Merienda happens twice a day in most Filipino households, mid-morning and mid-afternoon, built into the schedule the same way lunch and dinner are, and the timing lines up with what research on digestion supports. Your gut releases digestive enzymes and motility signals on a rough schedule shaped by habit, so eating at consistent times means your gut is ready when the food arrives. The timing itself works well. What fills that window is what varies.
Research from King's College London, tracking snack timing across thousands of people, found that snacking after 9pm was linked to the least favorable blood sugar and insulin responses, while snacking earlier in the day, around 10am or 3pm, with protein and fiber, showed the steadiest results.[1] Filipino merienda culture, built around a morning and an afternoon slot, already sits in the window the research favors. The same principle carries into how a typical Filipino breakfast sets your blood sugar for the rest of the day.
What ends up in that window varies a lot
Saba banana, boiled kamote, taho, boiled corn: these give your gut bacteria fiber and, in taho's case, some protein to work with. Kakanin heavy in refined glutinous rice, fried snacks like fish balls or kikiam, packaged chips, and sweetened milk tea give your gut bacteria very little. Both fall inside the same time slot. What they leave your gut bacteria to work with is where they differ.
- Saba banana with peanuts
- Boiled kamote, cooled
- Taho, light on the arnibal
- Boiled corn
- Fresh fruit
- Kakanin heavy in sugar
- Fried fish balls or kikiam
- Packaged chips
- Instant noodles
- Sweetened milk tea
How much sugar one cup of milk tea adds
A single serving of sweetened milk tea from a popular chain runs anywhere from 40 to 70 grams of sugar, often more than a full day's recommended intake in one cup. Sugar at that amount feeds the less beneficial bacteria in your gut while crowding out the fiber-feeding species that keep your gut lining in shape. The blood sugar spike that follows makes the next craving worse than it would have been otherwise.
One milk tea is not a problem on its own. Making it your daily merienda for months is a different matter, since that pattern adds up in a way one cup doesn't.
What to try this week
Replace one merienda a day with saba banana and a small handful of peanuts, or fruit with a bit of cheese. Keep that swap for five days without changing anything else. If you notice you're less hungry by dinner and your energy holds steadier through the afternoon, that's your blood sugar staying level and your gut bacteria getting fiber they can use.
Related reading
This content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.
