Between-meal snacking the high-intensity flavor way

by cogg — September 26th, 2007

There has been a lot of discussion lately about 100 calorie snack packages. Most of the discussion focuses on how expensive they are or on how to create healthy versions. Certainly I am in the target market for these snack packages (I have ordered food at restaurants asking them to just leave side dishes off my plate — my will power ends once the food is in front of me), but to a certain degree they miss the point for me.

I don’t snack because I am hungry. I snack to keep my mouth entertained. This is the same reason I consume way too much Diet Coke. I find the slightly irritating taste and high acidity keeps me from getting bored while I sit in front of the computer all day. This has lead me to develop an unusual form of snacking: snacking on things with high-intensity flavors. Examples:

  • One square of good, very dark chocolate (30-50 calories)
  • One pimento olive (10 calories)
  • One slice of very sharp cheddar cheese (100 calories)
  • Two 1/8″ slices of high-quality salami (60 calories)
  • 1 big piece of beef jerky — good because it is hard to eat quickly (80 calories)

I have found that a little of any of these are satisfying enough to make me not crave more. How many pimento olives can you eat in one sitting anyway?

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