

The hosts, with Maya, strike a balance between practical, nonjudgmental advice and real talk about the emotional and social nature of snacking. There’s encouragement to be forgiving, strive for better (not perfect), and stay curious—plus some clever, culture-savvy observations about the snack industry.

“Every meal, every day, we have another chance to, like, do something better, feel better.”
– Noah Michelson (45:40)

---

This episode is a must-listen for anyone who’s ever wondered if their snacking habits could use a tune-up, sought balance between health and joy, or simply wanted to understand why that bag of Cheetos seems to disappear faster than logic would allow.

Transcript

[Mom]

Hey honey, it's mom. Did you know if we switch to Verizon, we can get four phones for $0 plus four lines for $25 a line. Call me back me again. That's just $100 a month for four lines on unlimited welcome plus four phones. No trade in needed. Call me. It's mom. America's best network Verizon. That's the one we're talking about. I'll send you text.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

America's best Network based on RootMetric's best

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

overall mobile network performance US 2nd half

[Noah Michelson]

20254 new lines on Unlimited welcome and Autopay. See verizon.com for details.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends, it's pretty much all he talks about. In a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com Bank Capital One NA Member FDIC

[Liv Perez]

hi, I'm Liv Perez from the let's Get Dressed podcast and this episode is presented to you by Depop. If you've been meaning to clean out your closet, but it feels so overwhelming, my best piece of advice for you as a fashion expert is to start with one thing. Depop. Depop makes it so simple to give your pieces a new home. Just snap a photo and their AI powered listings. Fill in all the details for you. And here's the best part. Make money easily. With no selling fees on Depop, no seller fees means that you earn exactly what is yours. Another perk. There is someone out there who's going to love that piece the way that you did. And who doesn't love making room for something new too. Download the Depop app and list your first item today.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Hi, I'm Raj Panjabi Johnson, Head of

identity content at HuffPost.

[Noah Michelson]

And I'm Noah Michaelson, head of HuffPost Personal.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Welcome to Am I Doing It Wrong?

The show that explores the all too human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Okay, Noah, have you been snacking wrong?

[Noah Michelson]

So, you know, it's really funny. We were talking about this before we started recording. I don't even know what this show is supposed to be yet. This episode, I was just like, let's do something about snack. I love snacking. It's delicious. But I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong or how I do it better. I guess we're gonna talk about nutrition, right? But it seems a little amorphous to me, so I'm going into this one a little bit. Just, like, who knows what's gonna happen? And I kind of into that. Are you snacking wrong?

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I'm definitely snacking wrong, and I'm on the other end of that, where I'm pretty sure I know what I want to get out of this.

[Noah Michelson]

Okay.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Just because I've recently been kind of obsessed with, like, data on my body and, you know, how to feel good and, you know, all of that stuff. So I want to learn, essentially, about how to snack at my most optimal for my body, because I like a lot of junky food. I want to be able to retain that joy while still making sure that I'm feeding my spirit and body in the way that feels good and gives me energy and helps me be the best for everyone and myself.

[Noah Michelson]

Well, Raj, that's maybe a tall order, but we're going to try. And if anyone can do it, it's going to be Maya Vadivelu. She is a registered dietitian, a nutritional epidemiologist, which I have never even heard of, and she's also an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Get our lives, Maya.

[Noah Michelson]

Hi, Maya. Thanks for being here.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah. So snacking, I guess I want to start with. What do you even. How do you define a snack? Is it anything we're eating between meals? Is there a certain caloric level when we say snacking? Or at least when you say snacking? What are you talking about?

[Maya Vadivelu]

I think I usually would say both. It's something that's between meals, and I do start to think of it in terms of size. I think of a meal as being something that's closer to, like, a third of how much energy you need in a day, and the snacks as being something in between those larger periods of eating that just kind of help you manage hunger and give you energy when you need it.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, that makes sense.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Can you give us a little bit of a history on snacking? Like, have humans always snacked? I'm imagining, like, a cave person, like, dragging, like, a little bird back to their cave. I don't know. Like, is our nature. Yeah, yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

While they're hunting and gathering, they have some blueberries for themselves, you know, before they bring them back.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I like where you're at.

[Noah Michelson]

Head is at.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah.

[Maya Vadivelu]

You Know, I don't know enough about, like, the Paleolithic era in general. You know, we were, you know, hunter gatherers and probably somewhat opportunistic eaters, being able to, like, go with relatively large periods of, you know, famine when we're trying to find food. But if we found those blueberries, I don't think we're gonna, like, oh, no, no, no. It's not, you know, hours till my next meal. I think we are built. And I mean, if, even if you look at, you know, how long can a person survive without food versus how long they can survive without water, we're pretty good at being able to use our reserve, you know, energy stores, which is primarily body fat, to keep us alive. But we're no longer in that level of scarcity, at least most of us aren't. And so our body sort of, and our brain prefers to use carbohydrate to function, and we only have a certain amount of stored carbohydrate in our bodies. And when we go for longer periods of time, we start to use other energy stores, which are not our preferred source for longer periods of time, while we can fast. And there's people looking at whether or not fasting has other benefits. I think for the average person, we want to be eating probably every four, five hours at least, keep our energy relatively, you know, good throughout the day and to not be plagued by hunger.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah. It also seems to me like snacking has changed probably in the last 50 years, I would imagine with the advent of processed foods or canned foods, things like that. And so I'd also imagine the way that we're snacking and what we're snacking on has really changed in recent times.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Oh, completely. And actually just out of New York, which is where I did my doctoral work, Marian Nestle, who's at nyu, has had a number of different books that kind of focus on some of that, you know, where we start to look at things like the deregulation of Wall street and how suddenly food companies could market products, you know, once we had this surplus of certain ingredients and still show profit quarter after quarter, because they created new opportunities to snack. Of course, I used to teach, you know, I would show an ad from a fast food restaurant that kind of coined the term like fourth meal, which wasn't a thing. You know, 40 years ago, people ate three meals a day and they stopped, you know, eating after maybe 7 o' clock at night.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, there's just so many more options now.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

There are.

[Noah Michelson]

And a lot of them are not, quote, unquote Good. And I guess this is a good point too, Raj, for us. You and I were talking about this earlier. Like, whenever we do a show, we don't want to tell people what's good, good or bad, especially around nutrition. We always want to do it better. Right. So I think for snacking, when we're going to be talking about snacking today, like, in my mind, we're thinking about what kind of foods can we snack on that have more nutrition in them rather than less. Less empty calories, less, you know, an absence of fiber, protein, that kind of thing.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, exactly. And that's what, you know, we want to ask you what are the better snacks? Essentially, because I am going to crack open a bag of shredded cheese and just go to town somet times when I'm, like, watching the Pit or whatever. But. But I think that there's. There's room for that. And, you know, there's a time and a place for that. And there's also, like, okay, if I'm gonna do a couple of snacks at work and, like, mindlessly eat, what. What are my healthier options that are gonna help me live longer and feel better?

[Maya Vadivelu]

I mean, the answer that I'm gonna give there is, like, never the popular answer, because everybody's heard it. It's not like, it's not sexy in that way, but fruits and vegetables are woefully under consumed in the US and nobody's like, you know, thinking about, like, can I snack on a bag of carrots? But actually, like, a running joke among my friends and things like that is that I often have a fairly large, inappropriately sized bag of carrots because I like crunch. And I just. If I'm hungry, it's there. It kind of stays. You don't really need to do a lot in terms of, you know, storage.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And, you know, you can dip that in hummus, you could dip that in a yogurt if you want to balance it out more with some protein and fat. But, you know, we're trying to get people to eat close to 7 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. It increases potassium levels, which helps with blood pressure regulation. People are looking at, like, the. How carotenoids affect skin health. It's rich in fiber, and we're really not anywhere near the recommendation. So I usually try and encourage people to. Even if you're having the bag of shredded cheese, can you have the bag of shredded cheese and also an apple with it and maybe some carrots or maybe, you know, some other kind of Portable fruit option that gives you other opportunities to get those foods in. Because it's not that easy to eat that many fruits and vegetables either.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Correct.

[Noah Michelson]

I love that. I will say my husband Benji, he, he's just like you. He eats entire bags of baby carrots in one sitting. And I'm like, you are insane.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

He's gonna turn orange.

[Noah Michelson]

His latest thing that he just had sinus surgery and they were like, you wan. An anti inflammatory diet right now to help heal a lot of fruits and vegetables, a lot of berries. He's been buying $16 bags of frozen cherries and eating them just. And they're delicious. They're almost like sorbet, little sorbet balls. But I'm like, sweetheart, we can't afford $16 bags of cherries. Like, I'm glad that you are eating so healthfully. But we're also going to be out on the street.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

You have to support him. You need to get a second, third job.

[Noah Michelson]

I'm sorry, important would you say as well though? So, you know, fruits and vegetables, definitely. And then are you also like, we should be thinking about protein, we should be thinking about carbs. Like fruits and vegetables are carbs, but like something for energy as well.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Well, I think everything is going to depend on sort of your own personal situation. Like if you're going to be going for a longer period of time, your snack probably should be a bit more sizable or if you're about to, you know, have a longer workout or something like that. But you know, usually I try and encourage people to like combine it with at least one of the other, you know, nutrients. So if you're having fruit to add some sort of protein to kind of help you stay fuller longer because you have sort of that mix of fiber, carbohydrate, particularly in the fruit. Vegetables are, you know, sources of carbohydrate, but they're much lower in calories. So sometimes you might feel, you know, pretty hungry if you only have raw vegetables and you don't add something like some form of fat or some sort of cheese or. I'm a huge fan of nuts. I mean there's a lot association Just released their update to the 2021 guidance and are really focusing on the benefits of plant based protein sources, especially from whole foods. So, you know, most people are not eating fruits and vegetables. Most people don't really turn to like a handful of almonds or you know, peanut butter or something on a whole grain cracker or on an apple, which again makes you feel that sort of sense of fullness and gives you protein and gives you fiber that kind of keeps you satisfied and gives you the energy that you.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, I think actually apples and peanut butter is the world's best snack.

[Noah Michelson]

I love it.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

My partner eats really, really healthfully, you know, in this like classic context. And like It'll be like 11 o' clock at night. I'm like, Bae, do you want to order Taco Bell? And he's like, let's have a banana and peanut butter. I'm like, I hate you.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, thanks. Now I feel that.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

But like, I think that's why I found him. It makes me really happy.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah. We got a question from Lydia, one of our listeners, and it's kind of what we've already been talking about, but I wonder if we can come up with a couple more. She said, I'd like to know what snacks your expert keeps in their house. So yeah, tell us the ones that people might not think about right off the top of their head. I will add one. I've been at the grocery store now you can buy pre peeled edamame.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Oh, love.

[Noah Michelson]

And you can just snack on a handful of that. And that's super high in protein as well and just delicious.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Tastes delicious.

[Noah Michelson]

So it's a great way to do, to do that. What about you guys? What do you think?

[Maya Vadivelu]

I mean, I think that's a great snack and I really love that as an option. I'm kind of boring when it comes to snacking and things because I'm just, I'm on the go so much of the time that I pick a handful of snacks that are just part of my staple routine and I like to have them everywhere. I get very, you know, even if I'm at my office right now, I don't like the idea of not having food on hand that if I, if something goes longer than I'm expecting and I'm hungry, that I always have something. So I pretty much, I always have trail mix of some kind and it's usually some combination of either lightly salted or unsalted nuts, a fruit. Sometimes I have the one that has a little bit of chocolate in it and that can kind of, you know, balance that sweet craving too. And I keep unsweetened dried mango in my car and pumpkin seeds. Sometimes like I do have some bars that I really need if I, you know, I, I like to surf. I'm in Rhode island, so we're surrounded by ocean and so sometimes like kind of like the kind style bars that are primarily nuts and a little bit of honey.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yes.

[Maya Vadivelu]

That are some of my go to snacks before that kind of workout. But I like having things that can kind of be portable and available if I haven't planned my meals. And then the other thing that I do is like, I. I really hate food waste. So even if there's just a little bit left over, and this does drive my family kind of crazy to save it in a Tupperware. And then I'm like, okay, I don't like if I'm not. It's not enough for a me. But if I'm hungry at 4 o', clock, that's a perfect thing for me to heat up and just eat.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah. And I want to come back to protein bars. But I also want to say that I'm kind of like in on a different part of the spectrum where, like, food to me is very important. I need to enjoy every single meal and snack. It's not like a fuel kind of thing. So when I am trying to eat a better snack, I put together what I call a mini charcuterie. And there's no cured meat on it, but it'll be like a little veggie, a little fruit, some pickles, maybe a little dollop of hummus, some cottage cheese. Like, I need five things. I'm so Indian in this way. I like need all the flavor, palate things to satiate me. Otherwise I will remain hungry. But that's my. I need a little bit.

[Noah Michelson]

And isn't what that they were calling girl dinners for a while.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yes.

[Noah Michelson]

Where people would just sort of like have a whole bunch of little bites of a whole bunch of stuff. I mean, I don't know why we have to gender it, but I like that idea too, of having a bunch of different textures, flavors, tastes, you know, I think that's great.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

It's a. Supposed to be fun.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And I think that's also where it kind of goes between like appetite versus hunger because there's a physical feeling of, you know, and that you can associate with like, my stomach is empty. I'm feeling a little shaky. I can feel hunger pangs versus, like your mouth wanting a certain taste or texture or other things. And I think both are really important to honor. The charcuterie board you mentioned sounded fantastic. And honestly, if somebody prepared that for me every day, I would have that as a snack too.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, I'm coming over to do that for you. You deserve it.

[Maya Vadivelu]

I love, I think, paying attention. That's what I sort of said with like, you know, I don't only have like unsalted nuts and you know, unsweetened fruit for a trail mix always. Like I said, sometimes I do want a little bit of chocolate or semi sweet chocolate in that. And oh, I do make this no bake oat ball too that I like to have on weekends. But that's only if I've like done my meal prep that weekend.

[Noah Michelson]

What, what goes into that?

[Maya Vadivelu]

It's oats, peanut butter, a little bit of honey, chia seeds, dried cranberries and little chocolate, like little mini chocolate chips or cacao nibs.

[Noah Michelson]

That sounds so good. That sounds delicious.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

If I had my life together, I would make snacks like that. Yeah, yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

It's something to aspire to.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, exactly, it is. Let's go back to protein bars and just bars in general. No one knows this. I'm so anti bar. I feel like one of my best friends loves it and she relies on it. She like misses a meal, etc. And you know, I just have read the back of those, if they're even telling the truth. Sugar bombs. I feel like if you're gonna have that, I know the point is convenience, but I just don't like them. Can you tell me how you feel about protein bars and those kind of bars as a meal, supplement or as a snack?

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, I think that's a great question. And like it kind of opens up this huge can of worms because protein bars encompass so many things and now that protein is this really hot nutrient. Right now everybody's adding protein to everything and labeling it a protein bar. And I remember Even, you know, 10 years ago when protein bars were starting, maybe it's longer than that actually when we're starting to get big, they would look at the nutrition comparison between say you know, a candy bar and protein bars and it was very difficult to distinguish between them.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

That's right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And so I think if you are going to include protein bars in your, you know, like, like you said, some people are looking for a replacement meal or something that's portable, that you just need to be really, really careful in reading the ingredients and not just focusing on the total amount of protein. Looking really at the added sugars, increasingly looking at how many different ingredients there may be, especially additive ingredients. We're seeing more and more of a signal with so called ultra processed. We don't have a working definition from the FDA yet, but certain types of processing may not affect our hunger and satiety in the same ways as a more whole food meal. So just like when people ask me right now of like, okay, so what about my diet soda and It's a, you know, like I've heard that non nutritive sweeteners are the next, you know, big thing. And I say yes, it's probably, if you can switch to water, that's great, or coffee or tea. But if you're drinking 2 liters of sugar sweetened beverage a day and you're, and it's, let's say it's a caffeinated sugar sweetened beverage and you don't like coffee or tea, if you slowly, you know, switch to a diet soda and then you start to reduce from there, it's a step on that pathway. And I'd say the same thing, you know, with protein bars. Sometimes they may be convenient and ideally you're picking one that doesn't have, you know, more than five or so grams of added sugar and didn't replace the added sugar with non nutritive sweetener to keep the label, you know, quote unquote clean.

[Noah Michelson]

Mm.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And you're, you know, trying to use it not as your primary meal replacement and instead looking at other opportunities to say like, okay, what can I make on the weekend so that, you know, when I'm busy I have something that I can grab and go quickly.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, that seems right.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Do you have any names you want to drop for, for bars that you actually like? Because Noah and I were just talking about. We like RX bars because they like, taste like they're kind of whole and they, it's mostly date.

[Noah Michelson]

The packaging says that they're pretty whole.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

But yeah, still a lot of sugar. But still.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, but if it's, if it's not added sugar, that's the part that like. And that's one of the changes on the label because dates will have sugar. All dried fruit has sugar. So you're kind of careful from like the total amount that you consume. But it's really the added sugar that is the part that on the label that you want to truly, truly pay attention to.

[Noah Michelson]

Okay.

[Maya Vadivelu]

So yeah, I'll sometimes have the RX bars. Sometimes I have the Lara bars similarly are like dates and nuts. But I don't, I don't necessarily always think of those as like true protein bars.

[Noah Michelson]

Right, right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And then I like, I said I like a kind bar too.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah. That also feels like it's like mostly nuts. Yeah, yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

When I, when I was going to the gym, like my 20s and 30s, this is like, you know, 10 or 15 years ago, some of the protein bars I was eating were like. It just seems like every single ingredient was a chemical. You know what I Mean, and these were like pure protein bars where it was like 30 grams of protein in one bar. But I didn't recognize a lot of the ingredients on those bars.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Those tasted like feet.

Do you remember that?

[Noah Michelson]

I kind of got into it though. And I'm not really a foot guy, but like, I sort of, like, I don't know, you kind of start to crave it.

[Maya Vadivelu]

But that's the other thing. People don't need a 30 gram protein bar.

[Noah Michelson]

Yes.

[Maya Vadivelu]

You know, like we now know that not to beat a dead horse here, but what we do need is more fruits and vegetables. And like the vegetarians, people who follow vegan patterns, they do need to pay more attention to making sure that they're consuming adequate protein. But for the vast majority of Americans, they are consuming more than enough protein just eating a, you know, relatively balanced diet.

[Noah Michelson]

Absolutely. We have another question. This one's from Lily. She said, what is the healthiest junkie snack? Like, if I am going to have a processed or shelf stable snack, which one would you say I should reach for?

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Such a good question.

[Noah Michelson]

I know you have any thoughts on that.

[Maya Vadivelu]

I do, but I think it's going to come more from the side of like the mindfulness piece.

[Noah Michelson]

Okay.

[Maya Vadivelu]

When you really want like what you say, like a junkier snack, I think the first things to check in on with yourself are, am I actually hungry? Like, is this something that is also, like, it's sort of difficult to regulate how much of that snack I'm going to have because I'm already feeling guilty about and I label it as an unhealthy or a bad food. So I'm restricting right now so that I tell myself later when I have it, it's, it's okay. And usually that leads to like over consuming and sometimes to other feelings of guilt and maybe not the healthiest relationship with food. So typically when I'm thinking about some kind of snack like that, I usually encourage people to like, still have a balanced meal beforehand. That way you're going back to that, like, differentiation between hunger and appetite. And then when it comes to appetite, if you're not overeating something, if you're not eating an entire bag of whatever that is, I would pick what you want and pay attention. You want, like, is it something warm, is it something crunchy, Is it have a balance of sweet and soul? When you honor, sort of like you were saying before with, you know, the, the charcuterie board, like you want a little bit of multiple things, it's a lot easier to stop when you're not physically hungry when you aren't beating yourself up for having chosen it. And when you know, you can say, I can still have that on occasion as long as I'm building most of my diet with foods that are nourishing my body.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, I have a follow up for that. I have a problem with spicy Cheetos. Like I allow myself to have them maybe twice a year and it's usually on a road trip and you're like already living outside of like, you know, human boundaries or whatever. And is there something in snacks like a spicy Cheeto that's like making me feel addicted because I go into like a rabid rage of like, I need a lot of spicy Cheetos. Once I have two of them, they're so delicious.

[Maya Vadivelu]

There is definitely research looking at like the addictive potential of sort of certain blends of higher fat, higher salt, like refined grain foods that kind of give yourself this hit. And then I think there are probably, you know, there are food scientists that work in all of these companies to hit that like maximum bliss point. And then, you know, you stop eating for a second and like there's a weird aftertaste suddenly and then you're like, oh, I just want like a couple more. And then the whole thing is gone. And then you still want more even after it's gone because you have a weird taste in your mouth and you're, you're still thinking that food. Plus on this road trip, you know, imagine it gets kind of. You're bored. There's other reasons eat besides hunger.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

I love what you said about if you want something, you should just have some of it. Because there are all these videos now on social media that I think are so funny and it's like, it's someone. It's like late at night and they're like when you try and go for the healthy snack and they have like a hard boiled egg, but then they have like some leftover dinner and then they have like an apple with peanut butter and like 12 things. And then they finally just eat the cookie that they wanted because that's what they really wanted. So instead of just eating a couple cookies, now they've had like 800 more calories than they actually intended to have. And I was like, I think that that's very real.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, I love that answer, Maya. That we're like, just have some of it, right?

[Maya Vadivelu]

And it's absolutely real. Like we see it time and time again that if people try to satisfy, especially somebody who's in tune with this is exactly What I want, but I'm trying not to have often leads to over consumption.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

And it's true. Sometimes you just need a little bit like, forget about my spicy Cheeto problem. Like I'm not supposed to eat a lot because of my, you know, just like genetic history, a lot of fried food. So when I'm craving a samosa, which is my favorite food in the world, I will sometimes split one with someone and then I've had it. Like, I feel okay, I feel happy I tasted it. And I'm sure that like half is not doing the damage. As if I like don't eat one for six months and then like binge six samosas.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Right? No, absolutely. And there's actually like a lot of, you know, sort of consumer behavior, marketing psychology research that really does show, you know, especially when people like, there's a thing that, you know, they called like the French paradox. And if you ask people, you know, in other cultures, why did you stop eating? And they'll say things like, oh, it's because, you know, the food no longer tasted good or I had enough and that was enough of that taste or that flavor. If you ask a lot of Americans why they stop eating, it's usually because like my plate was empty or the show I was watching was over and they're very much not in tune with how they feel and what they want. And so I really like the point about food really matters. Like I said, I'm a boring eater. But when I'm cooking or other things, like food does matter to me, it's just in the busy day sometimes when it comes to snacking, I just, I can't spend that much time planning all my snacks and then snacks for everybody else that I, you know, interact with. You know, there's a whole sort of school of nutrition that's looking at the idea of mindful based eating and seeing if you can, you know, have a single M and M, for example, and really focus on the texture and the taste and the flavor. And a lot of that's much easier to do when you're not physically hungry. So you know, your point about the hard boiled egg and person eating 800 calories more than they, they wanted to. And I think that was also sort of an interesting point because like sometimes people are very restrictive throughout the day to begin with. So it's hard to sort of separate out when you're really hungry and then you start eating and then when you just have an appetite based craving and sort of honor that and do it without shaming yourself yeah.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Hi, this is Raj from HuffPost's Am I Doing It Wrong Podcast. Noah and I have discovered so much from hosting this podcast and we really believe that learning is a lifelong journey. That's why I'm so excited to share that this episode is sponsored by Study.com Study.com offers over 220 online college courses that help students make progress toward finishing a college degree in a flexible and more affordable way. This includes general education courses such as English, math and history. Study.com is fully online and self paced, and courses transfer to over 2000 colleges and universities. The best part? Study.com is accessible from your phone or computer and it costs just $95 a month. Study.com helps students of any age or any phase in life finish their college degree faster and save money by earning college credit on their own schedule. Go to study.com podcast to browse courses and get 10% off your first month when you sign up. That's study.com podcast.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

With no Fees or minimums on checking Accounts it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking. With Capital One, if he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply see capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC.

[Verizon Announcer]

Now more people than ever can bring in their bill for a better deal at Verizon. Got AT&T or T Mobile? We got you Xfinity or Spectrum.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

You too.

[Verizon Announcer]

So tell your friends, your family, your quirky neighbor Jeff, grab your megaphone and yell it from the rooftop. Get a better deal at Verizon because chances are anyone in shouting distance is included. Bring in your at&t t Mobile expansion or Spectrum bill and we'll give you a better deal on the best network. Come by Verizon today. Best Network based on RootMetric's best overall mobile network performance US 2nd/2025 all rights reserved. Must provide recent Consumer Mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[Noah Michelson]

I'm wondering, after Raj brought up the Spicy Cheetos, we got a question from Cambria. She's talking about the I had. I had not heard of these before. Something called simply Naked Nacho cheese Doritos. So I'm looking at it online right now and it says it's the Class Doritos flavor you love, but now naked of dyes and artificial flavors. What are your thoughts on that? Does that actually mean anything or is that just fancy marketing?

[Maya Vadivelu]

For me, that's more of a health washing trend. And while I'm not saying that we shouldn't be doing more research into whether or not certain dyes that kind of have gone through loopholes. And like I said before, with ultra processed foods, right now, as we define them, we are seeing a signal that this current working definition, which is really just a food that is including some form of cosmetic additive or ingredient that's not regularly available in a home kitchen. That's really what differentiates whether something is just a food or processed food. That multiple ingredients versus ultra processed. Ultra processed has really taken off politically as well right now. And food companies are not going to lose money because now they're demonized for having a food dye. They haven't done anything to inherently make the Dorito healthier. And to me, I wouldn't. While there may not be a need for the cosmetic additive, removing the cosmetic additive doesn't make Doritos suddenly something that I would say should be the basis of a snack.

[Noah Michelson]

Right. That makes total sense.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

A naked Dorito feels like a tortilla chip. Like, that's okay.

[Maya Vadivelu]

But even if it is a tortilla chip, like a tortilla chip is relatively high in calories. It's a hot.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

That's right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Index is still gonna, you know, go up for that food. It's not a super. Like, again, you can have a handful of tortilla chips in the context of a balanced diet, but it's not gonna be that balanced snack that's giving you the nutrition that you really need.

[Noah Michelson]

I think this also just speaks to the idea too, that so many of us are not educated about food. It's not something that we learn in school. It's not something we learn from our families. And so when we do see this language, we have another question too from Lydia where she's saying, you know, what are other healthy snack buzzwords that are actually meaningless? And we've talked on the show before where, like, a lot of the stuff isn't regulated. People can just put these words on packaging. And so I think for people who don't know how to read nutrition labels or if they do, they don't know what it means. They see those words and they do think, oh, this is healthy for me or healthier for me. And like, that's not true.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And it's not just the words like food Companies are really smart. Like, if you look at even the naked Doritos packaging, it's not bright and loud like the regular Doritos. It's like, meant to be muted, which gives, you know, they've done thousands upon thousands of focus groups to say, like, what do you think of when you see, you know, a matte color palette that's kind of green? You associate that with health. Just like we use traffic light labeling to convey messaging very simply, you know, people to think of it as maybe not as bad.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

That's so genius. And I am absolutely being manipulated by all of this.

[Maya Vadivelu]

If we know that we're being manipulated, that's one of the things that's so fascinating about, you know, behavioral economics and things like that, is that we can all be manipulated even when we know that we are.

[Noah Michelson]

Absolutely. You think about the algorithm, everything that's just getting put in front of us based on so many different things. And yeah, even when we're really aware, still falling prey to it.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

It's wild. Maya, can you think of just off the top of your head, any buzzwords or any kinds of freezing you've seen on snack packaging or food packaging that doesn't really mean anything or is not a regulated label? Okay.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And it's actually, this is an aside. I'll try and think of some other buzzwords. But, you know, there was a study a while back, and in general, the higher the number of health claims, the less likely the food was to meet, you know, general nutritional guidance.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Oh, my God.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Wow. And I think it's always funny when you go to something like you see a jar of peanut butter and it's like, cholesterol free, and it's like, of course it's cholesterol free because it's plant based and cholesterol only is in animal products.

[Noah Michelson]

Right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

I think when you start to see more health claims on something, it should probably alert you that maybe somebody's trying to prove something too much. Some of those health claims are regulated, and it's. It can be challenging in the space. Like, for example, the American Heart association has the heart check program, which is if you see certain products, it's like a red check really showing across different categories. This is what they're trying to do in terms of sodium limits, saturated fat limits, making sure that it's not too high in added sugars, and a healthier option in alignment with American Heart association guidelines for heart disease prevention. But if you start seeing a whole bunch of other labels like, you know, GMO free is not necessarily something that denotes a health food.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Right?

[Noah Michelson]

Right, absolutely.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

We have another reader question. I read somewhere it's actually better to snack all day rather than having three proper meals. Is that true? And Noah adds, what are your thoughts on just snacking rather than having a proper meal? I think this is a great question because I think a lot of quote unquote fitness people would be like, you should eat small meals all day. It's going to regulate your metabolism more. What truth is there to that?

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, honestly, I think that's a really open question right now. When people are looking at things like time restricted eating, whether or not having certain amounts of food at different times in the day affects circadian rhythms differently.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Right. Now I'd say there's some support for having a meal, you know, when you wake up to some extent and to try and have more of your energy consumption earlier rather than later in the day. I don't think we have enough evidence to tell people one way or the other that this is the best pattern to eat. And so I think, you know, if you're a person who's like, I wake up, I'm not hungry at all.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Right.

[Maya Vadivelu]

I, you know, don't see myself wanting to change. You know, having something small might be, you know, like a piece of fruit might best be a small opportunity to introduce that fruit. And then when you're hungry later, to have to pair it based on your sort of hunger and, you know, ability to have food at those different times. I think, you know, a lot of us may not have the opportunity to have six small meals a day either.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

That's the privilege thing.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

And just to add on to that, is that something, do you think that will ever be prescriptive or our bodies too different to be like, this will work for everyone?

[Maya Vadivelu]

I think right now we're more likely to move into not a one size fits all approach because we're even seeing that with genetic risk. You know, there's been more research now about certain risk factors emerging, like in South Asian populations that even with similar lifestyle behaviors. So I don't think one thing is going to work for everyone. And I think, you know, with precision medicine and metabolomics and all of these other things, we're going to be able to sort of fine tune some of the guidelines and that might vary from person to person, but that doesn't mean that without having that level of precision that we don't know anything. Which I think is sometimes where people go like, well, we're not really sure about anything. So let's just eat anything because people are always changing their minds. When we really do a deep dive on how many different studies have found that patterns that are really heavy in whole plant based foods. I'm not talking a handful of carrots. Your husband's whole bag of carrots is probably doing wonders for his health. And you know, including maybe the $16 cherries, you know, seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day plus whole grains, plus nuts and beans and seeds. You know, we see that those patterns are not just, you know, beneficial for heart disease, but they're beneficial for cancer prevention, for type 2 diabetes, for most diet related chronic diseases. That pattern is really, really similar.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I just have an extra question because we didn't talk about this. Smoothies, that's like been my new hack. If we're making it at home and not adding like ice cream to it like they do out in the streets and we add our vegetables in there, that's a, that would, that's like an awesome way to get more fruits and veggies in. Right? Because I juice was a thing for a while, but you're like juice removes all the fiber, right? So like smoothie over juice, right?

[Maya Vadivelu]

Definitely, definitely smoothie over juice. Especially when you're being, you know, you're more in control of the ingredients. Ideally you're adding some of the things like you know, nut butters or I add oats to my smoothies. Some people find that like satiety isn't always the same with, you know, chewing and versus drinking. And some of that could be related to eating speed. So if you can, if you're drinking your smoothie in 10 minutes or less, then you might still feel hungry because it takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you're full. So sometimes that whole proper sitting down for a meal and paying attention is part of also how we start to be more in like aligned with our hunger and fullness cues because we're paying attention. But I think that smoothies can be a really helpful hack like you said, in terms of sometimes having something portable, having something where you're finding opportunities to get more fruits and vegetables in when it's not always the easiest thing, especially when you're on the go and when you don't live in New York. I miss the fruit stands so much.

[Noah Michelson]

Yes, so good. I will also add my little hack for smoothies. I have them several times a week. Is peanut powder instead of the nut butter because it's literally just the peanut. Maybe a little bit of salt but it's high in protein, and it's great. It makes it taste delicious, but you don't have to. A lot of peanut butters have some additives in them and things that you don't want. So if you just want the peanut. The powder is great.

[Maya Vadivelu]

A lot of the peanut butters do. The natural peanut butters are just ground peanuts and sometimes a little bit of salt.

[Noah Michelson]

Definitely.

[Maya Vadivelu]

But the powder is less messy.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah. And it mixes really well.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Mine, I'm so excited to tell you because mine's not, quote, unquote, like, healthy or helpful. It's a sweet potato. Like a baked sweet potato. But you're talking about feeling satiated. Right. Like, sometimes you want a smoothie that is really.

[Noah Michelson]

And there's a lot of nutrients.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

They're really good for you. They're just gonna be heavier. And it's, you know, not protein, but the best tasting thing of your life. That's kind of like if you're not trying to eat the whole cake kind of situation.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah.

[Maya Vadivelu]

So you're putting sweet potato in your smoothie.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah, like, bake it and put it in a smoothie with, like, fruits and veggies also. But not the whole thing. Half.

[Maya Vadivelu]

And can you. Can you include. Are you including the skin, too, to get the fiber?

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

No.

[Maya Vadivelu]

What? I don't know. I mean, I don't know how much. I mean, the skin can be tough, but it depends on how. I've never tried blending a sweet potato that way.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I have a good. I have a good blender. I'm gonna try it.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, try it and report back to us, Raj.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Okay. And also, I want to start eating, like, the kiwi skin, because I heard that's, like, the best fiber of your life. Y. Yeah, I will report back.

[Noah Michelson]

And if you're just blending in anyways.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I'm not. I'm not above being a guinea pig for all of this stuff. Truly, it makes me feel really superior.

[Noah Michelson]

What's the worst thing that happens? Like, you do it one time, and it wasn't great. Then you stop doing it.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Like, poop your brains out for, like, two days.

[Noah Michelson]

You're not gonna poop your brains out. Jerry's asking. Can you talk about the connection between anxiety and snacking? I find myself sometimes wanting to eat when I'm just anxious, but I know I'm not hungry. Why is that?

[Maya Vadivelu]

That's a great question. I don't know that I know the answer to that. I think, you know, if you look at, you know, I previously was, like, you know, worked with eating Disorders. And, you know, our mood is so, I mean, it's number one. We often were socialized as kids to, you know, regulate our mood using different types of food. Like, if, you know, you're celebrating and everything's good, it's like, okay, we're going to go out for this treat. So you start to associate those things and, you know, same with, you know, different nerve states. Like, maybe there's an element that it's distracting, it's a form of distraction to eat, or maybe there's some element of, you know, tactile sensation that helps calm your nerves. But I think the very fact that you're recognizing that that's a thing, it sort of helps you identify, like, okay, I'm not hungry right now. What other coping strategies might I use to help address this anxiety? And then check in with myself again in 10 or 20 minutes and see, did it affect my anxiety at all? And if so, is my hunger level less? Because sometimes even just putting a pause in between a desired, you know, like, I want to eat, and especially if I know that I'm not hungry, and then waiting and seeing if something else kind of changes that feeling can really help with not eating. When we're not really intending to eat.

[Noah Michelson]

I feel this too. I'm there with Jerry. I also sometimes find myself eating when I'm anxious. The thing that I try to do too is so I love to have pita chips. The pita chips from Whole Foods are delicious, but I will put some in a little bowl and then take that back with me to my desk and I'll have those because otherwise I think I will eat the whole bag. Especially when I'm. I'm anxious about something, that something bad just happened at work or whatever it is, I feel like that does help soothe me.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

And so if I just have a little bit too, that can sometimes just make me feel better.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

You know, it works the other way too. I mean, when I'm anxious, I don't eat. And my therapist and I discovered together that that relates to me like self punishment a little. Me feeling like I don't deserve to nourish myself. So I think, think to your point. Food and our hunger is so intrinsically linked to how we feel about ourselves. And I think just pausing to, to recognize that if we're feeling distressed in any way, to be like, okay, okay, what's happening in my system right now, because it's opposite, like, I, my body deserves a healthy snack and I don't feel like I deserve it at times. So, like it's these weird things that we kind of have to become aware of in order to actually feed ourselves.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Like, and I'm very much like you in that way, too. Of, like, if I am nervous or something, I usually get, like, a wave of nausea. And then my appetite really goes away until I sort of can calm down and feel less nervous. And then I'm like, okay, then I need to move back into, like, I need to fuel myself and I will be. I will feel fine if I eat.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah, yeah. And I just think in general, our relationship in modern society with food is so fraught. And I think there's a lot more disordered eating in the population than we talk about or that we even recognize. Recognize. And so, again, Raj and I say this a lot on this show. You are a registered dietitian. We are not doctors, and we are not, you know, mental health facilitators or therapists. So if someone's listening and they're having. They're having issues, like, that also may be something you want to talk to someone about who is trained to talk about this stuff. This is more just for the average person who's not actually dealing with some of those bigger issues, I think.

[Maya Vadivelu]

Right, that's right. And I think it's also, like, a really interesting point to bring up too. As, you know, we're seeing more and more people using, you know, GLP1s because also changing a lot of people's relationship with food or that they're feeling nauseous more of the time. And so it's sort of more difficult to prioritize some of the more nutrient dense foods that maybe you don't think about when you're feeling sick. Like, I don't think most people are like, let me have a smoothie when I'm nauseous. Food and dietary patterns are far more complex than we really like to talk about, you know, in mainstream society. And I really, you know, I appreciate what you said about if you're finding yourself having too many food thoughts and food really dictating a large part of your life, it might be helpful to talk to a person with training to help manage that relationship. But I also think that most of us deal with some of this on some level and absolutely normalize that it's not that easy to make a healthy choice and to do it all the time, and that everybody is imperfect in making those choices and to just really be trying to move the needle of, okay, how can I fuel myself better at my next meal or at my next snack.

[Noah Michelson]

I love that. Thank you for saying that. And I think that that is the spirit of this show, is how do I do it better? And every meal, every day, we have another chance to, like, do something better, feel better. Exactly. All of it. So I think that that's beautiful. Yeah, let's end on a fun one. We got really heavy there for a second, which is good. I love that that's also part of this show. Are you seeing any snacking trends right now? Anything that is exciting to you or weird or funny or anything you've seen on social media, Anything new in snacking?

[Maya Vadivelu]

I think the thing that I've heard about that's like, relatively new, maybe, or maybe it's new in Rhode island and not new in New York, is that especially with GLP1s and people wanting to eat less but also wanting to have. There's so many great restaurants and things and places to try, but you don't always want, like. Like you said before with the samosa, you might not want a full meal. You just want to have, like, a little snack that restaurants are starting to move into the snacking space and create opportunities to have, like, these tiny little charcuterie boards or things. Like, I just want to bite here, but I don't want it to be, you know, a standard, like, I don't know, mozzarella sticks or something like that. I want to actually have. Have a higher end, you know, eating experience in a small portion. And so I think that that's actually a pretty cool trend because I think it also starts to move us more into thinking about food as a part of our culture and as a part of, you know, socializing together and to eating foods that are delicious and ideally prepared from whole foods rather than from packages that we're consuming in front of our screens.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I've seen this too, and I love it. It's a lot of it comes from, like, East Asian blue zone cultures. Like, I love OMA because it's these, like, small bites that you have throughout time. And it encourages, like you said, mindful eating. Like, you're enjoying the food and it's in smaller portions. You're having a conversation with someone, potentially. Yeah, I'm kind of excited about this too.

[Noah Michelson]

It also seems like this with more smaller portions, you can try more things too, which I'm always going to do. I'd rather have a couple appetizers, like you were saying, than, like, in a huge basket of just mozzarella stick.

[Kat and Nat]

Yes.

[Noah Michelson]

That sounds awesome. I'm gonna look for that yeah, I'm into it. Maya, thank you so much for this. I feel like I learned a ton.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Me too.

[Maya Vadivelu]

I'm really glad to have been here. This was super fun. Exactly the vibe that you promised.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I love that.

[Noah Michelson]

We are not liars. We delete things, but not liars.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends, it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC

[Verizon Announcer]

now more people than ever can bring in their bill for a better deal at Verizon. Got AT&T or T Mobile? We got you Xfinity or Spectrum.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

You too.

[Verizon Announcer]

So tell your friends, your family, your quirky neighbor. Jeff, grab your megaphone and yell it from the rooftop. Get a better deal at Verizon because chances are anyone in shouting distance is included. Bring in your at&t t Mobile, Xfinity or Spectrum bill and we'll give you a better deal on the best network Come by Verizon today. Best Network based on RootMetrics Best Overall Mobile Network Performance US 2nd Half 2025 all rights reserved. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[CarGurus Announcer]

Buying a car is a big deal, so you shouldn't go in blind with the Cargurus app. The new dealership mode is like having a personal cheat sheet in your pocket. Instantly compare the car in front of you to similar options, see deal ratings and price history, and estimate your final price. It's no wonder Cargurus is the number one most visited car shopping site according to SimilarWeb's estimated traffic data. Buy or sell your next car today with cargurusargurus.com go to cargurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's C-A-R G U R US.com CarGurus.com.

[Noah Michelson]

Okay, it's time for better in five. These are our top five takeaways from this episode.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Number one, the best snack is going

to be the one that satiates us, and Maya especially encouraged us to reach for more fruits and vegetables.

[Noah Michelson]

Number two, there's definitely a time and a place for a bar, but Be discerning and read those labels.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

I love a bar, but not that kind. Number three, if you want a junky snack, let yourself have what you want, but just enough to kill the craving.

[Noah Michelson]

All right, number four, beware words like natural or naked. They really don't mean anything. And they definitely don't mean that your snack is healthy.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Number five, everyone's relationship with food is individual and complex. It's worth spending some time thinking about why you're choosing that food or snack.

[Noah Michelson]

All right, Raj, so have you been doing snacking wrong?

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Shockingly, not as wrong as I thought I was doing it. I mean, it turns out it's okay if I'm having some, like, junky stuff every once in a while.

[Noah Michelson]

Yeah.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

As long as I'm balanced, balancing out. And it sounds like my Harvard snacking plate that I'm now gonna call it is a is a better choice than I thought, and I'm kind of happy. I do want to examine the judgment around the snacks that I've placed. What about you?

[Noah Michelson]

This is one of those episodes. There's this cartoon in the 80s called Voltron.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Okay.

[Noah Michelson]

It's kind of like Mighty Morphine Power Rangers where they all combine together to make a big robot that goes and kills evil creatures.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Okay.

[Noah Michelson]

Anyway, I'm getting somewhere with this. I promise. This feels like a Voltron episode where we learned a lot of things in other episodes, like the protein episode, you know, the breakfast episode, where we've already learned some of this stuff, but we put it all together. And so I was learning things that I was like, oh, that makes sense. And, like, now I know why this is that. And I really.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

It's very affirming. Yeah.

[Noah Michelson]

I also just loved, like, your idea of the sweet potato in the blender. Like, I'd never thought of that. So sometimes this show is just as like. It doesn't have to be a huge light bulb that goes off. It's like a little Christmas light bulb. And I'm like, oh, I love that idea. So, yeah, I feel, like, better off than I did 48 minutes ago.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

That's all I care about.

[Noah Michelson]

Thank you. Anyway, until next time, as long as there are things to get wrong, we're going to be right here to help you do them better.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Love you guys.

Am I Doing it Wrong? Is a co production between HuffPost and Acast.

[Noah Michelson]

Our producers are Eve Bishop, Carmen Borca Carillo and Malia Agadello.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutter.

[Noah Michelson]

Special thanks to HuffPost's head of audience, Abby Williams.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

Head of video will took as well

[Noah Michelson]

as Kate Palmer, Marta Rodriguez and Terry d'. Angelo.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

And we're your hosts Raj Panjabi Johnson and Noah Michelson.

[Capital One Bank Guy]

With no fees or minimums on checking accounts, it's no wonder the Capital One bank guy is so passionate about banking with Capital One. If he were here, he wouldn't just tell you about no fees or minimums. He'd also talk about how most Capital One cafes are open seven days a week to assist with your banking needs. Yep, even on weekends it's pretty much all he talks about in a good way. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See capitalone.com bank capital1na member FDIC

[Verizon Announcer]

now more people than ever can bring in their bill for a better deal at Verizon. Got AT&T or T Mobile. We got you Xfinity or Spectrum.

[Raj Panjabi Johnson]

You too.

[Verizon Announcer]

So tell your friends, your fans, family, your quirky neighbor Jeff. Grab your megaphone and yell it from the rooftop. Get a better deal at Verizon because chances are anyone in shouting distance is included. Bring in your at&t t Mobile, Xfinity or Spectrum bill and we'll give you a better deal on the best network Come by Verizon today. Best Network based on RootMetrics Best Overall Mobile Network Performance US 2nd Half 2025 all rights reserved. Must provide recent Consumer Mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[Kat and Nat]

This is Kat and Nat from Kat and Nat Unfiltered and this episode is sponsored by Michaels. Your destination for all things 2026 graduation. If you've got a GR coming up, the Party Shop at Michael's is your new best friend. It's your one stop shop for everything. Graduation balloons, party decor, tableware, DIY gifting and more. Literally everything you need. All starting at just 1.99. We're all about making life easier and Michaels has made it super simple with ready made balloon bundles, 2026 numbers and even free helium inflation on select styles. Plus you can shop same day delivery or buy online and pick up in store Michaels everything. To celebrate anything, visit Michaels in store or shop online now.

[Stamps.com Announcer]

Still waiting in line again, that's time you will never get back. Save time and money with stamps.com over 4 million businesses have skipped the line with stamps.com join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, register, registered mail and packages in seconds. Then schedule a pickup right from your home or office for a limited time go to stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply.