Lee Haeri Caught Herself Snacking on an Empty Stomach: Here's Why She Called It 'Not Healthy'

Singer Lee Haeri had a candid moment on her YouTube channel 이해리해리 on the 28th, tasting through a spread of snacks before she'd eaten a single meal that day. Mid-bite, she paused and told viewers: "I haven't eaten anything yet today, this is really not the healthiest thing to do."

It's the kind of offhand comment most of us have made to ourselves at some point, but Haeri saying it out loud in front of her audience turned it into a small but genuinely useful conversation about snacking habits.

Why an empty stomach makes snacking riskier

When you eat refined carbohydrates, think cookies, crackers, chocolate, or the kind of packaged snacks Haeri was sampling, on an empty stomach, your blood sugar spikes faster and harder than it would after a balanced meal. A meta-analysis from researchers at the National University of Singapore, published in the journal Nutrition, reviewed eleven randomized controlled trials and found that high-glycemic foods like biscuits produced significantly larger post-meal blood sugar spikes compared to low-glycemic alternatives. With no protein or fiber in the stomach to slow absorption, that effect is even more pronounced when you haven't eaten anything beforehand.

The hunger cycle that follows is just as familiar. Most packaged snacks are high in refined carbs and sugar but short on protein and dietary fiber, so the fullness they create fades quickly. Mark O'Mera, a clinical dietitian at Brigham and Women's Hospital (affiliated with Harvard Medical School), put it plainly: refined carb snacks of the low-quality variety can leave you feeling hungry again within an hour of eating, ultimately pushing you toward consuming more calories overall. His recommendation is pairing fruit or whole-grain crackers with a source of protein or healthy fat, which keeps you satisfied meaningfully longer.

The bigger picture: snacks as meals

The issue goes beyond blood sugar alone. When snacks regularly replace full meals, nutritional gaps tend to open up. The calories are still there, but the protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals that a proper meal would deliver often aren't. South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare actively recommends building meals around grains, protein foods, and vegetables in balanced proportion, a reminder that caloric intake and nutritional balance aren't always the same thing.

None of this means snacks are off the table. The distinction nutritionists tend to draw is between snacking mindlessly on refined sugar and snacking with a little more intention: plain yogurt, a small handful of nuts, or fruit paired with something that adds protein or fiber. Those choices keep blood sugar steadier and hunger from circling back too fast.

Haeri probably wasn't expecting her snack review to turn into a health segment, but the self-awareness she showed, naming the habit for what it was, on camera, while mid-snack, is the kind of small, grounded honesty that tends to land with fans. Sometimes the most relatable content is just someone catching themselves doing the very thing they know they probably shouldn't.