Healthy, late-night snacks

Weekend Top 10: Healthy, late-night snacks

The next time your stomach starts to rumble at night — post dinner – don’t dig into the left-overs in the fridge. In its place, pick a healthy snack to squelch that just before-bed hunger pangs.

Guilt-free healthy night snacks

Water

Thirst can often be mistaken for hunger, because dehydration makes you feel hungry. Drink a glass of water when you have those late-night hunger pangs. Or better still — drink a glass of water before heading to bed.

If plain old water seems a tad boring, add a dash of lime. You could also try putting some cucumbers in your water for that extra zing, this one’s also pretty good for your skin.

Milk

A warm glass of milk will not only help you sleep better (thanks to tryptophan in the milk which stimulates production of serotonin – which makes you sleepy) it also helps nip that late-night food craving. Choose skimmed milk over whole milk, it’s healthier. Add drinking chocolate, honey or any other flavouring you’d like, if you please.

Popcorn

It’s your fave accompaniment at the movie talkies, and also makes for an excellent late-night snack. Keep some microwaveable popcorn handy, the no-butter and plain variety at that. For that added taste, raid your spice cabinet: Choose between chat masala, red chilli powder and cinnamon powder. Be easy on the salt though.

Breakfast food

Oatmeal, whole-grain breakfast cereal, whole-grain toast (high-fibre foods) – all make for healthy night snacking. However, make sure you stay away from white bread or anything else that’s high in carbohydrates, as they might shoot up your blood sugar and keep you from having a comfortable night’s sleep.

Yoghurt

It’s high in protein, low in sugar and can leave you feeling full.

So the next time you have a food craving late at night, a bowl of yoghurt (flavoured on plain) is your best bet. However, if you are watching your weight, make sure you choose a low-fat variety.

Nuts

Well, many people think nuts are fattening, they are not. High in antioxidants, fibre and also helps boost serotonin production, which means nuts, will leave you feeling full, and also help you sleep better. So for a healthy late-night binge — go and much on a handful of nuts — guilt free.

Dried fruits

Dried fruits of any kind such as figs, apricots, dates or prunes are loaded with multiple nutrients and are super-duper healthy for you.

Eat a couple or more of any of those mentioned abover, the next time you crave for food late in the night.

Vegetables

Veggies contain a bounty of nutrients, antioxidants and also have high water content. And this means, they’re healthy and will go a long way preventing dehydration. Slice some carrots, cucumbers, onions or stock up broccoli. Keep some low-fat dip handy to make it a little yummier.

Fruits

Like vegetables, fruits too with their high nutritional value make for a healthy late-night binge. Apples, oranges, guavas or bananas – always have fruits handy at home. So the next time, when hunger strikes late in the night — cut them, peel them and eat them.

Dark chocolate

Well, the darker it is the better – these chocolates that you can binge on. This yummy treat, is high in antioxidants with nearly 70% cocoa content and is low in sugar. So bite right in!